RFK Must Die! Chasing the Mystery of the Robert Kennedy Assassination

by Robert Blair Kaiser

Kennedy and his entourage had been celebrating his victory in the California primary for the Democratic nomination for President. Everybody knew that Sirhan was the assassin. But was there a wider conspiracy? Did the FBI truly solve the crime? After working his way deep inside the investigation―and spending more than two hundred hours in direct conversation with Sirhan―Robert Blair Kaiser wrote the quintessential book on Robert Kennedy’s murder. Now, forty years after the assassination, Kaiser has rewritten his analytic epic, probing anew into one of the most mystifying tragedies of our day. Widely recognized as an important contribution to the literature of political assassinations and as primary document on the tragedy of R.F.K.’s death forty years ago, R.F.K. Must Die! is more than ever a stunning look into the mind of a killer and the substance of an assassination.

Genres: History, True Crime, Nonfiction, American

416 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

Reviews

[Pete daPixie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once again I demonstrate my inherent ability to read publications on a subject in reverse chronological order. Kaiser's 'RFK Must Die' was the 1970 baby, from which many books on this subject have followed. Having read the rest, I finally arrive at the fountainhead.
Kaiser was a man in the right place at the right time back in 1968. He gained a privileged position with Sirhan's legal team along with a book deal, of which, of course, this is the book. He could never accept the killer's spiel, noted his obfuscations and outright lies, as his version of events were given to the lawyers and psychiatrists throughout the trial.
Kaiser's exalted place of intimate access in the case of the killing of Robert Kennedy results in superb reportage.
The Newsday review states, "the essential book to read in order to know the whole story of a senseless, shocking tragedy." However reading Kaiser's latter chapters strongly indicate we are ignorant of the 'whole story'.
I can recommend 'Shadow Play' by Klaber & Melanson that covers the subject matter of this book and brings things relatively up to date.

[NON · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always faceless men. There has to be something more to it. -Sen. Ten Kennedy on June 5, 1968

This is not a story of Robert Kennedy, it is more of a biography on Kennedy's assassin; Sirhan Sirhan.

The gripping element in this book--other than his vast knowledge of the whole assassination--is that Mr. Kaiser's story reads like a novel.

"I crafted a story that enlightened minds and en-kindled hearts." -Robert Blair Kaiser

As he stated in the preface; he was right up close and personal with the assassin himself and the police, prosecutors, defense attorneys, psychiatrists, psychologists, reports. He even wangled his way inside the assassin's defense team. I doubt any reporter has ever gotten so deeply inside a major case.

Mr. Kaiser nailed the description of the surgery after the assassination; I was aching reading those pages.

I've watched multiple documentaries on Sirhan's hypnosis sessions but reading the transcripts (+ the analyses) is priceless and vital. Also, the author provided a photocopies of Sirhan's handwritten notebook journal in Appendix.

Now, the good and the bad element of the book is that Mr. Kaiser doesn't prove or disprove a conspiracy. It's good because he leaves the space for the reader to judge and explore on themselves, however, it is bad because it left some of the important elements out that--which I suggest the reader to dig more and to not stop with this book only. But I understand that the author didn't want to be another "conspiracy puff" and wanted to only speak of what he witnessed himself. So I suggest you don't heavily rely on this book and do your own research as well.

It would make a good choice as a continuation to Robert Kennedy: His Life. As Mr. Thomas didn't indulge in Kennedy's assassination so reading Mr. Kaiser's masterpiece would make a great followup.

All in all; absorbing, intelligent and thought-provoking.

[Don · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written by a journalist and someone who was probably the closest to Sirhan Sirhan after the assassination of Robert Kennedy, Robert Kaiser takes the reader down a chilling path of psychology, law, childhood damage and mind control.

After shooting RFK in the kitchen of the Ambassador Hotel in 1968 Sirhan was subdued and taken for questioning by a police force that would not allow what happened to Oswald - namely, no legal trial with public justice. However, the catch in all this was the fact that Sirhan never admitted and testified that he could not remember the events of that night nor some of the weeks before it. Not only that, he could be easily hypnotized and would come out of trances shivering - never answering any questions yet again.

Through the 7 months it took before the trial - Kaiser learns about Sirhan's Palestinian childhood - beaten by his father, seeing people killed by bombs, finding body parts, and oddly, going into trances. Add to that the loss of his home and broken opportunities in the US - Sirhan is clearly damaged by his background.

Many witnesses at the hotel that night stated they saw a woman in a polka dot dress with Sirhan who, after the shooting, was seen running out of the hotel smiling and yelling 'we killed him', 'we killed RFK'.

Also, notebooks were found in Sirhan's room with automatic trance-like writing - 'RFK must die' repeated over and over as well as other statements such as 'pay to the order of'.

Kaiser paints a fascinating portrait of an assassin from inside the jail cell and on through the trial. There was never any doubt he shot RFK - but, was it under his own volition? Was he under some form of mind control? Where was he going weeks before? Who was the girl in the polka dot dress? Why couldn't he ever remember the event itself?

Kaiser tries to answer these questions and more.

[Erik Graff · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've now read three books devoted to the RFK assassination, beginning with the "official" story published by the commander of the LA detectives who first investigated the case. While this doesn't make me an expert, it does give pause. The official story that Sirhan Sirhan was the sole gunman responsible for the Kennedy assassination is incredible, particularly in light of the fact that more bullets were recovered at the scene than his handgun could hold. More recent evidence, such as the presence of a number of CIA and former CIA personnel at the Ambassador Hotel that night, appears to substantiate the claim that there was much more to the murder than was determined in the courts.

[Hatuxka · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about Sirhan Sirhan, the Palestinian assassin of Robert F. Kennedy, his life and links to The Rosicrucians

[Gary Slavens · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ties up a lot of loose ends

Most of the books I’ve read about Bobby Kennedy end at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. This one starts there, and looks at the assassination and its aftermath. The author revised this work in a second edition, updating it to address (and mostly quash) the rumors of a second gunman. He’s certainly done his homework, and comes as close to the answers as we’re likely to ever see.

[Jim Kinkead · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book about the trial of Sirhan Sirhan

[Andrew Goutman · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not finish this book. I thought it was well-written, and I especially liked the minute-by-minute narrative of the shooting, the aftermath in the hotel, hospital and police station, and medical efforts to save RFK. But after he died, we are left with the central character in the book, Sirhan Sirhan. He had no appeal to me...as a criminal, an historic figure, or as a human being. I simply lost interest.

[Mohamed Tarik El fouly · Rating 4 out of 5]

ملاحقة صحفية جريئة لقاتل روبرت كيندي ....
الحقيقة ان عيلة كيندي كل ما يطلع منهم حد كويس بيتم اغتياله ..

لكن هنا التركيز اكتر على القاتل اكتره من على روبرت كيندي ... بتعرف عنه كل حاجة وازاي انه لعب دور المجنون علشان ياخد حكم مخفف وفالاخر اتعدم برضه

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book about the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 and contains various theories about whether or not there was a conspiracy or whether Sirhan B. Sirhan acted alone. As with the JFK murder, there is no clear answer.

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