What happened on this week in crime history June 2-8; Serial
Killer Leonard Lake was arrested (June 2, 1985; Joran van der Sloot was
arrested for murder in Chile (June 3, 2010); Jonathan Pollard admits to selling
military secrets to Israel (June 4, 1986); Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot
in Los Angeles (June 5, 1968); Civil Righst leader James Meredith was shot
during the “March Against Fear” (June 6, 1962); Kennedy family cousin, Michael
Skakel was convicted of murder (June 7, 2002); James Earl Ray was arrested in
London and charged with the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. (June 8,
1968).
Highlight crime of the week –
On June 5, 1968, presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy
was shot at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. He had just finished
delivering his victory speech in the California Democratic Primary. As the
senator and his entourage were walking through the hotels kitchen pantry, Sirhan
Sirhan, 22, stepped forward with a rolled up campaign poster, hiding his .22
revolver. He was only a foot away when he fired at Kennedy. Body guards wrestled
Sirhan to the ground, but not before five bystanders were also shot. Sirhan,
who was born in Palestine, confessed to the crime at his trial and received a
death sentence on March 3, 1969. However, since the California State Supreme
Court invalidated all death penalty sentences in 1972, Sirhan’s sentenced was
reduced to life in prison. Sirhan shot Kennedy because he believed he was instrumental
in the oppression of Palestinians. Robert Kennedy died at Good Samaritan
Hospital at 1:44 a.m., on June 6, just 24 hours after he had been shot.
His book
can be purchased at Amazon through the following
link:
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