Updated at 5:05 p.m. Feb. 10, 2016
Sirhan Bishara Sirhan, who is serving a life prison term at a San Diego prison for assassinating Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 in Los Angeles, lost his 15th bid for parole Wednesday.
Parole officials found that Sirhan, 71, did not show adequate remorse or understand the enormity of the crime. He will be eligible for another parole hearing in five years.
Sirhan, who was moved to the Richard J. Donovan Correctional Facility in Otay Mesa about 2 1/2 years ago, was convicted in April 1969 of first-degree murder and assault for killing Kennedy on June 5, 1968.
The 42-year-old U.S. senator from New York was shot at close range in the kitchen of the now-shuttered Ambassador Hotel after he declared victory in the California primary in his bid for the Democratic nomination for president.
Five others were shot during the attack but survived.
The native Palestinian was initially given a death sentence, which was later commuted to life in prison after the state Supreme Court declared capital punishment unconstitutional in 1972.
During today’s hearing, Sirhan told parole officials that he didn’t remember the shooting, a claim he has made repeatedly in recent years.
He has claimed amnesia brought on by excess consumption of alcohol and has denied committing the killing, despite having admitted to the crime in open court during his trial.
One of the five people wounded that night, Kennedy confidante Paul Schrade, now 91, told the panel that he believes Sirhan shot him but thinks a second unidentified gunman killed Kennedy.
“I forgive you for shooting me,” Schrade told Sirhan. “I should have been here long ago and that’s why I feel guilty for not being here to help you and to help me.”
It was the first time the two men had faced each other since Sirhan’s 1969 trial. He nodded politely each time Schrade sought his forgiveness.
Sirhan was transferred to Donovan State Prison from Corcoran State Prison in Kings County on Nov. 22, 2013 — the 50th anniversary of the murder of his victim’s older brother, President John F. Kennedy, Dallas, Texas.
He was last denied parole in March 2011.
— City News Service
