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Legal
The Sirhan B
. Sirhan L
iterary Negotiations,
Etc., Inc.
by Steven V. R
oberts R
ead this and learn to love William
Manchester
Bob
Kaiser d
id n
ot wait u
p for th
e results of th
e Californ
ia p
rimary election
. Th
e next m
ornin
g he tu
rned
on th
e television
set. "I saw
San
der V
anocu
r describ
ing th
e scen
e, saying, 'H
ere's the h
allway w
here th
e shootin
g took place,' " he recalled. "I thought 'shooting,' they w
ere sh
ooting a film
, and
we w
ere going to see th
e film n
ow. A
nd
then
all of a su
dd
en it h
it me—
the look
on h
is face, and
then
the cu
t im
med
iately to the A
mb
assador p
antry w
here you
saw th
e wild
sh
adow
film of th
e chaos an
d th
e melee in
the p
antry. I w
oke m
y w
ife and
said, 'Jesu
s Ch
rist, Karen
, someb
ody's sh
ot Ken
ned
y.' "
Kaiser w
as a free-lance w
riter in L
os An
geles wh
o had
once
work
ed in
the T
ime b
ureau
and
kn
ew th
e men
at Life. H
e remem
-b
ered th
e morn
ing th
is way: "
I called L
ife and
said, 'D
o you gu
ys n
eed an
y help
?' Jordan
Bon
fante, th
e bu
reau ch
ief, was ou
t of tow
n b
ut h
is assistant said
, 'Of cou
rse I need
help
, come on
dow
n,
in fact, get d
own
town
and
see if you can
't get close to the cop
s an
d fin
d ou
t if they k
now
yet wh
o the assassin
was.' S
o I got dow
n-
town
, and
by th
e time I got d
own
there th
ey had
revealed th
at it w
as a kid
nam
ed S
irhan
Sirh
an."
T
wo years later K
aiser was read
ing th
e galley proofs of R
.F.K
.
Mu
st Die!, a six-h
un
dred
-forty-page b
ook h
e had
written
abou
t S
irhan
Sirh
an an
d th
e assassination
of Rob
ert F. K
enn
edy. It w
as a b
ook• th
at Sirh
an, b
y then
un
der sen
tence of d
eath, w
as trying
to stop in
the cou
rts. An
d it w
as a book
that K
aiser believed
wou
ld,
or at least shou
ld, reop
en on
e of the cen
tury's m
ost celebrated
m
urd
er cases. Th
e story of how
Kaiser w
rote the b
ook is in
terest-in
g in itself. It is also a story th
at raises imp
ortant q
uestion
s abou
t th
e right of a d
efend
ant to a fair trial, an
d h
ow th
at trial shou
ld
t... R
A
-
Sam
Yorty's egregiou
s fulm
ination
s abou
t the assassin
's Com
-m
un
ist affiliations, to w
ait for Rob
ert Ken
ned
y's last breath
on
earth. M
eanw
hile, S
irhan
had
asked
the A
merican
Civil L
iberties
Un
ion to fin
d h
im a p
rivate attorney. A
. L. W
irin, th
e head
of the
A.C
.L.U
., agreed, a d
ecision w
hich
caused
massive resign
ations
amon
g mem
bers w
hose b
elief in civil lib
erties app
arently d
id n
ot exten
d to an
Arab
assassin. K
aiser sough
t out W
irin. "
I soon
realized," Kaiser said, "that really nobody w
as able to tell us much
and
that th
e assassin w
ould
be th
e guy to get to, th
at wou
ld b
e the
real coup
. I got to Wirin
and
I said, 'A
l, can I get to S
irhan
,' and
h
e said n
o. I said I w
as surp
rised to h
ear that b
ecause I h
ad ju
st talk
ed to G
rant C
ooper ab
out th
e assassin's con
stitution
al rights
and
he still h
ad a con
stitution
al right of free sp
eech. W
irin w
as in
trigued
, not w
ith m
y little lesson in
constitu
tional law
, bu
t with
th
e fact that I k
new
Gran
t Coop
er. He h
ad b
een tryin
g to get an
attorney for S
irhan
and
could
n't. T
his w
as abou
t four or five d
ays after th
e assassination
. He h
ad tried
to get the L
os An
geles Cou
nty
Bar A
ssociation to appoint one of their mem
bers and they wouldn't
do it, an
d so w
hat h
e wan
ted w
as someb
ody lik
e myself to go after
Grant C
ooper." C
ooper w
as one of th
e most resp
ected crim
inal law
yers in tow
n,
a greying, flin
ty character w
ith a p
assion for fish
ing, w
ho look
ed
a little like S
pen
cer Tracy p
laying C
larence D
arrow, su
spen
ders
and
all. Kaiser's p
itch to C
ooper con
tained
a sweeten
er : the at-
torney w
ould
not lose m
oney on
the case if K
aiser were allow
ed to
interview
Sirh
an. H
e could
then
write several exclu
sive magazin
e articles and m
ake enough to cover the case's expenses. Cooper agreed
to the arran
gemen
t, bu
t un
der on
e cond
ition: th
at his role n
ot be
mad
e. nn
hlie u
ntil after h
e finish
ed rep
resentin
g a wealth
y defen
d-
all-of a sud
den
it hit m
e—th
e look on
his face, an
d th
en th
e cut
imm
ediately to th
e Am
bassad
or pan
try wh
ere you saw
the w
ild
shad
ow film
of the ch
aos and
the m
elee in th
e pan
try. I wok
e my
wife an
d said
, 'Jesus C
hrist, K
aren, som
ebod
y's shot K
enn
edy.' "
K
aiser was a free-lan
ce writer in
Los A
ngeles w
ho h
ad on
ce w
orked
in th
e Tim
e bu
reau an
d k
new
the m
en at L
ife. He rem
em-
bered
the m
ornin
g this w
ay: "I called
Life an
d said
, 'Do you
guys
need
any h
elp?' Jord
an B
onfan
te, the b
ureau
chief, w
as out of
town
bu
t his assistan
t said, 'O
f course I n
eed h
elp, com
e on d
own
, in
fact, get dow
ntow
n an
d see if you
can't get close to th
e cops
and
find
out if th
ey kn
ow yet w
ho th
e assassin w
as.' So I got d
own
-tow
n, an
d b
y the tim
e I got dow
n th
ere they h
ad revealed
that it
was a k
id n
amed
Sirh
an S
irhan
."
Tw
o years later Kaiser w
as readin
g the galley p
roofs of R.F
.K.
Mu
st Die!, a six-h
un
dred
-forty-page b
ook h
e had
written
abou
t S
irhan
Sirh
an an
d th
e assassination
of Rob
ert F. K
enn
edy. It w
as a b
ook, th
at Sirh
an, b
y then
un
der sen
tence of d
eath, w
as trying
to stop in
the cou
rts. An
d it w
as a book
that K
aiser believed
wou
ld,
or at least shou
ld, reop
en on
e of the cen
tury's m
ost celebrated
m
urd
er cases. Th
e story of how
Kaiser w
rote the b
ook is in
terest-in
g in itself. It is also a story th
at raises imp
ortant q
uestion
s abou
t th
e right of a d
efend
ant to a fair trial, an
d h
ow th
at trial shou
ld
be financed. R
obert B
lair Kaiser is th
irty-nin
e, one of th
ose willin
g victims
of Sou
thern
Californ
ia wh
o wou
ld u
sually rath
er play ten
nis or go
skiin
g th
an
work
. He jo
ined
the J
esuits a
s a y
ou
ng m
an
an
d
end
ured
the clerical life for ten
years—th
e first two of w
hich
were
devoted to picking grapes—before abandoning his vow
s. He started
work
ing on
a new
spap
er in P
hoen
ix and
with
in several years b
e-cam
e Tim
e's acting b
ureau
chief in
Rom
e, covering th
e Vatican
C
oun
cil and
writin
g a book
abou
t Pop
e John
. Mean
wh
ile, his first
marriage b
roke u
p an
d h
e return
ed to th
e magazin
e's Los A
ngeles
bu
reau. H
e took a leave of ab
sence in
1966 to work
for Th
omas
Brad
en, a frien
d of th
e Ken
ned
ys, wh
o was ru
nn
ing for L
ieuten
ant
Govern
or of Californ
ia. Brad
en lost—
he n
ow w
rites a new
spap
er
colum
n w
ith F
rank
Man
kiew
icz, Rob
ert Ken
ned
y's former p
ress secretary—
bu
t Kaiser d
ecided
to qu
it Tim
e and
start free-lancin
g. "
In M
arch of 1968 I w
as just gettin
g going—
I had
struggled
for a year an
d a h
alf and
Pierre S
alinger called
me an
d said
, 'Wou
ld
you go to w
ork for B
ob K
enn
edy in
Neb
raska? W
e wan
t someon
e to ru
n th
e press op
eration,' "
Kaiser recalled
. "S
o I kin
d of gave
it twen
ty-four h
ours' th
ough
t and
said, 'L
ook, I'd
like to h
elp,
mayb
e later.' An
d later n
ever came. W
ith th
at kin
d of h
istory I w
as more cu
rious th
an m
ost guys w
ho w
ere outsid
e, and
I wan
ted
to know m
ore about the assassination." A
fter he got d
own
town
on th
e morn
ing of Ju
ne 5, K
aiser spen
t several days trooping around tow
n with a herd of other reporters—
to watch
the S
irhan
s' poor little h
ouse ou
t in P
asaden
a, to hear
extend
to an A
rab assassin
. Kaiser sou
ght ou
t Wirin
. "I soon
realized," K
aiser said, "that really nobody was able to tell us m
uch an
d th
at the assassin
wou
ld b
e the gu
y to get to, that w
ould
be th
e real cou
p. I got to W
irin an
d I said
, 'Al, can
I get to Sirh
an,' an
d
he said
no. I said
I was su
rprised
to hear th
at becau
se I had
just
talked
to Gran
t Coop
er abou
t the assassin
's constitu
tional righ
ts an
d h
e still had
a constitu
tional righ
t of free speech
. Wirin
was
intrigu
ed, n
ot with
my little lesson
in con
stitution
al law, b
ut w
ith
the fact th
at I kn
ew G
rant C
ooper. H
e had
been
trying to get an
-
attorney for S
irhan
and
could
n't. T
his w
as abou
t four or five d
ays after th
e assassination
. He h
ad tried
to get the L
os An
geles Cou
nty
Bar A
ssociation to appoint one of their mem
bers and they wouldn't
do it, an
d so w
hat h
e wan
ted w
as someb
ody lik
e myself to go after
Grant C
ooper." C
ooper w
as one of th
e most resp
ected crim
inal law
yers in tow
n,
a greying, flin
ty character w
ith a p
assion for fish
ing, w
ho look
ed
a little like S
pen
cer Tracy p
laying C
larence D
arrow, su
spen
ders
and
all. Kaiser's p
itch to C
ooper con
tained
a sweeten
er: the at-
torney w
ould
not lose m
oney on
the case if K
aiser were allow
ed to
interview
Sirh
an. H
e could
then
write several exclu
sive magazin
e articles and m
ake enough to cover the case's expenses. Cooper agreed
to the arran
gemen
t, bu
t un
der on
e cond
ition: th
at his role 'n
ot be
mad
e pu
blic u
ntil after h
e finish
ed rep
resentin
g a wealth
y defen
d-
ant in
a high
ly pu
blicized
card-ch
eating case at th
e local Friars'
Clu
b. U
ntil C
ooper cou
ld p
ub
licly enter th
e case, an attorn
ey of record w
as needed. Several lawyers had volunteered to the A
.C.L
.U.
and Cooper selected R
ussell Parsons.
Wh
y did
Kaiser get in
volved in
a case so man
y others—
lawyers,
writers, and, later, publishers—
shunned as they would a leper? P
art of it w
as his ten
uou
s association w
ith th
e Ken
ned
ys. An
d p
art of
it, he ad
mitted
to me, w
as his "
overween
ing am
bition
." H
e did
n
ot Wan
t mon
ey; at first he even
thou
ght of tu
rnin
g over all the
proceed
s from h
is work
. Wh
at he d
id w
ant w
as the story, a story
wh
ich w
ould
give him
visibility an
d n
otoriety. "I w
as a free-lance
writer, h
ere in L
.A., an
d it w
as the story of th
e year in L
.A., an
d
if a guy cou
ldn
't get that story. . . . If a free-lan
cer could
n't get
it then
prob
ably n
o one cou
ld h
ave gotten it. I th
ink
it wou
ld h
ave b
een m
uch
hard
er for a staffer at Tim
e or Life or T
he N
ew Y
ork
Tim
es to get anyw
here as close as I d
id. H
ere I was an
emissary
from W
irin to C
ooper, tryin
g to find
Sirh
an an
attorney. T
o get th
e story
an
edito
r mig
ht sa
y th
at's a
ll righ
t, bu
t mayb
e he
wou
ldn
't. Mayb
e he'd
say you h
ave no b
usin
ess getting th
at in-
volved in a story." raiser m
ade a gen
tleman
's agreemen
t with
Coop
er to get his in
-terview
s with Sirhan. A
month later he got a call from
Jordan Bon-
fante at L
ife. Ru
ssell Parson
s, the attorn
ey of record, h
ad h
ired
an investigator named M
ichael McC
owan, an ex-cop w
ho had once been convicted of robbing the 'U
.S. Mails. M
cCow
an is a flamboyant
Ph
oto
gra
ph
on
pag
e 1
32 b
y D
an
Wyn
n
ES
QU
IRE
: NO
VE
MB
ER
131
on iro
an "I th
ink I w
as
disg
usted
with
myself fo
r not
bein
g ab
le to p
ull o
ne h
undred
percen
t of th
e truth
out o
f him
,
and I tu
rned
the d
isgust to
ward
him
. I should
hav
e blam
ed m
yself
for p
erhap
s not h
avin
g m
ore
finesse, b
ut I b
lamed
him
for
bein
g so
closed
and fo
r not h
avin
g
enough sen
se to co
nfid
e in h
is
psy
chiatrist, w
ho co
uld
hav
e
help
ed h
im...
V.
_,0,4011P
type, w
ith sh
ow
man
-like tastes in
cars and clo
thes, an
d, acco
rdin
g
to B
onfan
te, he w
as back
in N
ew Y
ork
tryin
g to
sell Sirh
an's sto
ry
to a magazine. W
hen Kaiser heard that, he exploded, som
ething he
does rath
er often
. Then
Parso
ns tu
rned
affable—
partly
becau
se
McC
ow
an h
ad n
ot b
een ab
le to sell an
yth
ing—
and ag
reed to
take
Kaiser, w
ho w
as still thin
kin
g in
terms o
f a mag
azine p
iece, to
Sirhan's cell for an interview
. The defense team
had to hire KaisM
as an o
fficial investig
ator, b
ecause n
o n
ewsm
en w
ere allow
ed to
see the d
efendan
t. At first K
aiser thought it w
as just a ru
se;
later he w
ound u
p d
oin
g co
nsid
erable w
ork
on th
e case. In ad
di-
tion, G
rant C
ooper recalled
, mak
ing K
aiser an in
vestig
ator p
ro-
hib
ited th
e pro
secutio
n fro
m su
bpoen
aing h
im. It also
placed
the
writer u
nder all co
urt o
rders g
overn
ing p
retrial publicity
, and
thus h
elped
pro
tect Sirh
an.
On A
ugust 1
5, K
aiser had
his first in
terview
. He rem
embered
it this w
ay : "I h
ad th
is session w
ith S
irhan
, about tw
o o
r three
hours. P
arsons ask
ed n
inety
-five p
ercent o
f the q
uestio
ns an
d th
ey
were all lead
ing q
uestio
ns an
d it so
unded
like I h
ad g
ot a re-
hearsed
thin
g. W
e got o
ut o
n th
e sidew
alk an
d P
arsons said
,
'Well, th
at interv
iew o
ught to
be w
orth
$100,0
00.' A
nd I said
,
'Russ, th
at was n
o in
terview
. In th
e first place y
ou ask
ed all th
e
questio
ns; in
the seco
nd p
lace that w
as a canned
, spiel; in
the
third
place I'v
e got to
learn a lo
t more ab
out h
is back
gro
und, h
is
family
and h
is gro
win
g u
p, h
is thoughts o
n lo
ve an
d w
ar and
religio
n an
d ev
eryth
ing else, to
sell anyth
ing.' " T
wo m
ore in
ter-
views produced little new
material. M
eanwhile, according to K
aiser,
Parso
ns an
d M
cCow
an w
ere exertin
g p
ressure o
n, h
im to
write a
book in
stead o
f an article. T
hey
wan
ted m
ore m
oney
, and b
esides,
McG
owan had already been
turned down by m
any of the big maga-
zines. R
eluctan
tly, K
aiser agreed
. He w
as already co
nvin
ced th
at
Sirhan w
as too "shallow" to provide m
aterial for a biography. More-
over, K
aiser recalled, "S
irhan
had
n't rem
embered
anyth
ing o
f the
assassinatio
n itself, in
the p
antry
. I did
n't k
now
wheth
er to b
elieve
that o
r not, b
ut if th
at was h
is story
and if h
e stuck
to it th
en
I would
n't h
ave th
e feelings o
f the assassin
as he lev
eled th
e gun
or an
yth
ing lik
e that. S
o I w
asn't to
o clear w
hat th
e heck
the b
ook
was g
oin
g to
be ex
cept th
at I knew
I could
get in
volv
ed an
d stay
involv
ed an
d w
rite a histo
ry m
ore o
f the case an
d o
f all the o
ther
peo
ple aro
und it, an
d th
at's the w
ay it tu
rned
out."
Kaiser's ag
ent at th
e time w
as Don C
ongdon, w
ho w
as also
William
Manchester's agent. B
oth of them had been m
ade so wary
by M
anch
ester's treatmen
t at the h
ands o
f the K
enned
ys th
at the
contract d
rafted b
y K
aiser's lawyers gave th
e writer ab
solu
te con-
trol over the manuscript. Indeed, few
publishers today would com
-
missio
n a b
ook in
which
the su
bject h
as the rig
ht to
censo
r the
man
uscrip
t; Man
chester left to
o m
any scars. K
aiser's only
oblig
a-
tion was to "m
ake every effort to consult with the principals of the
story
, inclu
din
g S
irhan
B. S
irhan
, his fam
ily an
d h
is attorn
eys,
double-ch
eckin
g th
e facts with
them
and h
is interp
retation o
f +lint
hp
ma
y n
rod
uce a
work
or w
ork
s in k
eepin
g
work
ed it aro
und so
that I w
ould
take less p
ercentag
e than
I had
orig
inally
wan
ted an
d th
at the law
yers w
ould
take less an
d th
e
family
would
take m
ore. I n
ever felt rig
ht ab
out th
at."
But th
e agreem
ent w
as mad
e: one th
ird fo
r Kaiser, tw
o th
irds
for the family. O
ut of the two thirds, one half w
ent to the lawyers,
with
their ex
pen
ses com
ing o
ff the to
p. (B
y m
idsu
mm
er, $32,0
00
had been turned over by Kaiser, m
ainly from television, advances
on th
e book, an
d m
agazin
e sales here an
d ab
road
. The fam
ily h
ad
kept $6,000, the rest going for legal expenses. C
ooper was still out
$10,000 of his own m
oney. Another $19,000 w
as in escrow, w
aiting
for all legal complications to be settled.)
Even before K
aiser went back to N
ew Y
ork to sell the book, he
ran into trouble. Don C
ongdon called and said he could not repre-
sent him anym
ore. According to K
aiser, Congdon explained: "W
e
had
a big
crisis meetin
g h
ere and m
y p
artners d
on't w
ant m
e to
get involved in this book because the Harold M
atson Com
pany does
not want to be know
n as the agency which gets rich on the death of
Kennedys." W
hen he finally reached New
York, K
aiser and his new
agent, Maxim
ilian Becker, w
ent to see Robert G
utwillig, his editor
at World
and N
ew A
merican
Lib
rary. K
aiser already h
ad a co
n-
tract with
the co
mpan
y fo
r two o
ther b
ooks, in
cludin
g o
ne ab
out
nuns. "I was thinking in the area of a $25,000 to $75,000 advance,"
Kaiser said
. "Holt h
ad ju
st giv
en C
oretta K
ing an
advan
ce of
$500,0
00 fo
r her sto
ry, so
I did
n't th
ink $
25,0
00 w
as exorb
itant.
I was very naive and took the naive new
sman's approach: here's the
story
, who w
ants it?"
Coin
ciden
tally, G
utw
illig h
ad h
elped
start the w
ave o
f "killer"
books flo
odin
g th
e mark
et at the tim
e by u
rgin
g G
erold
Fran
k to
write T
he B
osto
n S
tran
gler. H
e had
then
become so
meth
ing o
f an
expert in
the g
enre, d
ealing w
ith cases w
hich
involv
ed law
yers
such
as F. L
ee Bailey
and P
ercy F
orem
an. A
mong th
e books
he h
ad p
rom
oted
were o
ne o
n th
e Coppolin
o m
urd
er case in
New
Jersey an
d an
oth
er about a g
entlem
an k
now
n as th
e "Pied
Pip
er of T
ucso
n." In
fact, just th
e week
befo
re Kaiser cam
e to
tow
n, G
utw
illig h
ad m
et with
William
Brad
ford
Huie, th
e writer
who w
as tryin
g to
ped
dle th
e story
of Jam
es Earl R
ay. B
ut th
e
edito
r was startin
g to
hav
e second th
oughts. "I h
ad real q
ualm
s
about th
ese books in
terms o
f quality
," said G
utw
illig, w
ho n
ow
work
s for P
layboy. "I w
as also concerned—you couldn't in any w
ay
prove these books were helping to create a clim
ate of violence—but
you didn't know w
ho was reading them
, particularly in paperback.
They had enorm
ous sales and were syndicated in m
agazines. Then
Bob K
enned
y w
as killed
, and w
hile I w
asn't clo
se to h
im, I k
new
him fairly w
ell, and I was em
otionally involved with him
. I decided
when he w
as killed that I would get out of the violence business in
publishing. When K
aiser came to m
e with this arrangem
ent he had
mad
e with
the law
yers, I really
jum
ped
out o
f my sk
in. I g
ot v
ery
upset an
d to
ld h
im it w
as a terrible th
ing to
do. W
e were g
ivin
g
peo
ple a licen
se to k
ill. First th
ing y
ou d
o is k
ill som
ebody, th
en
you get a lawyer, an
d th
en y
ou g
et a publish
er. I had
been
quite
Parso
ns an
d M
cCo
wan
were ex
erting
pressu
re on
him
to w
rite a b
oo
k in
stead o
f an article. T
hey
wan
ted m
ore m
on
ey, an
d b
esides,
McC
owan had already been turned dow
n by many of the big m
aga-zin
es. Relu
ctantly
, Kaiser ag
reed. H
e was alread
y co
nv
inced
that
Sirhan w
as too "shallow" to provide m
aterial for a biography. More-
over, K
aiser recalled, "S
irhan
had
n't rem
embered
anyth
ing o
f the
assassinatio
n itself, in
the p
antry
. I did
n't k
now
wheth
er to b
elieve
that o
r no
t, bu
t if that w
as his sto
ry an
d if h
e stuck
to it th
en
I would
n't h
ave th
e feelings o
f the assassin
as he lev
eled th
e gun
or an
yth
ing
like th
at. So
I wasn
't too
clear wh
at the h
eck th
e bo
ok
w
as going to
be ex
cept th
at I knew
I could
get in
volv
ed an
d stay
in
volv
ed an
d w
rite a histo
ry m
ore o
f the case an
d o
f all the o
ther
peo
ple aro
un
d it, an
d th
at's the w
ay it tu
rned
ou
t." K
aiser's agen
t at the tim
e was D
on C
ongdon, w
ho w
as also
William
Man
chester's ag
ent. B
oth
of th
em h
ad b
een m
ade so
wary
b
y M
anch
ester's treatmen
t at the h
and
s of th
e Ken
ned
ys th
at the
contract d
rafted b
y K
aiser's lawyers g
ave th
e writer ab
solu
te con-
trol o
ver th
e man
uscrip
t. Indeed
, few p
ublish
ers today
would
com
-m
ission
a bo
ok
in w
hich
the su
bject h
as the rig
ht to
censo
r the
man
uscrip
t ; Man
chester left to
o m
any
scars. Kaiser's o
nly
ob
liga-
tion w
as to "m
ake ev
ery effo
rt to co
nsu
lt with
the p
rincip
als of th
e sto
ry, in
cludin
g S
irhan
B. S
irhan
, his fam
ily an
d h
is attorn
eys,
do
ub
le-check
ing
the facts w
ith th
em an
d h
is interp
retation
of
these facts, so
that h
e may
pro
duce a w
ork
or w
ork
s in k
eepin
g
with the best canons of objective reporting and historical accuracy."
Kaiser h
ad also
been
frigh
tened
by
McC
ow
an. "I d
on
't kn
ow
w
heth
er the g
od
s will co
nd
emn
me o
r no
t," he recalled
, "but I
figu
red, let's m
ake an
exclu
sive ag
reemen
t, so th
e family
can't
be sellin
g o
ther rig
hts o
ut th
e side d
oor. A
nd I lo
aded
the co
ntract
with
every
possib
le right I co
uld
thin
k o
f, even
though I h
ad n
o
idea o
r sense th
at I was ev
er goin
g to
exercise th
em. B
ut. I g
ot
TV
rights, rad
io rig
hts, m
ovie rig
hts, fo
reign rig
hts, y
ou k
novtf,
all the rig
hts. S
o after th
e case was o
ver, w
hen
NB
C in
terview
ed
Sirh
an, th
ey h
ad to
neg
otiate w
ith m
e and
they
had
to p
ay m
e $
17
,50
0, w
hich
I then
pu
t into
the k
itty an
d it w
as split u
p lik
e ev
eryth
ing
else was sp
lit up
. Wh
ereas if I had
n't th
ou
gh
t of th
at, th
e family
would
have p
robab
ly b
een th
e ones to
neg
otiate th
e rig
hts w
ith N
BC
, and
the fam
ily w
ou
ld h
ave g
otten
richer th
an
they
are no
w. S
o in
a way
I feel like k
ind
of a b
astard, I really
sort
of went in there and took everything aw
ay. On the other hand, w
hat good w
ould
an ex
clusiv
e agreem
ent w
ith S
irhan
be in
, say, p
rint,
if they
could
turn
around an
d m
ake all so
rts of o
ther d
eals. So it
either h
ad to
be ex
clusiv
e or n
oth
ing."
Th
e big
gest h
assle came o
ver th
e allocatio
n o
f pro
fits. "I nev
er felt rig
ht ab
out
givin
g a
dim
e to S
irhan
, to S
irhan
's family
," K
aiser con
ceded
. "I wo
rked
ou
t the assig
nm
ent-o
f-pro
ceeds ag
ree-m
ent o
rigin
ally so
that th
e family
would
hav
e a min
uscu
le amount
—about sixteen percent—
and that the lawyers w
ould get most o
f it. B
ut I g
ot in
to a b
ig fig
ht w
ith A
del S
irhan
over th
at and w
e finally
Co
incid
entally
, Gu
twillig
had
help
ed start th
e wav
e of "k
iller" books flo
odin
g th
e mark
et at the tim
e by u
rgin
g G
erold
Fran
k to
w
rite Th
e Boston
Stran
gler. He had then becom
e something of an
exp
ert in th
e gen
re, dealin
g w
ith cases w
hich
inv
olv
ed law
yers
such
as F. L
ee Bailey
and
Percy
Fo
reman
. Am
on
g th
e bo
ok
s he h
ad p
rom
oted
were o
ne o
n th
e Coppolin
o m
urd
er case in
New
Jersey an
d an
oth
er abo
ut a g
entlem
an k
no
wn
as the "P
ied
Pip
er of T
ucso
n." In
fact, just th
e week
befo
re Kaiser cam
e to
tow
n, G
utw
illig h
ad m
et with
William
Brad
ford
Huie, th
e writer
wh
o w
as tryin
g to
ped
dle th
e story
of Jam
es Earl R
ay. B
ut th
e ed
itor w
as starting to
hav
e second th
oughts. "I h
ad real q
ualm
s ab
out th
ese books in
terms o
f quality
," said G
utw
illig, w
ho n
ow
w
orks for Playboy. "
I was also concerned—
you couldn't in any way
prove these books were helping to create a clim
ate of violence—but
you didn't know w
ho was reading them
, particularly in paperback. T
hey had enormous sales and w
ere syndicated in magazines. T
hen B
ob K
enned
y w
as killed
, and w
hile I w
asn't clo
se to h
im, I kn
ew
him fairly w
ell, and I was em
otionally involved with him
. I decided w
hen he was killed that I w
ould get out of the violence business in publishing. W
hen Kaiser cam
e to me w
ith this arrangement he had
mad
e with
the law
yers, I really
jum
ped
ou
t of m
y sk
in. I g
ot v
ery
up
set and
told
him
it was a terrib
le thin
g to
do
. We w
ere giv
ing
peo
ple a. licen
se to k
ill. First th
ing y
ou d
o is k
ill som
ebody, th
en
you g
et a lawyer, an
d th
en y
ou g
et a publish
er. I had
been
quite
friend
ly w
ith K
aiser and
he b
ecame v
ery u
pset. H
e felt the b
oo
k
was p
art of h
istory
, so o
n an
d so
forth
. I told
him
I cou
ldn
't any
longer, m
ake th
at kin
d o
f justificatio
n, an
d I released
him
from
his
op
tion
. I felt stron
gly
that it w
as a bad
bo
ok
that w
ou
ldn
't sell. He
thought it w
ould
be a classic w
ith a cap
ital K."
Fro
m K
aiser's view
po
int, th
e meetin
g w
as just as an
gry
and
u
nh
app
y. "I h
ad th
is lon
g sessio
n w
ith G
utw
illig an
d E
d K
uh
n,
the p
residen
t of W
orld
Pu
blish
ing
," Kaiser said
. "Bo
th o
f them
ju
st did
n't feel rig
ht ab
ou
t this th
ing
. Th
ey co
uld
n't articu
late their feelings but I knew
they were real feelings because I rem
em-
ber Kuhn even crying, tears com
ing down his cheeks, just thinking
about th
e a
ssassin
atio
n. W
hen G
utw
illig sa
id h
e d
idn't fe
el
righ
t abo
ut it, I said
, 'Lo
ok
, wh
at's that g
ot to
do
with
any
thin
g?
You guys are in business to m
ake money for your stockholders and
if it's a go
od
bo
ok
that p
eop
le wan
t to read
I just d
on
't un
derstan
d
how your feelings could get in the w
ay. This is a professional thing.
I feel abo
ut it to
o. I lo
ved
Ken
ned
y, I ad
mired
him
, I tho
ug
ht h
e w
ou
ld b
e Presid
ent. B
ut I'm
curio
us, an
d I th
ink
the w
orld
is curious, and w
e may never know
. Sirhan m
ay never even get to trial. T
he way assassin
s get to trial in
this co
un
try th
ere's abo
ut a fifty
-fifty
chan
ce he'll g
et to trial. A
nd ev
en in
a trial we m
ay n
ot k
now
w
hat h
appen
ed.' B
ut G
utw
illig to
ld m
e he d
idn't th
ink I'd
get an
y-
thin
g n
ew, th
at it was u
nim
portan
t anyw
ay, an
d th
at it would
take
me a y
ear to d
o. H
e wasn
't listenin
g. H
e'd m
ade u
p h
is min
d th
at he w
asn't going to help S
irhan's defense." (Con
tinu
ed on page 205)
13
4
ES
QU
IRE
: NO
VE
MB
ER
Th
nm
aa
Wa
hl is
wa
arin
n a
tits by P
eter Max an
d a D
ry & N
atural look
by Com
mand.
Copyrig
ht 1
970, A
lberto
-Cu
lver Co
., Melro
se Park
, III.
(Contin
ued
from
page 1
S4)
How
does so
meo
ne lik
e Sirh
an p
ay
for an
adeq
uate d
efense? G
rant
Cooper w
as u
neasy
about th
e a
r-ran
gem
ent w
ith K
aiser, but h
e saw
no a
ltern
ativ
e. "I h
ave a
gre
at d
eal
of d
ou
bt a
s to th
e w
isdo
m o
f the
contra
ct a
s it h
as d
evelo
ped,"
sa
id C
ooper, w
ho w
as fire
d
by
Sirh
an
afte
r the tria
l. "A
nd
I certa
inly
wo
uld
no
t have fe
lt right ta
kin
g a
ny
mo
ney
for m
yself. E
very
thin
g
I get after ex
pen
ses is goin
g
to th
e Un
iversity
of S
ou
thern
C
alifo
rnia
law
school. B
ut
know
ing th
e k
ind o
f trial it
was g
oin
g to
be, an
d k
now
ing
the k
ind o
f defe
nse
we h
ad
to p
ut o
n, it w
as a
bso
lute
ly
necessary
that w
e hav
e mo
ney
fo
r exp
enses. A
nd w
here th
e hell else w
as it goin
g to
com
e fro
m?"
Sirh
an, o
r anyone else, can
b
e represen
ted b
y th
e pub
lic defe
nder, b
ut C
ooper fe
els
that is an
imperfect so
lutio
n.
"We'v
e g
ot a
good p
ublic
defen
der's o
ffice in L
os A
n-
gele
s, bu
t they a
re c
ircu
m-
scribed
on th
e budget sid
e as to
what th
ey c
an sp
end fo
r expert w
itnesse
s and th
e
like," sa
id th
e la
wyer. A
nd
as Sirh
an h
imself rem
arked
w
hen
he in
sisted o
n a p
rivate
atto
rney, "
The p
ublic
de-
fender g
ets paid
at the sam
e w
indow
as the p
rosecu
tor."
"I felt th
e m
oney sh
ould
have b
een ra
ised th
rough
som
e sort o
f public arran
ge-
men
t," said G
utw
illig. "If th
e A
.C.L
.U. h
ad ag
reed to
keep
th
e case, it should
hav
e gone
out a
nd ra
ised th
e m
oney ;
there sh
ould
be so
me so
rt of
agen
cy lik
e that su
bsid
izing
cases." In
fact, $1
6,0
00
was
rais
ed
am
on
g A
meric
an
A
rab
s for S
irhan
, bu
t that
covere
d le
ss than o
ne th
ird
of th
e expen
ses. In an
y case,
it is un
realistic to ex
pect th
e public
to c
ontrib
ute
to th
e
defen
se of a m
urd
erer. Dar-
as rather m
orib
und. D
utto
n w
as look-
ing fo
r nonfictio
n b
ooks o
n cu
rrent
top
ics. "Jack an
d I h
it it off," recalled
K
aise
r. "We w
ere
bo
th C
ath
olic
s, and h
e h
ad re
ad m
y b
ook o
n P
olo
) Jo
hn, an
d w
e had
mutu
al friends in
th
e liberal C
atholic co
mm
unity
and
he felt k
ind o
f morally
oblig
ated to
m
ake an
offer. B
ut h
e thought h
e'd
mak
e the lo
west p
ossib
le offer so
he
would
n't h
ave to
publish
the b
ook. H
e offered
$7,5
00 an
d it w
as the o
nly
goddam
n o
ffer we h
ad. I rem
ember
calling h
im u
p fro
m th
e airport o
n
my
way
ou
t of to
wn
sayin
g, 'Y
ou
've
got y
ourself a b
ook,' an
d h
e was so
su
rprised
." M
acra
e w
as n
ot su
rprise
d th
at
Kaiser h
ad g
otten
no
big
offers; h
e w
as su
rprise
d th
at D
utto
n w
as th
e
on
ly c
om
pan
y to
mak
e a
bid
. He
loo
ked
on
the p
roje
ct a
s "fa
irly
specu
lative" an
d w
as not ev
en su
re "w
hat so
rt of b
ook w
ould
evolv
e." B
ut in
gen
eral the id
ea was to
stud
y
the p
sych
olo
gical m
akeu
p o
f a killer
and th
e way
in w
hich
a modern
police
forc
e in
vestig
ate
s a m
ajo
r crim
e.
Macrae d
id n
ot feel th
e pro
ject was
eth
ical, a
lthough h
e a
gre
ed w
ith
Kaise
r that a
bio
gra
phy o
f Sirh
an
was n
ot a g
ood id
ea. "We d
idn't w
ant
to tak
e advan
tage o
f the assassin
a-tio
n o
f Robert K
enned
y, fo
r whom
all o
f us h
ere had
enorm
ous resp
ect.
TH
E S
IRH
AN
B. S
IRH
AN
L
ITE
RA
RY
NE
GO
TIA
TIO
NS
, ET
C., IN
C.
Th
om
as D
ah
l Is we
arin
g a
tie b
y Pe
ter M
ax a
nd
a D
ry & N
atu
ral lo
ok b
y Co
mm
an
d.
Copyright 1970, A
lberto-Culver C
o., Melrose P
ark, Ill.
Introducing: New
CO
MM
AN
D
Dry&
Natural H
air Control
for Men.
To
da
y's loo
k is na
tura
l, ea
sy, ind
ividu
al. A
nd
tod
ay's d
esig
n-
ers cre
ate
styles th
at re
flect th
at lo
ok. C
om
mand h
as cre
ate
d
ne
w D
ry & N
atu
ral H
air C
on
trol to
kee
p yo
ur h
air lo
okin
g n
at-
ura
l, ea
sy a
nd
ind
ivid
ua
l ...an
d k
ee
p it in
pla
ce
, too
. Dry
&
Natu
ral is n
eve
r stiff or sticky. It h
as n
o sw
eet sce
nt to
get in
th
e w
ay. D
ry & N
atu
ral. It's fo
r tod
ay's lo
ok in
me
n's h
air.
Get your first Com
mand D
ry & N
atural look FREE
In ca
se so
meone b
eat yo
u to
the co
u-
pon, you can get your first Dry &
Natural
look FR
EE
just by sending 250 (to cover th
e co
st of h
and
ling) to
:
Co
mm
an
d D
ry & N
atu
ral, D
ep
t. E, B
ox
79
4, H
insd
ale
, Illino
is 60
52
1
r
Co
mm
and
s Dry &
Natu
ral D
ept. E
, Bo
x 794, Hin
sdale, Illin
ois 60521
I'd lik
e m
y firs
t Dry
& N
atu
ral lo
ok F
RE
E. I'm
enclo
sin
g
25
0 to
cove
r the
cost o
f ha
nd
ling
.
Nam
e
Addre
ss
City
State
Zip
Ple
ase
allo
w 2
to 3
weeks fo
r delive
ry; Inclu
de yo
ur Z
ip C
ode
I.
to insure prompt service. O
ffer expires March 30, 1971.
ES
QU
IRE
: NO
VE
MB
ER
gele
s, .bu
t they
are
circ
um
-scrib
ed o
n th
e bu
dg
et side as
to w
hat th
ey c
an sp
end fo
r expert w
itnesse
s and th
e
like," sa
id th
e la
wy
er. A
nd
as S
irhan h
imse
lf rem
ark
ed
when
he in
sisted o
n a p
rivate
atto
rney
, "T
he p
ub
lic d
e-
fender g
ets paid
at the sam
e w
indow
as the p
rosecu
tor."
"I felt th
e m
oney sh
ould
h
av
e b
een
raise
d th
rou
gh
so
me so
rt of p
ublic arran
ge-
men
t," said G
utw
illig. "If th
e A
.C.L
.U. h
ad ag
reed to
keep
th
e case, it shou
ld h
ave g
on
e out a
nd ra
ised th
e m
oney;
there sh
ould
be so
me so
rt of
agency lik
e th
at su
bsid
izin
g
cases." In fact, $
16,0
00 w
as ra
ised
am
on
g A
meric
an
A
rabs fo
r Sirh
an, b
ut th
at
covere
d le
ss than o
ne th
ird
of th
e exp
enses. In
any
case, it is u
nrealistic to
expect th
e p
ublic
to c
ontrib
ute
to th
e
defe
nse
of a
mu
rdere
r, par-
ticularly
on
e so u
np
op
ular as
Sirh
an. B
ut G
utw
illig fe
els
the p
ub
lishers h
av
e h
ad
it: "I d
on't th
ink p
ublish
ers
will g
o o
n m
uch
lon
ger in
effect p
ayin
g fo
r the d
efense
of alleg
ed m
urd
erers, becau
se th
at's w
hat w
e're
doin
g. In
fa
ct, w
e're
actu
ally
su
b-
sidiz
ing p
eople
to m
urd
er
each o
ther in
the m
ost flam
-boyan
t way
possib
le. Som
e-th
ing else b
oth
ers me, to
o. If
you h
ave a sen
sational m
ur-
dere
r—a L
ee O
swald
or a
S
irhan o
r a Ja
mes E
arl R
ay
—he m
ight b
e able to
afford
a fa
irly e
xpensiv
e d
efe
nse
. B
ut so
me p
oor b
lack w
ho's
accused
of m
urd
ering so
me-
one in
the g
hetto
gets th
e
pu
blic
defe
nd
er. It se
em
s hig
hly
ineq
uitab
le." A
fter G
utw
illig tu
rned
Kaise
r do
wn
, so d
id a
bo
ut
eig
ht o
ther p
ub
lishers; se
v-
era
l did
not e
ven b
oth
er to
se
e h
im. H
e ta
lked
to th
e
secre
tary
of B
ern
ard
Geis,
pu
blish
er of so
me o
f the m
ost
no
torio
us b
oo
ks o
f recen
t years
. Then h
e s
aw
Jack
Macra
e, w
ho
had
recen
tly
gone to
E. P
. Dutto
n, a h
ouse
Macrae d
escribed
at the tim
e
Can
you p
ick ou
t your S
cotch?
We d
idn't w
ant to
pro
fit from
it. But
we w
anted
to g
et the sto
ry o
ut, an
d
it was m
y g
uess th
at Kaiser w
ould
be a
ble
to d
ig th
e sto
ry o
ut a
nd
pre
sent a
fair in
terp
reta
tion o
f the
even
ts." K
aise
r's diffic
ultie
s did
not e
nd
there
. He trie
d to
inte
rest
Life
in
buyin
g th
e m
agazin
e rig
hts, a
nd
thre
e e
dito
rs disc
usse
d m
akin
g a
n
offer o
f $200,0
00. A
few d
ays later
one o
f the e
dito
rs calle
d a
nd sa
id:
"We h
ad tw
o lo
ng m
eetings o
n th
is an
d w
e were o
verru
led b
y th
e hig
hest
peo
ple in
the co
mpan
y. T
heir arg
u-
men
t was illo
gical, b
ut it w
on o
ut.
Basically
they
felt it would
be b
ad
public relatio
ns to
put m
oney
into
a pot th
at would
aid S
irhan
's defen
se. L
ife and o
ther m
agazin
es w
ere
offered
excerp
ts from
the co
mpleted
book an
d tu
rned
them
dow
n. L
adies' H
ome Journal p
rinted
two ch
apters.
Kaiser th
en w
ent to
see The S
atu
r-day E
vening Post, w
hich
was talk
ing
about $
25,0
00 fo
r two p
ieces. H
e
wro
te the fo
llow
ing acco
unt o
f the
meetin
g in
his jo
urn
al: "Otto
Fried
-rich
asked
som
e smart-ass q
uestio
ns
about m
y p
ositio
n, w
heth
er I'd
be
able
to w
rite a
nyth
ing b
efo
re th
e
final ap
peals h
ad b
een ex
hau
sted. I
got u
p feelin
g lo
usy
this m
orn
ing an
d
I was u
nin
clin
ed to
arg
ue w
ith
him
, I just to
ld h
im it w
as in
the
contract th
at I could
write after th
e S
uperio
r Court trial. 'W
ell,' he said
, 'I m
ade a ru
le long ag
o n
ever to
pay
fo
r anyth
ing b
efo
re I sa
w it, w
ith
one eg
teptio
n: u
nless it w
as Jacque-
line K
enned
y's m
emoirs w
ritten b
y
a Nobel P
rize win
ner.' T
hen
he left
the ro
om
." (Kaise
r eventu
ally
did
agre
e to
do tw
o a
rticle
s for
The
Post, o
ne b
efo
re th
e tria
l and o
ne
afte
r. But h
e fin
ished th
e first o
ne
too la
te to
get it p
ublish
ed b
efo
re th
e trial, and b
y th
e time S
irhan
was
sente
nced to
death
, T
he P
ost
was
in its g
rave.)
When
Kaiser flew
to N
ew Y
ork
,
he le
ft the S
irhans in
Califo
rnia
w
ith v
isions o
f zeros d
ancin
g in
their
heads. W
hen h
e re
turn
ed h
e h
ad
$2,5
00 as th
e first installm
ent fro
m
Dutto
n an
d a p
rom
ise of $
1,0
00 in
ex
pen
se money
from
The P
ost, and it
was se
vera
l month
s late
r, when
Cooper p
ublic
ly e
nte
red th
e c
ase
, th
at th
e w
riter w
as a
llow
ed to
resu
me h
is interv
iews.
As th
e case moved
slow
ly to
ward
trial, finally
set for Jan
uary
of 1
969,
Kaiser b
ecame m
ore en
mesh
ed in
it. K
now
ledge, h
e quick
ly realized
, was
pow
er, and h
e set out to
accum
ulate
more
than a
nyone e
lse. U
sing th
e
"con-m
an" sid
e of h
is perso
nality
, he
got all th
e psy
cholo
gists an
d p
sych
i-atrists w
ho ex
amin
ed S
irhan
to tak
e him
into
the c
ell, u
sually
with
his
tape reco
rder g
oin
g. A
s he recalled
: "I fo
und th
at it w
as u
sefu
l not
only
to g
et in
side, b
ut to
turn
my
material, b
ack to
the law
yers. I p
ro-
vid
ed th
em w
ith m
y m
ind, I. read
the
F.B
.I. report, six
thousa
nd p
ages
worth
, and th
e police rep
orts, fo
ur-
teen file d
rawers fu
ll,, and I d
igested
and in
tegra
ted it a
nd, h
ad it a
t the
tips o
f my fin
gers. S
o w
hen
Cooper
or B
erm
an [E
mile
Zola
Berm
an, a
th
ird law
yer b
rought in
by C
ooper]
would
say, w
hat h
appened a
t such
and su
ch a tim
e, I knew
. And w
hen
D
r. Bern
ard D
iamond cam
e into
the
case, the p
sych
olo
gist fro
m B
erkeley
, he fo
und th
at I w
as th
e c
hie
f re-
posito
ry o
f know
ledge. It w
as kin
d
of a
circ
ula
r thin
g. I w
ante
d th
e
know
ledge so
that I c
ould
write
a
better b
ook, b
ut h
avin
g th
e know
l-ed
ge, I b
ecame m
ore o
f an in
timate
of th
e p
eople
insid
e th
e c
ase
, and m
ore v
aluab
le to th
em, alm
ost in
dis-
pensa
ble
. By re
aso
n o
f that fa
ct I
was allo
wed
into
their co
nferen
ces, an
d I w
ould
learn m
uch
more th
an I
would
hav
e know
n h
ad I b
een o
n th
e outsid
e or ju
st a writer w
ith w
hom
th
ey w
ere cooperatin
g."
Kaise
r, like m
ost o
f us, h
as a
to
den
cy to
exag
gerate h
is ow
n im
-M
rtance. W
hen I a
sked G
rant
Cooper ab
out th
e writer's ro
le in th
e case h
e said: "K
aiser mad
e sugges-
tions o
n w
hat to
pics to
cover, so
me
very
solid
constru
ctive su
ggestio
ns,
but so
me w
ere used
and so
me w
ere not." D
id K
aiser ewer w
rite a speech
fo
r Cooper? "O
h n
o, n
o, n
o," said
the
lawyer.
Kaise
r did
oth
er th
ings to
help
him
self. He h
ad th
e Sirh
ans u
nder
an e
xclu
sive c
ontra
ct, a
nd w
hen
oth
er reporters ap
pro
ached
the fam
-ily
for in
terview
s, he co
uld
beco
me
-quite ag
itated. F
euds d
evelo
ped
with
a few
new
smen
, who cam
e to d
islike
him
inten
sely, an
d o
ne ev
en rem
em-
bers th
at K
aise
r thre
ate
ned to
get
him
in th
e book. H
e did
n't.
Kaise
r's bad h
um
or w
as a
ggra
-vated
by h
is gro
win
g h
atred o
f the
man
he w
as, in effect, w
ork
ing fo
r, S
irhan B
ishara
Sirh
an: "I h
ave a
hell o
f a te
mper, I c
an re
ally
tear
people
apart. In
this th
ing I w
as
alway
s swallo
win
g m
y to
ngue an
d
not resp
ondin
g, an
d p
retendin
g to
be
very
sym
path
etic when
Sirh
an w
as te
lling m
e th
ings b
y n
oddin
g a
nd
draw
ing h
im o
ut in
stead o
f telling
him
what a real p
rick I th
ought h
e w
as."
As th
e tria
l pro
gre
ssed,
Kaise
r's feelin
gs a
gain
st Sirh
an
multip
lied. I ask
ed h
im w
hy, an
d h
e rep
lied th
is way
: "I th
ink I w
as d
isguste
d w
ith
myself fo
r not b
eing ab
le to p
ull o
ne
hundred
percen
t of th
e truth
out o
f him
, and I tu
rned
the d
isgust to
ward
him
. I should
hav
e blam
ed m
yself fo
r perh
aps n
ot h
avin
g m
ore fin
esse, but
I blam
ed h
im fo
r bein
g so
closed
and
for n
ot h
avin
g en
ough sen
se to co
n-
fide in
his p
sych
iatrist, Dr. D
iamond,
who co
uld
hav
e help
ed h
im. . . . In
-ste
ad h
e p
ut h
is trust in
the A
rabs
at th
e tria
l who g
ot to
him
and
urg
ed h
im to
beco
me an
Arab
hero
an
d to
use th
e trial as a pro
pag
anda
foru
m fo
r their g
rievances a
gain
st Isra
el, w
hic
h I th
ought w
as a
con-
coctio
n all th
e way
. "I w
as also p
issed o
ff at Sirh
an's
basic in
gratitu
de to
Diam
ond fo
r all th
e work
he'd
done, an
d C
ooper, to
o.
They
did
not m
atter a hill o
f bean
s to
Sirh
an, n
or d
id h
is fam
ily. O
ne
time d
urin
g th
e trial one o
f his b
roth
-ers w
as struck
by a car an
d an
oth
er bro
ther w
as thro
wn in
jail, charg
ed
with
fightin
g w
ith th
e police in
the
hosp
ital. (He w
as later -acquitted
.) W
hen S
irhan h
ears a
bout it, a
ll he
says is, 'W
hat a
re th
ose
basta
rds
tryin
g to
do to
me?' H
e doesn
't even
ask
how
his b
roth
ers are. "H
e seemed
totally
wrap
ped
up in
him
self, and it m
ay b
e that m
y stan
-dard
s are too h
igh an
d th
at I expect
too m
uch
of a fello
w w
ho is p
aranoid
sch
izophren
ic, accord
ing to
most o
f th
e docto
rs who ex
amin
ed h
im. S
o
that w
as a
facto
r. But th
e b
iggest
thin
g w
as pro
bab
ly ju
st that h
e had
kille
d K
ennedy. I still c
an't w
atc
h
one o
f those T
V d
ocu
men
taries about
Robert K
enned
y w
ithout cry
ing. A
nd
this g
uy h
ad n
o rem
orse ab
out k
illing
Kennedy. A
t one p
oin
t he sa
id, 'I
did
n't k
now
he h
ad so
man
y ch
ildren
.' A
nd th
at seemed
to b
e the clo
sest he
ever cam
e." A
fter th
e tria
l, Sirh
an b
ecam
e
more
and m
ore
agita
ted a
bout th
e
book. In
fact, h
e to
ld h
is law
yers
books w
ith im
punity
anym
ore, n
ot
even
on g
rounds o
f obscen
ity.
In p
ublic
, Sirh
an's a
ttorn
eys a
t-tack
Kaiser. B
ut th
ey d
o n
ot seem
to
be p
ressing th
e suit. A
fter they
lost
in L
os A
ngeles, th
e lawyers ask
ed fo
r sev
eral postp
onem
ents in
New
York
, an
d b
y th
is writin
g th
e suit h
ad n
ot
yet b
een h
eard. M
eanw
hile, th
e law-
yers d
rew u
p a list o
f fifty-six
poin
ts th
ey w
ante
d c
hanged in
Kaise
r's m
anuscrip
t. (Dutto
n's law
yers h
ad
pro
vid
ed
them
with
a c
op
y, o
ver
Kaiser's o
bjectio
ns—
a double b
low
fo
r the a
uth
or sin
ce h
e h
as to
pay
th
e publish
er's lawyers as w
ell as his
own.) K
aiser agreed
to m
ake tw
o co
rrec-tio
ns. In
one in
stance h
e chan
ged
the
word
"lik
ely
" to
"possib
le."
In
anoth
er h
e a
dded "P
ale
stinia
n" in
fro
nt o
f "Arab
" in a d
escriptio
n o
f S
irhan
. Th
e fifty-six
po
ints h
ad b
een
dra
fted m
ain
ly b
y A
bdeen Ja
bara
, w
ho
orig
inally
go
t into
the case as a
represen
tative o
f the A
rab v
iewpoin
t an
d co
nsisten
tly p
ush
ed S
irhan
to see
him
self as an A
rab h
ero. A
num
ber
of th
e su
ggestio
ns c
oncern
that
aspect o
f the case; fo
r instan
ce, the
lawy
er wan
ted "Jew
ish co
mm
and
o"
ch
an
ged
to "Z
ion
ist terro
rist" an
d
asked
that m
ore b
ackg
rou
nd
be in
-clu
ded
on
the A
rab-Isr:Ieli w
ar. In
do
zens o
f places, Jab
ara ob
jects to
Kaise
r's inte
rpre
tatio
ns b
y sa
yin
g,
"It is the p
laintiff's p
ositio
n th
at the
readers w
ould
draw
their o
wn co
n-
clu
sion
s from
the fa
cts p
rese
nte
d,
and n
ot h
ave th
em d
rawn fo
r them
." A
t the sam
e time, th
e lawyers are
prep
aring S
irhan
's appeal fo
r a new
tria
l. All c
apita
l case
s are
auto
-m
atically rev
iewed
by th
e Califo
rnia
Su
pre
me C
ou
rt; ev
en
if the c
ou
rt uphold
s the v
erdict, n
um
erous av
e-nues o
f appeal rem
ain o
pen
. It took
gran
ted, th
e Kaiser b
ook w
ould
prej-
ud
ice his rig
ht to
a fair and im
par-
tial ju
ry. H
e a
lso c
onte
nds th
at
Kaiser u
sed p
sych
iatric repo
rts with
-o
ut p
ermissio
n, an
d th
at the au
tho
r, as an
investig
ator fo
r the d
efense, is
still bound b
y th
e lawyer-clien
t rela-tio
nsh
ip to
keep
certain th
ing
s con
-fid
ential. M
oreo
ver, S
irhan
main
tains
that h
e w
as n
ot c
om
pete
nt to
sign
th
e c
ontra
ct w
ith K
aise
r, and th
at
the law
yers w
ho
adv
ised h
im to
sign
had
conflictin
g in
terests, since th
ey
stoo
d to
pro
fit from
the b
oo
k. A
s a resu
lt, the su
it conten
ds, th
e contract
was in
valid
iff the first p
lace. T
he su
it was filed
both
in L
os A
n-
geles an
d N
ew Y
ork
. In A
pril, L
os
Angele
s County
Superio
r Court
Judge R
ichard
Schauer issu
ed a
tem
porary
restrainin
g o
rder ag
ainst
the b
ook a
nd h
eard
the a
rgum
ents
a few d
ays later. H
e rejected o
n th
e sp
ot S
irhan
's plea fo
r a prelim
inary
in
junctio
n ag
ainst p
ublicatio
n, n
otin
g
that th
e S
irhans a
nd th
eir la
wyers
had
mad
e n
o e
ffort to
retu
rn th
e
$3
2,0
00
they
had
already
received
u
nd
er the co
ntract th
ey claim
ed w
as in
valid
. M
ost la
wyers a
gre
e w
ith Ju
dge
Sch
auer th
at Sirh
an's su
it has little
valid
ity. T
he ju
ry a
t his tria
l felt
he w
as com
peten
t enough to
plan
a m
urd
er, a
nd th
us h
e w
as p
robably
co
mp
etent en
ou
gh to
sign
a con
tract. E
ven
if he w
as inco
mp
etent, sev
eral m
emb
ers of h
is family
also sig
ned
. M
oreo
ver, th
e contract sp
ecifically
gives K
aiser the rig
ht to
pu
blish
his
book after th
e Superio
r Court trial,
and m
akes n
o m
entio
n o
f waitin
g
for th
e appeal. In
fact, an ad
den
dum
to
the co
ntract m
akes clear th
at pro
-ceed
s from
the b
oo
k w
ou
ld h
elp
fin
ance an
app
eal. Mo
st imp
ortan
t, ju
dg
es just d
o n
ot g
o aro
un
d b
ann
ing
was in
carcerated o
n D
eath R
ow
in
San
Quen
tin, h
e was co
nfin
ed to
a cell th
at measu
red fiv
e by
eleven
feet an
d co
ntain
ed a b
ed, a tab
le, a stoo
l, a w
ashbasin
and a to
ilet. The clo
sest priso
ners w
ere four cells aw
ay, an
d
he h
ad to
scre
am
to c
om
munic
ate
, w
ith th
em
. Even d
urin
g e
xerc
ise
perio
ds h
e is se
para
ted fro
m tIv
e,
oth
er in
mate
s by a
fence. "I c
an't .
say
that h
e h
as m
ad
e a
ny
frien
ds,"
said
Ward
en
Lo
uis N
elso
n, "b
ut I
thin
k th
at p
eople
go u
p a
nd ta
lk to
h
im. H
e c
erta
inly
has m
ad
e so
me
acquain
tances." A
ll visito
rs have
been
barred
, excep
t his law
yers an
d
his
fam
ily, a
nd
the la
tter h
av
e
neith
er th
e tim
e n
or th
e m
oney to
m
ake freq
uen
t trips. In
fact, his fo
ur
bro
thers in
sist they
cannot g
et work
an
d th
at the fam
ily is liv
ing in
near-
poverty
. Sirh
an h
as a
sked fo
r sub-
scriptio
ns to
a nu
mb
er of n
ewsp
apers
and
mag
azines, in
clud
ing
several in
A
rab
ic, a
nd
he re
ad
s a g
oo
d d
eal.
Occasio
nally
he w
atc
hes a
TV
set
hu
ng
from
the w
all ou
tside h
is cell. "I can
't say," said
Geo
rge S
hib
ley,
"that h
e's very
hap
py w
here h
e is." G
rant C
ooper p
ut it th
is way
: "I can
sym
path
ize with
the p
oo
r gu
y.
Put y
ourself in
the p
ositio
n o
f Sirh
an
or an
yone else sittin
g o
n D
eath R
ow
w
ith n
oth
ing
to d
o. T
he d
eath p
enalty
h
ang
s ov
er his h
ead lik
e the S
wo
rd
of D
amo
cles. He h
as no
thin
g to
loo
k
forw
ard to
. All h
e has to
do
all day
lo
ng is th
ink o
f his o
wn p
roble
ms.
. . . No
w h
e's up
there an
d th
e fellow
w
riting
this b
oo
k w
on
't let him
see th
e m
an
usc
ript. H
e m
ust im
ag
ine
that th
e reason h
e won't let h
im see
it is that h
e is treated u
nfairly
. Po
or
bastard
, I feel sorry
for h
im."
The m
ain
conte
ntio
n o
f Sirh
an's
suit is th
at h
e is n
ow
requestin
g a
new
trial, a
nd if s
uch a
trial is
after he g
ot to
San
Quen
tin th
at the
book b
oth
ered h
im m
ore th
an an
y-
thin
g else. O
ne ex
plan
ation w
as that
Kaise
r had w
ritten a
n a
rticle
for
Life
durin
g th
e tria
l in w
hic
h h
e
qu
oted
Sirh
an as say
ing
, "Co
op
er is d
efe
nd
ing
a p
un
k lik
e m
e." A
del
Sirh
an
co
nv
inced
his b
roth
er th
at
Kaiser h
ad called
him
a punk, ev
en
tho
ug
h K
aise
r was u
sing
Sirh
an
's ow
n w
ord
s. Then, w
hen K
aise
r started
writin
g, S
irhan
dem
anded
to
see the m
anu
script. C
oo
per, w
ho
felt h
is first ob
ligatio
n w
as to h
is client,
tried
to w
ork
ou
t an
arra
ng
em
en
t w
hereb
y h
e, Cooper, w
ould
adju
di-
cate all disp
utes. K
aiser agreed
not
to p
ut an
yth
ing in
the b
ook to
jeop-
ard
ize S
irhan's
appeal, b
ut h
is
law
yers to
ld h
im n
ot to
sho
w th
e
man
usc
ript to
an
yo
ne. S
irhan
was
already u
pset b
y th
e way
his law
yers
had
han
dled
the case an
d th
e verd
ict th
ey h
ad g
otten
("We co
uld
n't h
ave
done an
y w
orse," C
ooper co
nced
ed).
When
Cooper m
ade n
o h
eadw
ay w
ith
Kaiser, S
irhan
was so
enrag
ed th
at he fired
his th
ree attorn
eys an
d h
ired
three n
ew o
nes: L
uke M
cKissack
, a lo
cal lawyer w
ho h
as represen
ted th
e B
lack P
anth
ers and
orig
inally
vo
lun
-teered
to d
efend S
irhan
, Geo
rge E
. S
hib
ley o
f Lon
g B
each, an
d A
bd
een
Jabara o
f Detro
it. Th
e latter two
are of A
rabic ex
traction. B
y S
eptem
ber,
Kaiser h
ad fin
ished
his m
anuscrip
t and d
eliv
ere
d it to
Dutto
n, w
hic
h
orig
inally
plan
ned
to p
ublish
it last sp
ring. B
ut th
e man
uscrip
t was still
bein
g ed
ited in
March
—th
e publish
er cu
t ou
t three h
un
dred
pag
es—w
hen
S
irhan's n
ew
atto
rneys file
d a
suit
that ask
ed fo
r an in
jun
ction ag
ainst
the b
ook
and
$2,0
00,0
00
in d
amag
es. S
irhan
's fears abo
ut th
e bo
ok
and
his alm
ost fan
atical desire to
stop it
grew
ou
t of h
is con
ditio
n. W
hen
he
It isn't easy. T
hese five leading Scotches look pretty
Cary
l Chessm
an tw
elve y
ears to ex
hau
st
all th
e p
ossib
ilities a
nd S
irhan c
ould
tak
e almost as lo
ng. S
irhan
, of co
urse,
does n
ot claim
to b
e innocen
t. Thro
ugh-
out th
e tria
l the d
efe
nse
main
tain
ed
that it w
as o
nly
ask
ing fo
r a v
erd
ict
of seco
nd d
egree m
urd
er based
on th
e th
eory
that S
irhan h
ad "d
imin
ished
capacity
" to m
ake a
"matu
re" p
re-
med
itated ju
dgm
ent to
kill K
enned
y.
But in
their re
quest fo
r a n
ew
trial,
Sirh
an's law
yers are m
akin
g th
ree main
poin
ts:
1. Ju
dge H
erb
ert V
. Walk
er w
as in
erro
r when
he refu
sed to
accept a b
ar-gain
betw
een th
e d
efe
nse
and th
e
pro
secutio
n. T
he p
rosecu
tion h
ad ag
reed
to a life sen
tence in
stead o
f the d
eath
pen
alty an
d th
e defen
se agreed
to p
lead
first-deg
ree murd
er. But Ju
dge W
alker,
conscio
us o
f the d
oubt an
d co
nfu
sion
that h
ad su
rrounded o
ther a
ssassin
a-
tions, w
ante
d th
e fu
ll story
spre
adV
n
the reco
rd.
2. T
he c
ourt e
rroneously
accepte
d
illegally
seized ev
iden
ce, particu
larly
Sirh
an's n
oteb
ook, w
hich
was tak
en
from
his h
om
e w
ithout a
searc
h
warra
nt.
3. T
he c
ourt w
as w
rong in
pre
-ven
ting th
e defen
se from
intro
ducin
g
exte
nsiv
e e
vid
ence re
gard
ing th
e
Pale
stinia
n w
ar a
nd its e
ffects o
n
Sirh
an.
Whatev
er hap
pen
s to S
irhan
's ap-
peal, K
aiser's book is sch
eduled
to
appear im
min
ently
, and th
e auth
or
feels th
at th
e e
vid
ence h
e p
rese
nts
should
"reopen
the case." In
his fin
al chapte
r, Kaise
r ask
s the q
uestio
n:
"Why d
id S
irhan
kill K
enned
y?" H
e re
counts a
num
ber o
f fam
iliar re
a-
sons, w
hich
he d
oes n
ot b
uy, an
d th
en
adds: "I b
elieve th
ere were so
me co
-co
nsp
irators, so
me w
itting, so
me all
too u
nw
itting." T
he "u
nw
itting"
ones, K
aise
r asse
rts, inclu
de th
e
Bla
ck P
anth
ers a
nd o
ther g
roups
who h
ave h
elped
create a "climate
of v
iolen
ce" in th
e country
. But w
ho
are the "w
itting" o
nes? K
aiser does
not sa
y. W
hen I a
sked h
im a
bout
these statem
ents in
the last ch
apter,
Kaiser an
swered
this w
ay :
"My m
ain
reaso
n fo
r sayin
g th
e
case is open
and o
ught to
be o
pen
in
the m
inds o
f the p
ublic
is that m
y
contin
uin
g co
nversatio
ns w
ith S
irhan
in
dic
ate
that h
e's c
overin
g u
p, th
at
he k
now
s a h
ell o
f a lo
t more
than
he's w
illing to
tell. I'm
most in
-trig
ued b
y h
is asse
rtions th
at 'th
e
F.B
.I. doesn
't know
every
thin
g' an
d
that 'th
ey d
id 'a
lousy
job o
n th
eir
investig
ation.' H
e doesn
't know
what
the in
vestig
ation w
as, he d
idn't read
six
thousan
d p
ages o
f F.B
.I. reports,
and y
et h
e k
now
s they d
id a
lousy
jo
b o
f investig
ation. I can
only
con-
clu
de th
at th
ere
is som
e im
porta
nt
perso
n o
r perso
ns in
volv
ed w
ith h
im
that th
e F
.B.I. h
ave n
ot c
om
e u
p
with
. Becau
se if they
had
com
e up
with
them
Sirh
an w
ould
hav
e know
n
about th
em.
"There is a seco
nd reaso
n. W
hen
D
r. Dia
mond p
uts h
im u
nder h
yp-
nosis an
d say
s, 'Sirh
an, d
id an
ybody
help
you in
this, d
id an
yone tell y
ou
to k
ill Kennedy,' h
e b
alk
s; it takes
him
six seco
nds to
answ
er that q
ues-
tion. W
here
as th
e o
ther q
uestio
ns
that d
on't in
volv
e the assassin
ation
he an
swers im
med
iately, an
d th
at's a b
eautifu
l indic
atio
n. T
alk
to a
ny
psy
chia
trist about w
hat b
lockin
g
mean
s. Under h
ypnosis, if I ask
you a
questio
n th
at shock
s you, y
ou're go-
ing
to h
edge, a
nd d
o th
e n
orm
al re
liable
witn
esse
s reporte
d se
ein
g
Sirh
an th
ree differen
t times p
rior to
th
e a
ssassin
atio
n a
t pla
ces w
heT
e.
Ken
ned
y w
as supposed
to b
e. In at
least one case th
e witn
esses said h
e had
a girl w
ith h
im. M
oreo
ver, o
ne
of th
e best w
itnesses to
the assassi-
natio
n, V
incent D
iPie
rro, in
sisted
that h
e h
ad se
en a
girl w
earin
g a
polk
a-dot d
ress standin
g n
ext to
Sir-
han
in th
e pan
try o
f the A
mbassad
or
befo
re the m
urd
er. But p
olice co
uld
never fin
d th
e g
irl. What d
oes th
is m
ean? O
nly
, Kaise
r says in
the
book, th
at it is p
ossib
le th
at som
e-body else w
as in
volv
ed in
Sirh
an's
efforts to
kill K
enned
y. "I still h
ad
a feeling," K
aiser wro
te, "that so
me-
where
in S
irhan's re
cent p
ast th
ere
w
as a shad
ow
y so
meo
ne. . . . R
obert
Ken
ned
y h
ad en
emies w
ho co
uld
hav
e ch
osen
Sirh
an, w
ith h
is anti-au
thor-
ity fe
elin
gs a
nd h
is inert p
ara
noia
, as a
possib
le to
ol." N
ow
here
does
Kaise
r state
explic
itly w
ho th
at
"shadow
y so
meone" w
as. H
e d
oes
criticize the p
olice fo
r not ex
plo
ring
Sirh
an's frie
ndsh
ips w
ith a
man
who alleg
edly
had
Mafia co
nnectio
ns,
anoth
er who in
troduced
Sirh
an to
the
occu
lt, and a th
ird w
ho w
as Sirh
an's
ex-ro
om
mate. H
e also criticizes th
em
for th
eir "n
aiv
e" in
vestig
atio
n o
f a
report th
at Jimm
y H
offa h
ad h
ired
som
eone to
kill K
enned
y—
a report
started b
y o
ne o
f Hoffa's fello
w in
-m
ate
s at L
ew
isburg
Sta
te P
enite
n-
tiary
in P
ennsy
lvania
. But it w
as
only
when
I pressed
Kaiser fu
rther
that h
e a
dm
itted h
e th
ought th
ere
m
ight b
e a link b
etween
Hoffa an
d
the th
eory
that so
meone h
ad "p
ro-
gram
med
" Sirh
an. H
e had
virtu
ally
no ev
iden
ce for h
is susp
icions, h
ow
-ev
er, excep
t for a stran
ge ch
aracter nam
ed Jerry
Ow
en, a p
reacher w
ith
an arrest reco
rd w
ho to
ld th
e police
that h
e had
pick
ed u
p S
irhan
hitch
-hik
ing th
e d
ay b
efo
re th
e m
urd
er.
Ow
en, it se
em
s, managed a
priz
e-
fighte
r who w
ork
ed o
ut in
a L
os
Angeles g
ym
ow
ned
by th
e Team
-ste
rs. It was th
e m
ost te
nuous o
f connectio
ns, b
ut K
aise
r was still
intrig
ued
: "It lo
oked
like O
wen
's story
about
pic
kin
g S
irhan u
p w
as a
cover. It
looked
like h
e was try
ing to
hav
e an
alibi in
case anybody h
ad seen
him
w
ith S
irhan. I a
sked S
irhan a
bout
him
, but I ask
ed h
im after th
e cops
had
asked
Adel, h
is bro
ther, to
ask
Sirh
an ab
out O
wen
. And S
irhan
had
started b
y o
ne o
f Hoffa's fello
w in
-m
ates at Lew
isburg
State P
eniten
-tia
ry in
Pennsy
lvania
. But it w
as
only
when
I pressed
Kaiser fu
rther
that h
e a
dm
itted h
e th
ought th
ere
m
ight b
e a link b
etween
Hoffa an
d
the th
eory
that so
meo
ne h
ad "p
ro-
gram
med
" Sirh
an. H
e had
virtu
ally
no
evid
ence fo
r his su
spicio
ns, h
ow
-ev
er, excep
t for a stran
ge ch
aracter nam
ed Jerry
Ow
en, a p
reacher w
ith
an arrest reco
rd w
ho to
ld th
e police
that h
e had
pick
ed u
p S
irhan
hitch
-hik
ing th
e d
ay b
efo
re th
e m
urd
er.
Ow
en, it seem
s, man
aged
a prize-
fighte
r who w
ork
ed o
ut in
a L
os
Angeles g
ym
ow
ned
by th
e Team
-ste
rs. It was th
e m
ost te
nuous o
f connectio
ns, b
ut K
aise
r was still
intrig
ued
: "It lo
oked
like O
wen
's story
about
pick
ing S
irhan
up w
as a
cov
er. It lo
ok
ed lik
e he w
as tryin
g to
hav
e an
alibi in
case anybody h
ad seen
him
w
ith S
irhan
. I ask
ed
Sirh
an
ab
ou
t him
, but I ask
ed h
im after th
e cops
had
asked
Adel, h
is bro
ther, to
ask
Sirh
an ab
ou
t Ow
en. A
nd
Sirh
an h
ad
told
Adel to
tell th
e c
ops th
at h
e
did
n't k
now
Ow
en an
d th
at he w
as at h
om
e all day
on
Mo
nd
ay, Ju
ne 3
, the
day
Ow
en said
he
had p
icked u
p
Sirh
an. W
ell, S
irhan w
as n
ot a
t hom
e all day
on M
onday
, that w
as a lie w
e subseq
uen
tly u
nco
vered
. He
put th
ree hundred
and fifty
miles o
n
his c
ar th
at d
ay. S
o w
hen I a
sked
Sirh
an th
e first time ab
ou
t Ow
en h
e said
, 'Oh
, is that th
e preach
er gu
y?'
Noth
ing to
it. "I k
ind o
f kep
t Ow
en filed
in th
e back o
f my m
ind. W
hen I g
ain
ed
more rap
port w
ith S
irhan
, and w
e w
ere talkin
g ab
ou
t con
spiracy
an-
gles an
d o
ther p
eople th
at may
hav
e put h
im u
p to
it, with
or w
ithout h
is know
ledge, I said
, do y
ou w
ant m
e to
follo
w u
p o
n so
me o
f these lead
s as an
investig
ator fo
r the d
efense.
And h
e said, 'W
ell, gee, n
one o
f my
friends w
ould
do an
yth
ing lik
e this.'
I was p
articularly
interested
in T
om
trigued b
y h
is asse
rtions th
at 'th
e
F.B
.I. doesn
't know
every
thin
g' an
d
that 'th
ey d
id a
lousy
job o
n th
eir
inv
estigatio
n.' H
e do
esn't k
no
w w
hat
the in
vestig
ation w
as, he d
idn't read
six
thousan
d p
ages o
f F.B
.I. reports,
and y
et h
e k
now
s they d
id a
lousy
jo
b o
f investig
ation. I can
only
con-
clu
de th
at th
ere
is som
e im
porta
nt
perso
n o
r perso
ns in
vo
lved
with
him
th
at th
e F
.B.I. h
ave n
ot c
om
e u
p
with
. Becau
se if they
had
com
e up
with
them
Sirh
an w
ould
hav
e know
n
about th
em.
"There is a seco
nd reaso
n. W
hen
D
r. Dia
mond p
uts h
im u
nder h
yp-
nosis an
d say
s, `Sirh
an, d
id an
ybody
help
you in
this, d
id an
yone tell y
ou
to k
ill Ken
ned
y,' h
e b
alk
s; it tak
es
him
six seco
nds to
answ
er that q
ues-
tion. W
here
as th
e o
ther q
uestio
ns
that d
on't in
volv
e the assassin
ation
he an
swers im
med
iately, an
d th
at's a b
eautifu
l indic
atio
n. T
alk
to a
ny
psy
chia
trist about w
hat b
lockin
g
mean
s. Under h
ypnosis, if I ask
you a
questio
n th
at shock
s you, y
ou're g
o-
ing to
hedge, a
nd d
o th
e n
orm
al
thin
g y
ou're g
oin
g to
do. S
irhan
did
th
is all th
e tim
e. W
henever w
e g
ot
into
questio
ns ab
out o
thers, h
e would
eith
er b
lock o
r answ
er n
oth
ing o
r ev
en g
o to
sleep."
Kaise
r seem
s to b
e ju
mpin
g to
co
nclu
sions. S
irhan
's talk ab
out th
e F
.B.I. co
uld
be m
ere brav
ado. T
he
psy
chia
tric te
sts are
more
inte
rest-
ing. W
hy d
id S
irhan
blo
ck? D
r. Dia-
mond p
osite
d th
e th
eory
, Kaise
r re
counts in
the b
ook, th
at S
irhan
was an
extrem
ely su
ggestib
le perso
n
who h
ad so
mehow
"pro
gra
mm
ed"
him
self to
kill K
en
ned
y b
y sc
rib-
blin
g o
ver a
nd o
ver a
gain
in h
is noteb
ook th
at "R.F
.K. m
ust d
ie." On
the n
ight o
f the a
ssassin
atio
n h
e
could
hav
e put h
imself in
to a tran
ce an
d fo
llow
ed th
e instru
ctions h
e had
prev
iously
written
dow
n fo
r him
self. K
aiser agrees w
ith th
e "pro
gram
-m
ing" th
eory
, but ta
kes it o
ne ste
p
farther. H
e found it sig
nifican
t that
Wh
ere-to
-bu
y-it?
Call 8
00-5
53-9
550 to
ll tree.
208 E
SQ
UIR
E: N
OV
EM
BE
R
See I.R
•I•S d
eta
ils on
last p
age.
Dear S
ub
scribers:
Hav
e you m
oved
recently
? D
id y
ou let u
s know
? If n
ot, p
lease turn
to p
age 6
4 a
nd fill o
ut th
e coupon.
It will facilitate g
etting co
pies to
you.
Decem
ber, as y
ou k
now
, is alway
s filled w
ith g
oodies.
Rath
ke, th
e guy w
ho in
trodu
ced S
ir-h
an
to th
e occu
lt. He w
as p
retty
adam
ant ab
out 'D
on't talk
to Rath
ke,
he's a
go
od
gu
y.' T
hen
I ask
ed h
im
abou
t Jerry Ow
en, an
d h
e said, 'W
ell, m
aybe O
wen
could
lead you
to some-
bo
dy
wh
o h
ad
influ
ence o
ver m
e.' I w
as p
leased
with
that m
uch
at th
e tim
e—I k
new
Sirh
an w
ould
turn
off if I a
sked
pro
bin
g seco
nd
or th
ird
qu
estion
s—so
I left it, thin
kin
g I
wou
ld co
me b
ack
to it so
me o
ther
time a
nd
I nev
er really
did
. An
d
there it is, it's o
ne o
f those stu
pid
th
ing
s. . . ."
Kaiser p
oin
ts to o
ther th
ings in
th
e bo
ok
wh
ich b
olster h
is belief in
a co
nsp
iracy
. For in
stan
ce, Sirh
an
claim
ed th
at he d
ecided
to kill K
en-
ned
y wh
en h
e saw a T
V d
ocum
entary
tha
t link
ed th
e Sen
ato
r to Isra
el. B
ut th
e televisio
n sh
ow
did
not a
p-
pea
r in L
os A
ng
eles un
til Ma
y 2
0,
an
d S
irhan
had
written
in h
is note-
book
that h
e had
to kill K
enn
edy on
M
ay
18
. Th
e no
tebo
ok
con
tain
ed
other in
teresting tid
bits. O
n alm
ost ev
ery p
age w
here K
enn
edy is m
en-
tioned
, so is mon
ey. On
e of the p
ages also con
tains th
e note, "
Hello T
om,
wou
ld y
ou
meet m
e at th
e airp
ort,
I'm co
min
g u
p T
uesd
ay
." A
t an
-oth
er poin
t Sirh
an w
rote, "L
et us d
o it, let u
s do it."
"
Now
it cou
ld b
e the ed
itoria
l 'w
e.' " K
aiser told m
e, "b
ut th
e note-
book
is very
intrig
uin
g. W
hen
Ber-
man
read th
e noteb
ook for th
e first tim
e in C
ooper's office, w
e were read
-in
g it together, w
e had
n't seen
it un
-til th
at m
om
ent. B
erman
finish
es rea
din
g th
e pa
ges a
nd
say
s, 'Hell,
there w
as so
meb
od
y in
this w
ith
Sirh
an
.' Th
at w
as h
is con
clusio
n.
Parson
s finally ad
mitted
right at th
e en
d o
f the ca
se that h
e was a
fraid
th
ere was p
robab
ly someon
e else in
it with
Sirh
an.''C
ooper b
elieved th
at S
irh
an
acte
d a
lon
e. B
ut h
e to
ld
Ka
iser tha
t he d
id n
ot b
elieve S
ir-h
an's story—
that h
e was m
otivated
by K
enn
edy's su
pp
ort for Israel. As
for D
r. Dia
mon
d's th
eory
that S
ir-h
an
wa
s "p
rog
ram
med
," eith
er by
h
imself or som
eone else, C
ooper told
K
aiser last Jun
e: "W
ell, it may h
ave b
een tru
e. Bu
t I cou
ldn
't sell it to a
j ury."
Kaiser is a
lso co
nvin
ced th
at it
was official p
olice policy to m
inim
ize th
e idea
of a
con
spira
cy. A
ttorn
ey
Gen
eral Ram
sey Clark
, for instan
ce, a
nn
ou
nced
on
ly fo
ur h
ou
rs after
Sirh
an w
as iden
tified th
at there w
as n
o consp
iracy. At th
at time, h
e could
n
ot p
ossib
ly h
ave k
now
n w
heth
er th
ere wa
s on
e or n
ot. K
aiser a
lso
fou
nd
a p
olice in
vestig
ato
r wh
o b
e-liev
ed a
con
spira
cy w
as p
ossib
le. W
hen
he a
sked
the co
p w
hy
he d
id
not p
ursu
e the in
qu
iry, K
aiser g
ot
the fo
llow
ing a
nsw
er: "I tried
to,
bu
t wh
en H
ough
ten [R
obert H
ough
-ten
, chief of th
e investigation
] foun
d
out I th
ough
t there w
as one, h
e took
me o
ff the im
porta
nt in
terview
s. I w
an
ted to
go u
p a
nd
talk
to T
om
R
ath
ke b
ut h
e wo
uld
n't let- m
e, he
tho
ug
ht I w
as ju
st too
ho
t on
the
con
spira
cy th
ing
." K
aiser a
dd
ed:
"T
he in
vestig
ato
rs hO
d g
oo
d jo
bs
and
top salaries an
d th
ey did
n't w
ant
to rock th
e boat. A
nd
if the su
perior
tells them
that's th
e way it's g
ot to
b
e, boy th
ey're going to d
o it. Th
ey're n
othin
g if not ob
edien
t."
Wh
at does th
is all add
up
to? Th
e possib
ility th
at S
irha
n d
id n
ot a
ct alo
ne, a
nd
mayb
e not ev
en th
at.
Kaiser's d
oub
ts are similar to m
any
vo
iced a
bo
ut th
e Wa
rren C
om
mis-
sion
. In e
ach
case
there a
re d
is-crep
ancies, h
oles, thin
gs that d
o not
qu
ite fit. Bu
t no on
e has yet to p
rove
an
altern
ativ
e theo
ry ex
pla
inin
g
either assassin
ation. T
he d
iscrepan
-cies cou
ld w
ell be th
e result of slop
py
police w
ork, im
precise ob
servations
by w
itnesse
s, an
d th
e r
efu
sal o
f ev
ents to
follo
w a
logica
l, ord
erly
pattern
. Som
e peo
ple, in
clud
ing
Gra
nt C
oop
er an
d J
ack
Macra
e of
Du
tton, th
ink
Kaiser d
oes not su
b-.
Ran
tiate his argu
men
t for reopen
ing
the case. K
aiser wrote th
e last chap
-ter, h
e said, for th
e followin
g reason:
"E
verythin
g wou
ld fit n
icely if the
`program
min
g' theory is correct. If
there w
as no p
rogramm
ing th
en a lot
of thin
gs are un
explain
ed. N
ow th
ere m
igh
t be a
noth
er exp
lan
atio
n fo
r th
em, b
ut I d
on
't kn
ow
wh
ere it is. It's lik
e som
eon
e ha
s giv
en m
e a
chem
istry set and
they've said
with
th
ese elemen
ts you can
mak
e Styro-
foa
m, y
ou
've ju
st go
t to fig
ure o
ut
the form
ula. A
nd
I do every com
bi-
na
tion
an
d I still d
on
't get S
tyro
-foam
. An
d th
en som
ebod
y comes u
p
to m
e an
d sa
ys, 'H
a, h
a, w
e fooled
you
, we d
idn
't giv
e you
all th
e ele-m
ents you
need
ed.' A
nd
that's w
here
I feel I am
on
this th
ing, th
at I'v
e got som
e of the elem
ents b
ut n
ot all of th
em. I
feel like I've tried
all the
com
bin
atio
ns a
nd
there a
re som
e m
issing elem
ents."
S
o we are left w
ith th
is pictu
re of R
obert K
aiser, furiou
sly mixin
g his
chem
icals, sifting th
rough
his d
ata, lo
ok
ing fo
r those elu
sive "
missin
g
elemen
ts." W
hy is h
e driven
? Wh
y is h
e look
ing so
hard
? "
I see thin
gs,
becau
se of my b
ackgrou
nd
as a Jesu-
it, in a
mu
ch m
ore o
rdered
kin
d o
f w
orld,"
he said
. "G
od created
it and
so forth
. Th
e sun
and
the m
oon an
d
the sta
rs all h
ave th
e ord
er. I can
't live w
ith ch
aos. Besid
es, I wan
ted to
mak
e sense ou
t of a senseless th
ing,
and
mayb
e that's p
erverting."
Mayb
e it is. Bu
t mayb
e the m
ore im
portan
t thin
g is not w
hat K
aiser fou
nd
bu
t the fact th
at he b
othered
to look
. It is perfectly u
nd
erstand
-a
ble th
at so
ma
ny
com
pa
nies felt
qu
easy
ab
ou
t pu
blish
ing
his b
oo
k,
especially w
hen
their d
eep d
evotion
to Rob
ert Ken
ned
y was rein
forced
by
their d
eep co
nv
iction
tha
t the
book
wou
ld n
ot sell. Bu
t the attitu
de
wh
ich K
aiser encou
ntered
, both
at th
e pu
blish
ing h
ouses an
d th
e maga-
zines, a
mou
nted
to so
meth
ing lik
e cen
sorsh
ip o
f un
pop
ula
r idea
s an
d
un
desirab
le peop
le. Th
ere was sim
i-lar trou
ble in
getting S
irhan
a law-
yer. T
he L
os A
ngeles C
ou
nty
Bar
Asso
ciatio
n d
id n
ot w
an
t to g
et its h
and
s dirty. E
ven som
e mem
bers of
the A
.C.L
.U., w
ho
se record
in d
e-fen
din
g u
np
op
ula
r cau
ses is better
than
most, resen
ted th
e organization
h
elpin
g S
irhan
. Gra
nt C
oop
er was
no
t wild
ab
ou
t tak
ing
the ca
se, bu
t h
e felt obligated
; he h
as spok
en d
oz-en
s of tim
es in recen
t yea
rs on
the
respon
sibility of th
e lawyer to rep
re-sen
t even
the m
ost d
isrepu
tab
le clien
ts. T
ime an
d again
Kaiser h
eard th
e sa
me lita
ny: "
We th
ink
som
eon
e sh
ou
ld p
ub
lish th
e book
, bu
t. . . . W
e thin
k h
e shou
ld h
ave a good law
-y
er, bu
t. . . . We th
ink
he sh
ou
ld
have en
ou
gh
mon
ey to
get a
fair
trial, b
ut. . . ."
An
y sy
stem is tested
b
y the h
ard cases, n
ot the easy on
es. A
nd
both
the ju
dicial system
and
the
med
ia came p
erilously close to failin
g in
the case of S
irhan
Bish
ara Sirh
an.
Bob
Kaiser is n
o selfless hero. H
e got h
is story, and
his n
otoriety. He m
ight
even m
ake som
e mon
ey. B
ut it is to
be n
oted
tha
t, wh
ile oth
ers were
givin
g ex
cuses, h
e got
involved
, even if h
is motive w
as over-w
eenin
g a
mb
ition
. *
These speakers can blow
out a m
atch.
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