Lets start by looking at the physical evidence. First of all, Sirhans revolver held only eight rounds and he never had time to reload. But a reporters recording has what audio expert Philip Van Praag has determined are thirteen shots in a little more than five seconds. Two of those are what forensic experts call double shots, meaning they happened so close together that theres no way they came from the same gun. In pictures taken in the pantry later that night, you can see some policemen looking up at what they later said was a bullet hole in a ceiling panel. The trouble is, thats behind where Sirhan was shooting from. The L.A. County coroner, Thomas Noguchi, said almost right away that the fatal shot had come from less than an inch away from Kennedys head, behind the right ear. That, of course, also rules out Sirhan.

Youd think some of this might have come up at Sirhans trial. But his defense attorneys decided not to challenge any evidence, because their claim was that Sirhan had diminished capacity (a nice way of saying he was crazy) and they were looking to get him a life sentence instead of the death penalty. Again, once he pled guilty, there was no real trial with witnesses who might contradict the official story. After a judge approved a citizens petition to reinvestigate the firearms evidence, in 1977 the L.A. district attorneys office wrote that the apparent lack of reports, both written and photographic, either madeand destroyed, or never in existence, raised serious doubts as to the substance and reliability of the ballistics evidence presented in the original Sirhan trial.