Shane O'Sullivan

Gene: Thanks for your kind words. Those operatives certainly see the pantry as the perfect "killing zone" - so narrow and crowded it seems a second gunman could operate without detection. Gardner is the most interesting figure for me in manipulating Kennedy into the pantry or being a source of inside information for the bad guys. His proximity to Cesar in the backstage hallway before Kennedy left the stage is troubling. And there does seem to be a pattern in the dishonest or incompetent LAPD officers, attorneys and phony coroner's assistants who later worked on the case. I know Larry has his doubts about Sirhan's brothers but I can't say I share those. According to Sirhan's family, he spent every night in the year before the assassination at home. But he would spend his days alone, going to the racetrack or to the library, with no regular friends really monitoring his whereabouts. According to Dr. Spiegel, an hour or so each day for a couple of months with a programmer would be enough to direct Sirhan towards Kennedy, so I don't believe he disappeared for months, I think the programming was done right there in Los Angeles. And Bill Turner's book shows Dr. Bryan to be a leading candidate for the programmer. The Ruby parallels are indeed very interesting.

Hi Nathan, David Talbot quotes Pierre Salinger's "P.S: A Memoir" from 1995 and I think Salinger is the only source on this. Page 196 of his book reads: "When the first solid good news came in regarding California, I went upstairs to the suite to tell Bobby and to suggest it was time to go down to the ballroom. No, he said, he would wait a bit longer. We were sitting there talking when the phone rang, and it was Chicago's Mayor, Richard Daley. He was calling to make it official -- he would now publicly support Robert F. Kennedy as the Democratic candidate for President in 1968. Bobby and I exchanged a look that we both knew meant only one thing -- he had the nomination." But Schlesinger doesn't mention this at all in "Robert Kennedy & His Times" and Salinger didn't mention it in his previous books, some of which covered the assassination, so I personally doubt the call happened. Frank Mankiewicz and Jim McManus recently told researcher Brad Johnson the call never happened because they would have known about it. I don't know why Salinger suddenly chose to write about it in 1995. Daley died in 1976, so it's too late to ask him about it and Salinger himself died in 2004. Best, Shane

John: From speaking to the family, Morales was distant and would never talk about work or reveal his political views. His daughters didn't find out he was a Republican until much later in life. So, this sort of non-reaction to the assassination would fit that pattern. Having said that, I'm not sure I believe Morales was at home that evening because Rita's recollection is vague and a bit non-descript. Sandra Morales couldn't remember where her father was that day. Rita acknowledged Morales was an alcoholic and she didn't see as much of the "good guy" (i.e. good family man) as she'd have liked. Re: “If my father got a direct order to do it, I’m sure he did it. He knew the people who could get the job done.” The family attitude seems to be: he was in the military, he was very loyal and very good at his job and he followed orders. Joining the CIA rescued Morales from the barrio. If he was told to do something, he'd do it but he'd never jeopardise his status by operating without agency clearance. He may have done a lot of things we don't want to know about, but those were the times.

John: From speaking to the family, Morales was distant and would never talk about work or reveal his political views. His daughters didn't find out he was a Republican until much later in life. So, this sort of non-reaction to the assassination would fit that pattern. Having said that, I'm not sure I believe Morales was at home that evening because Rita's recollection is vague and a bit non-descript. Sandra Morales couldn't remember where her father was that day. Rita acknowledged Morales was an alcoholic and she didn't see as much of the "good guy" (i.e. good family man) as she'd have liked. Re: “If my father got a direct order to do it, I’m sure he did it. He knew the people who could get the job done.” The family attitude seems to be: he was in the military, he was very loyal and very good at his job and he followed orders. Joining the CIA rescued Morales from the barrio. If he was told to do something, he'd do it but he'd never jeopardise his status by operating without agency clearance. He may have done a lot of things we don't want to know about, but those were the times.

Pat: Great to meet you at COPA. Several others also thought the "Morales" figure in the video was a light-skinned black man. While Morales was "deeply bronzed," he was, of course, Yaqui Indian. The apparent height difference (Morales was 5'10' according to Agency records; the "Morales" in the video towers above those around him and seems well over six foot) also presents a problem. Interesting suggestion re the L.A. Fire Department but, as far as I know, all officers present were in full LAFD uniform. William Gardner and Fred "Pat" Murphy were the only hotel security officers in plainclothes and they were much older and Anglo, so the identity of the "Morales" figure and his friend with the pencil moustache taking notes still eludes me. John: From speaking to the family, Morales was distant and would never talk about work or reveal his political views. His daughters didn't find out he was a Republican until much later in life. So, this sort of non-reaction to the assassination would fit that pattern. Having said that, I'm not sure I believe Morales was at home that evening because Rita's recollection is vague and a bit non-descript. Sandra Morales couldn't remember where her father was that day. Rita acknowledged Morales was an alcoholic and she didn't see as much of the "good guy" (i.e. good family man) as she'd have liked. Re: “If my father got a direct order to do it, I’m sure he did it. He knew the people who could get the job done.” The family attitude seems to be: he was in the military, he was very loyal and very good at his job and he followed orders. Joining the CIA rescued Morales from the barrio. If he was told to do something, he'd do it but he'd never jeopardise his status by operating without agency clearance. He may have done a lot of things we don't want to know about, but those were the times. As for Brad, you know that so many facts from "The War That Never Was" regarding his presence at JM WAVE and training the Cubans in the swamps have been validated by agency veterans over the years. So I think he's an excellent witness but applying that to photo identification, 40+ years after he last saw Morales and Campbell, is difficult. I certainly don't think he made the identification in order to publicize his book. Wayne Smith obviously made the same identification of Morales.

John, On paper, those who provided negative identifications could be accused of having vested interests but ultimately, I was persuaded they were being honest and open with me. I was particularly impressed by how helpful Chavez, Fernandez, Roman and the Morales family were in answering my questions and providing new images (Rita and Sandra are pseudonyms, by the way). I now believe the two figures in the ballroom are Michael Roman and, probably, Frank Owens. The Bulova connection and the actions of Roman after the shooting are a bit strange but I don't now believe the man with him is Joannides. The "Morales" identification is so disputed at this stage, I prefer to emphasise that Morales confessed he was in Dallas and Los Angeles and, after talking to his family, they have no alibi for his whereabouts on June 5, 1968. This is significant because generally Morales' family lived with him wherever he was posted, with the exception of his tour of Vietnam and his first year in Laos. Brad Ayers, Wayne Smith and Ed Lopez are all highly credible and I found their IDs persuasive for a long time. While I personally now doubt it is Morales in the video, the new images of Morales his family provided made Ayers and Smith even more sure of their original IDs. Even if it isn't Morales in the video, his statement that he was there and his implication that he was involved must be followed through as far as possible. What more can be done to pin this down, I'm not sure. Best, Shane

Just some background for the thread: The UPI report is based on this NY Daily News piece: http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/07/...nedy_murde.html It's great to see the Daily News showing such interest. Given the scant press coverage of the controversies in the RFK case over the years, it's perhaps not surprising that Bobby Kennedy Jr. seems to know so little about them. After the Daily News piece, my publisher sent him a copy of my book, so if he's skeptical about what happened in Dallas, I hope he'll consider the weight of evidence suggesting conspiracy in his father's death and support a reopening of the case. Best, Shane

Gene, Thanks very much for your feedback. I agree the Ambassador head of security William F. Gardner is an intriguing figure who hasn't really been covered before. There are so many contradictions in his FBI interviews and if there was anyone pulling strings backstage, he strikes me as a key figure who was never properly questioned. But I find it hard to believe there was a Judas in the Kennedy camp, given the agonised look on the faces of his aides in the pantry, so how RFK was manipulated into the "killing zone" still eludes me. As for Ace Guard Service: after his very candid interview with Betsy Langman, I don't suspect Frank Hendrix, the Ace owner, but I find it very curious that nobody seems to have ever spoken to Tom Spangler, Thane Eugene Cesar's contact at Ace and the man who summoned Cesar to the Ambassador that night. I'm also keeping Morales in the frame. There may be another twist to his story yet. Enjoy the rest of the book. When I was in the US last month, I interviewed Phil Van Praag about the new audio evidence. The resulting 7-minute update to my film will be screening on the Documentary Channel and online soon. Best, Shane

Gene, Thanks very much for your feedback. I agree the Ambassador head of security William F. Gardner is an intriguing figure who hasn't really been covered before. There are so many contradictions in his FBI interviews and if there was anyone pulling strings backstage, he strikes me as a key figure who was never properly questioned. But I find it hard to believe there was a Judas in the Kennedy camp, given the agonised look on the faces of his aides in the pantry, so how RFK was manipulated into the "killing zone" still eludes me. As for Ace Guard Service: after his very candid interview with Betsy Langman, I don't suspect Frank Hendrix, the Ace owner, but I find it very curious that nobody seems to have ever spoken to Tom Spangler, Thane Eugene Cesar's contact at Ace and the man who summoned Cesar to the Ambassador that night. I'm also keeping Morales in the frame. There may be another twist to his story yet. Enjoy the rest of the book. When I was in the US last month, I interviewed Phil Van Praag about the new audio evidence. The resulting 7-minute update to my film will be screening on the Documentary Channel and online soon. Best, Shane

Steve and Michael, Thanks, I really appreciate the feedback. It's a very complex story, so great to hear it reads well. John Judge has, indeed, assembled a terrific lineup for the COPA meeting and there are indications the mainstream media may be willing to take a serious look at this case. We just need to keep on pushing. Best, Shane

Thanks very much, Steve. I really appreciate your feedback. It's great to hear my mountainous files have been put to good use. I decided to focus on California for the screenings as that's where the power is to reopen the case. Luckily, a cinema in New York also liked the film, so the week at the Pioneer is wonderful. There'll be a feature on the film in the NY Daily News this Sunday and I hope the release will go some way to bringing the East Coast media up to speed on the unresolved issues. Ed Wilson let me audio-tape our conversation, that's why my account of our meeting is more detailed. The meeting with Clines was pretty much as I describe in the book. Not a lot of new detail. I was circling, waiting to bring up the Ambassador footage. He was a bit wary, wondering why I was really there or already briefed on why I was there. Clines brought his business partner Derek, who worked with him in Central America in the eighties. Derek told tales of staking out a hotel lobby with 19 operatives, each blending into the furniture. I told Clines I wanted to talk about the Secret War (on Castro) and he asked "Which one?' and burst out laughing. An impenetrable guy but fair play to him for meeting me.

Just a note to say my book on the RFK assassination is now available and I've put up a website here, with the table of contents and introduction: Who Killed Bobby? While I reinvestigate the RFK case from top to bottom, I think there's much of interest re the JFK assassination, too. I'm also looking forward to getting more US reaction on my film ahead of its New York release. There are new dates at the Roxie in San Francisco on June 3rd and at the Farmers and Merchants Building in downtown Los Angeles on the 4th. I'll be at both screenings, so it'd be great to see some of you if you can make it. Full details at the film site: RFK Must Die Best, Shane

Steve and James, Thanks very much for your feedback. A lot of long nights and early mornings went into the book, so I hope you enjoy it. I've just put up a website here, with the table of contents and introduction: Who Killed Bobby? I'm also looking forward to getting more US reaction on the film. There are new dates at the Roxie in San Francisco on June 3rd and at the Farmers and Merchants Building in downtown Los Angeles on the 4th. I'll be there both nights, so it'd be great to see some of you if you can make it. Full details at the film site: RFK Must Die Best, Shane

Thanks for the feedback on the film so far. I'm delighted to announce RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy will be released in UK cinemas this Friday, May 16th, opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and Rich Mix cinemas in London. I will be doing Q&As after the 6:15 ICA show on Friday and the 8:15 Rich Mix show on Saturday. The UK DVD will be released on May 26th, with a host of rare Kennedy campaign ads and audio extras. The film will then screen at the historic Crest Theater in Sacramento on Monday, June 2nd at 7:30 p.m., with Q&A, to promote awareness of the case among California lawmakers. Three days later, on the fortieth anniversary of the assassination, the film will open at the Pioneer Theater in New York for an eight-day run, with several Q&As also. We'll be screening a shorter 102' version of the film theatrically, as I think it's more digestible for those new to the case than the 139' DVD version. The UK DVD will include the extra 37' as extras. The Documentary Channel will air the US television premiere on the anniversary and my book, Who Killed Bobby? The Unsolved Murder of Robert F. Kennedy will be published by Union Square Press on June 3rd. I hope all of this will increase the pressure on California authorities to reopen the case in the light of the new audio evidence found on the Pruszynski recording. Public and media awareness is, of course, key to this. If any of you would like to organise a screening of the film in your area, please let me know. Brave New Theaters is a great new grassroots cinema initiative from director Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Iraq for Sale) that makes this possible. I hope to meet some of you at the COPA meeting in Los Angeles in June. All the best, Shane

Thanks for the feedback on the film so far. I'm delighted to announce RFK Must Die: The Assassination of Bobby Kennedy will be released in UK cinemas this Friday, May 16th, opening at the Institute of Contemporary Art (ICA) and Rich Mix cinemas in London. I will be doing Q&As after the 6:15 ICA show on Friday and the 8:15 Rich Mix show on Saturday. The UK DVD will be released on May 26th, with a host of rare Kennedy campaign ads and audio extras. The film will then screen at the historic Crest Theater in Sacramento on Monday, June 2nd at 7:30 p.m., with Q&A, to promote awareness of the case among California lawmakers. Three days later, on the fortieth anniversary of the assassination, the film will open at the Pioneer Theater in New York for an eight-day run, with several Q&As also. We'll be screening a shorter 102' version of the film theatrically, as I think it's more digestible for those new to the case than the 139' DVD version. The UK DVD will include the extra 37' as extras. The Documentary Channel will air the US television premiere on the anniversary and my book, Who Killed Bobby? The Unsolved Murder of Robert F. Kennedy will be published by Union Square Press on June 3rd. I hope all of this will increase the pressure on California authorities to reopen the case in the light of the new audio evidence found on the Pruszynski recording. Public and media awareness is, of course, key to this. If any of you would like to organise a screening of the film in your area, please let me know. Brave New Theaters is a great new grassroots cinema initiative from director Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Iraq for Sale) that makes this possible. I hope to meet some of you at the COPA meeting in Los Angeles in June. All the best, Shane

No, Charles. That's a photo provided by Morales' daughters last year of DSM in Vietnam with persons unknown. The Crest photos allegedly of DSM were obtained in the late eighties by Bradley Ayers and Bob Dorff from Col. Crest aka John Markley but are no longer available. Best, Shane

James, Here are the FBI interviews with Claudia Williams and her husband. The FBI call him Roland Glen Williams while the LAPD have him as Ronald G. Williams. That's a great photograph. Would love to know where you got it. Best, Shane

Thanks for your interest, Christopher. My main problem with Mel Ayton is that he is simply not objective. He is highly selective in his marshalling of witness accounts to fit his agenda and the title of his recent book on the RFK case, "The Forgotten Terrorist" tells you everything you need to know about his narrow viewpoint on Sirhan and the case in general. On the "double fire": we're talking about an interval of 120 m/s between these "shot sounds" (just over a tenth of a second). The best time the Discovery program firearms expert, Phil Spangenberger, could manage firing the same model revolver eight times was 2.93 seconds - an average of 366 m/s between shots. His fastest time between two shots fired in rapid succession was 550 m/s. I've never fired a gun and am open to the possibility they can be fired quicker but Sirhan was still a novice. By his own account, he did some firing in the California Cadet Corps while at high-school but only visited a gun range six times before the assassination. So if these "shot sounds" are indeed shots, the implication is clearly a second gun. The barrel-fouling did, unfortunately, prevent conclusive findings in the reexamination of the ballistics evidence by seven independent examiners in 1975. According to Dan Moldea's book, LAPD officers fired a "bootful" of extra shots through the barrel, fouling its individual characteristics for future identification. As the gun was in evidence after June 7, 1968, I can only assume they did this within days of the assassination, which is just appalling. The doorframes with alleged bulletholes were also destroyed before Sirhan's appeal even got off the ground, of course. In 1975, Darryl Gates revealed that subsequent LAPD x-rays of the doorframes for possible lead fragments were also "not in existence." The recent hosing down of the Bhutto crime-scene and blaming Bhutto's "wanting to be with the people" for the appalling security have disturbing parallels to 1968. Best, Shane

Thanks for the photo comparison, James. I agree the face looks similar across almost all the images. It's the Peruvian photo bottom left that puzzles me. He sure did balloon up and down in weight between his time in Peru and Vietnam. But I guess the glasses don't help and there's still some similarity. I attach James' early basketball photo that also jars a bit when you compare the young Morales' height to the 5'10' reported later. Charles - the "Col. Crest" photos of Morales in Vietnam are missing in action, presumed lost, so unfortunately, I can't post them. Herb - Thanks for your support. I'd be happy to be interviewed. Please PM me directly and I'll give you the publicity contact for the DVD at MPI to help set things up. Best, Shane

Hi Bill, Yes, that's him. The Bulova connection is very odd but I outline how I pieced it together in the film. There's no image of Roman online but I do have a lot of photos and video of him in the film. I haven't checked out the Campbell who worked for Wright Machine Company yet. Best, Shane

Herb - Yes, this is an excellent program shown on the Discovery Times channel several months ago. You can find it on Youtube in eleven segments here: Several audio experts examine the only known recording of the gunshots in the pantry that night and three conclude there are at least ten "shot sounds" on the tape, with at least one "double-shot" (two shots so close together they could not have been fired from the same gun). As Sirhan's gun only held eight bullets, this seems to indicate a second gunman in the pantry. I expect further news on this front in the next few months. Unfortunately, the Discovery Times program aired after I had completed my film but I will discuss this new evidence in my book. Best, Shane

Charles - Sorry for the late reply. I've been away. I also find the doppelganger idea very interesting in relation to Oswald and Morales. Bradley Ayers has long felt there was a second Morales because alleged photos of DSM in Vietnam shown to him by John Markley (aka Col. Crest in Fonzi's book) bore no relation to the DSM he knew. Having said that, I am loath to get into a second Morales given the problems I've had with the first! Do bear in mind, though, that according to his ex-lawyer Robert Walton, Morales was a master of disguise who could make himself appear several inches taller or shorter and change facial features or hair color, where necessary. I must say I am puzzled by the way Morales seems to vary so widely across the various photographs. Accounts of those who knew him do seem to consistently describe him as 5'10', with very dark, Indian features, a flat nose and a heavy frame. Why he appears so tall in those high-school basketball photos is a mystery to me. Antii - I only received the new photos of Morales in Peru and Vietnam while editing the film. I did send them to Brad Ayers and Wayne Smith and they both said these merely reinforced their feeling that the man at the Ambassador was Morales. But the man in the video is over six feet tall and others, including the Morales family, insist it's not him. I have no doubt that Bulova salesman Michael D. Roman is the "Gordon Campbell" in the video but I have not been able to identify the Latin man who seems to motion him towards an exit.

Many thanks for your kind words, John, Charles and Peter. I also side with Walton and believe Carbajal would say anything to protect Morales. Walton was the one who first told Fonzi about the Dallas comment and Ruben only admitted it later. McCowan is a very interesting thread in this, I'm going to try to speak to him further. I'm glad you like the tone of the film. I feel objectivity is extremely important if this case is to proceed in the courts and build a groundswell of media support. I did try to contact Manny Pena but he's ailing and too ill to be interviewed, even by phone, unfortunately. I will quote extensively from a very revealing interview he gave Marilyn Barrett in 1992 in my book, though. Pena was close to Byron Engle, ex-CIA and head of the Office of Public Safety, a cover regularly used by Morales and, of course, home to Dan Mitrione. Hernandez died a few years ago. After the LAPD, he ran a multi-million dollar security company, whose first contract was with NASA. I interviewed Morales' two eldest daughters and a younger son by phone but that came after my film was done. They wouldn't have appeared on camera, anyway. They actually don't recognise "El Indio" as a nickname for their father. "Didi" and "Poncho" are the ones they recall. I don't know of other "El Indios," Charles. William Pepper seems set to take the case by the scruff of the neck and move all this forward, which is great news. I'm glad to see him on the Forum and look forward to seeing the case active in the courts again. Best, Shane

Many thanks for your kind words, John, Charles and Peter. I also side with Walton and believe Carbajal would say anything to protect Morales. Walton was the one who first told Fonzi about the Dallas comment and Ruben only admitted it later. McCowan is a very interesting thread in this, I'm going to try to speak to him further. I'm glad you like the tone of the film. I feel objectivity is extremely important if this case is to proceed in the courts and build a groundswell of media support. I did try to contact Manny Pena but he's ailing and too ill to be interviewed, even by phone, unfortunately. I will quote extensively from a very revealing interview he gave Marilyn Barrett in 1992 in my book, though. Pena was close to Byron Engle, ex-CIA and head of the Office of Public Safety, a cover regularly used by Morales and, of course, home to Dan Mitrione. Hernandez died a few years ago. After the LAPD, he ran a multi-million dollar security company, whose first contract was with NASA. I interviewed Morales' two eldest daughters and a younger son by phone but that came after my film was done. They wouldn't have appeared on camera, anyway. They actually don't recognise "El Indio" as a nickname for their father. "Didi" and "Poncho" are the ones they recall. I don't know of other "El Indios," Charles. William Pepper seems set to take the case by the scruff of the neck and move all this forward, which is great news. I'm glad to see him on the Forum and look forward to seeing the case active in the courts again. Best, Shane

Thanks, Peter and Antti. NTSC DVDs do play in Europe but yes, it depends on the region code of your DVD player. Many are now multiregion or you can find a workaround as Antti suggests. The book will be published in early May and will have greater space to look in depth at all the controversies I feel are most relevant now in trying to reopen the case. I will detail my conversations with three members of the Morales family; present a new look at the ballistics evidence - which has been misinterpreted in the past by both sides of the conspiracy argument, I think; tell you what the LAPD's Hernandez and Pena were doing in South America for "the State Department"; and really focus on who Sirhan was, his very strange journey to the pantry that night and the struggles to uncover his memory. Hope you enjoy the film in the meantime. Best, Shane