The Get Lost Letter

I expected a response letter from ATF which I hoped would include the FFL # issued to the Pasadena Gun Shop in Pasadena, Ca.. Their response letter to me told me in so many words to GET LOST. Actually, had they complied I really would have been surprised.

The problem I have is that the gun #H53725 was withheld from the 1968 Los Angeles County Grand Jury, the 1969 Sirhan trial AND the evidence inventory which accompanied the Sirhan evidence to the California State Archives in 1988. The evidence inventory I speak of is Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits.

I will never understand how it was possible to not record a gun ID number in Sirhan court records - emphasis on the word “ records” (I do not include the appeals courts)

I specifically refer to the 1968 Los Angeles County Grand Jury Hearing and the 1969 Sirhan B. Sirhan trial. Gun #H53725 does not appear in either of those transcripts. Why not?

This tells us that without gun #H53725 appearing in the court records it is virtually impossible to conduct any valid bullet comparison tests – at any time. That is a true fact and I do not overstate the case.

So what to do?

I would like to see Sirhan bring the withholding of gun #H53725 from the 1967 Grand Jury Transcript, the 1969 Sirhan Trial Transcript and Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits to the court’s attention in a new court filing. There is no question at all about the deliberate withholding of gun #H53725 in those vital records.

Unquestionably, the Appeals courts should have been informed of this stunning and enormously important information.

While I am not a lawyer I am aware of time-line cut offs in which the Petitioner is barred from filing an appeal with new evidence beyond the statutory time limits. I agree – if that barrier didn’t exist the courts would be buried in mountains of bad court filings and the courts would cease to function.

But the Robert F. Kennedy assassination investigation stands apart. For this reason - the actions of Special Unit Senator were so egregious that it virtually sabotaged any possibility of Sirhan B. Sirhan filing a successful appeal. That is like trying to hammer a square peg into a round hole. It simply does not fit.

In brief here is what happened

Shortly after Senator Robert F. Kennedy was shot in the early morning hours of June 5, 1968 at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles , Ca. a special investigation task force was established.

This was Special Unit Senator. Specially chosen officers from the Los Angeles Police Department were recruited to staff this ultra secret Task Force. And they answered to no one. That was the problem.

Literally, SUS took over complete control of the Robert F. Kennedy assassination investigation out of the hands of the Los Angeles Police Department – including their Crime Lab.

I first learned there were serious problems with SUS from William W. Harper, an independent consulting criminalist in Pasadena, Ca.

Harper was receiving alarming complaints from LAPD officers in the form of leaks which he shared with me. The principal concerns of these police officers involved the tampering of evidence and records.

And when the trial was over

To make sure no one could look into their treachery, and before the ink was dry on Sirhan’s death sentence SUS arranged for the illegal secret meeting in Judge Loring’s chambers where Judge Loring issued his Court Order which would require a court order and show good cause if any one wanted to examine the Sirhan evidence (mid May 1969). Additionally, the pantry ceiling panels, the pantry door frames and numerous photographs were burned in a hospital incinerator before Sirhan appeals were even filed.

But SUS was not done. They locked up their secret SUS Investigation Reports for twenty years and it took vigorous court filings to pry those Reports out of their tight fists.

Here’s where the very special circumstances of SUS’ locking up their reports for twenty years affected Sirhan’s research investigation.

I was out of the case for seventeen years and by a strange circumstance on Mother’s Day, 1992 Adel Sirhan told me his brother Sirhan wanted to see me.

Thus it was that I first became aware in the early part of 1993 that the SUS Reports were now open to the public. But that is easier said than done because the SUS Investigation Reports were on microfilm reels and examining those dark and frequently out of focus spinning negatives on the library’s low budget machine proved to be a challenge I never experienced before. Not to mention the high cost of printing the many pages I needed for close examination. I assure the Reader, I do not exaggerate the enormous difficulty I experienced.

And if it wasn’t for William W. Harper sharing with me the many inside LAPD leaks he received from LAPD Officers who were angry and frustrated over SUS’ takeover of the RFK assassination investigation – out of the hands of LAPD - and their playing fast and loose with the evidence – I state for a fact – I would never have found the incriminating evidence that was buried in those SUS microfilm reels.

The point I make is that with the investigation records being locked up for twenty years any investigator – good, bad, slow or fast - would begin with a serious handicap, especially so in trying to examine microfilm reels in the place of actual paper. The conditions I experienced in the course of my Sirhan research were simply not normal and unusually difficult.

These are reasons why I say Sirhan court filings stand apart.

Gun #H53725 is SUS’ very special nightmare

I want to say this - my gun #H53725 research Reports contain copies of the actual court documents from the official SUS Records and it is those bona fide records/ exhibits which I meticulously examined again and again which lead me to make the discovery that gun #H53725 does not appear in the above cited court transcripts. These were no accidents.

Again, without that gun ID number (H53725) in those two courts there can be no valid bullet comparison tests – Period.

For the purpose of clarity and emphasis I repeat these extraordinary facts

Modesty aside, the fact is my research of the Sirhan gun number lead to the unexpected and amazing discovery of the deliberate withholding of gun #H53725 from those two

courts. If that isn’t the thwarting of justice I don’t know what else it is. There can be no other explanation.

And you cannot dismiss the amazing record at California State Archives in Sacramento, Ca. called Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits - this is so incredibly important because Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits is an all important evidence inventory which also includes information and evidence from the 1967 Grand Jury (specifically GJ5B), the 1969 Sirhan trial evidence and the 1975 Judge Robert Wenke ballistics examination Reports and evidence which were delivered to the California State Archives along with Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits !!

How does one justify these actions? Most assuredly, someone made the decision to withhold gun #H53725 from the courts and the California State Archives. There had to have been a reason. (remember, I do not include the withholding of gun #H53725 in the appeals courts records)

But there is still more to this business

It was in the 1975 Patrick Garland Evidence Inventory where I made the astounding discovery that the seven court appointed experts were given substitute “evidence” bullets to examine. That is a true fact. The ID markings on the victim bullet bases differed from the ID engravings placed on them by the operating surgeons.

SUS broke the eggs so they hide behind late court filings

I have always felt those SUS hooligans were out of control. And by the Grace of God they got their hands caught in the cookie jar with Garland’s 1975 Evidence Inventory. Lady Justice watched over Garland’s Evidence Inventory that day.

Still more

Then unbelievably, while searching through Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits I made another shocking discovery. Here are the facts:

The seven examiners test fired gun #H53725 for bullet/ ballistics comparison tests.

Several times in the course of my examining the ballistics evidence and records at the California State Archives in Sacramento, Ca. I asked Archivist Nancy Zimmellman for the 1975 test bullets along with the test shell casings as I wanted to photograph them.

Ms. Zimmellman told me they (CSA) did not receive them. Technically, Zimmellman’s answer was only partially true. You see, CSA did receive the eight test fired bullets from the 1975 test firing of gun #H53725.

But what Ms. Zimmellman neglected to tell me is that while California State Archives DID receive the eight test fired bullets - they DID NOT receive the eight TEST SHELL CASINGS from that 1975 test firing of gun #H53725.

What does this mean? Duh?

Simply this - we see the eight test shell casings from the 1975 test firing of gun #H53725 HAVE VANISHED. In fact these eight test fired shell casings from gun #H53725 WERE NOT delivered to CSA. Doesn’t that tell you that it is literally impossible to compare any future test shell casings from gun #H53725 with the 1975 test shell casings simply because they do not physically exist!! Someone stole them. And it wasn’t me.

And, more to the point – WHY were those 1975 test fire shell casings from the firing of gun #H53725 ( .22 cal, eight shot Iver Johnson revolver, serial #H53725) – why were those test fire shell casings WITHHELD from CSA ? And what did SUS do with them??

See this unbelievable Appendix H: List and Description of Trial Exhibits for yourself. It is included in my gun number Reports on this web site.

As an outsider looking in through the court windows I wonder at a solution to the extraordinary problem of proven evidence tampering and records tampering. How does one handle this problem? I truly do not know the answer.

I almost forgot

There is something else - Harper received information from a reliable LAPD source that the Sirhan gun was originally purchased from the Eastern Firearms gun shop in Pasadena, Ca. . But Harper never saw the Pasadena Gun Shop DROS with gun #H53725 – which, it will be remembered was burned. Was it Eastern Firearms or was it Pasadena Gun Shop? Or was it neither one?

Naturally I smelled a rat (the white-outs on Pasadena Gun Shop DROS looked fishy)

And so I sought to have my examiner of questioned documents examine the original triplicate copy of the Pasadena Gun Shop DROS for gun #H53725 at CII in Sacramento, Ca.

That idea was stopped in its tracks when I was notified by letter that the DROS I wanted to have examined by my expert had been destroyed. A coincidence? Not when it comes to gun #H53725.

So sad, too late. That offending little DROS (a slip of paper actually) committed the inexcusable crime of taking up too much space at CII. And so the order came down – burn it. But not to worry

A PHOTOSTATIC copy of that DROS with gun number H53725 is safely preserved under lock and key at the California State Archives! What a great application of pure logic.

I would like to add this information. There are many unwritten research reports which I never quite got around to write. (they are not on the level of gun #H53725). As I was growing older I began to think – is anyone going to bother to read dry reports? So I gave up on writing them.

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For a long time I wanted to write about some of the people who have taken an interest in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination and took the time to read my research Reports then at some point contacted me requesting interviews. Their numbers are slowly growing.

Now that I am eighty seven years old I feel it is about time to close down shop, however, my web site will remain on the Internet for many years. God willing.

Here are the names of some of the people who have shown interest in Sirhan evidence problems:

Len Osanic, radio host for Black Op Radio; author Jim Douglass from Birmingham, Alabama; Christer (MrChillemannen) You Tube contributor, for his fine editing of some of my Black Op Radio interviews; Gary Glassman, TV documentarian; author Matthew Smith from London; writer Paul Nellen from Germany; author Tom O’Neill from Los Angeles; author Shane O’Sullivan from London; author David Wayne from I believe Brazil?; investigative journalist Dianne Dimond from New York; investigative journalist Greta Van Susterin formerly with CNN Legal Affairs; P.I. Jerry Pierce from Fresno, Ca.; radio talk show host Richard Syrett, Canada, and the many other radio and TV interviewers who interviewed me over the years.

I am deeply impressed by their interest in the Robert F. Kennedy assassination investigation and I apologize for not listing everyone. It’s been many years and I hate to admit it, but remembering names and faces was never my strong point.

Speaking of not having strong points

I must confess I do not come off very well in interviews as seen by some of my embarrassing misstatements.

Trouble is I’m really a lousy speaker and I know the evidence probably better than anyone but that’s it. If I had to earn a living based on my speaking skills I’d quickly starve to death.

Here is an example: During one of my radio interviews with Len Osanic while explaining the number of shots that struck Senator Kennedy I stated there were two axilla shots with one going through the right front chest and the other axilla shot going out through the top of his jacket. As soon as that misstatement flew out of my mouth I knew I was in trouble – and I quickly thought to myself – I’ll make the correction. Not to worry.

But the subject changed and I never got back to the correction. That really bothered me.

I suspect my brain operates at a much greater speed than my ability to form the necessary sentences. Not such a good system - so I began looking for a way to correct that slip of the tongue nightmare. I’d better do it right now or I’ll never get a good night’s sleep.

Bullets fired at Kennedy

There were two very close shots in the right axillary region. One shot passed through and through his body right to left, back to front in an upward direction and exited through the right front chest. The other axilla shot entered just below and also traveled right to left, back to front in an upward direction and stopped at the 6^th cervical vertebra. The 6^th cervical vertebra shot was non- fatal. (these two axilla shots may have been the first two bullets that struck Kennedy).

Dr. Noguchi, the L.A. County Coroner who performed the autopsy described the upward angles of the two axilla shots was due to Kennedy having raised his right arm up at the time the shots were fired.

The third shot passed through the right side at the top of Kennedy’s jacket in a back to front direction and just missed the jacket lining.

The fourth shot was the fatal shot. It was fired into the right mastoid region in a right to left, slightly to the front and an upward direction.

All of the bullets were near contact shots as evidenced by the stippling marks.

Please note: I have described the order that the shots were fired from the probability of the sequence. We do not know the order in which they occurred.

Being a lay person, I would like to have discussed the probable bullet sequence with Dr. LeMoyne Snyder. But unfortunately, I never met him.

There is another clarification –

During the Osanic interview and repeated on You Tube by MrChrillemannen’s Additional facts on the Robert F. Kennedy Assassination I found this important slip of the tongue:

I talked about Sirhan telling me that he met a young man at the gun range (June 4, 1968) who was, about 18 years old. The young man had received a gun for his birthday and was firing blanks in it.

Sirhan remembered the boy also put his blanks in Sirhan’s gun and they each fired the blanks in each other’s gun.

Then suddenly at 5:oo p.m. Buckner, the range master, loudly called out “Time!” That meant all shooting STOPS when “Time!” is called out. Sirhan’s gun still contained all of the unfired bullets – but he could not remember if the bullets were the blanks.

The information about Sirhan’s gun containing a full round of bullets when Sirhan left the firing range as a result of Buckner’s suddenly calling out “Time!” is indeed in the records. I believe this important information came out during Sirhan’s trial testimony. But oddly, there was no mention of the young man sharing his blanks in Sirhan’s gun. Why wasn’t there any mention of the boy with the blanks?

The big question must be – were the bullets in Sirhan’s gun blanks at 5:00 p.m. that day? Sirhan did not remember.

During that radio interview, unfortunately, I didn’t complete the sentence – “he couldn’t remember…”. I should have completed the sentence “he couldn’t remember if his loaded gun contained the unfired blanks in it when he left the gun range at the time Buckner suddenly called out “Time!’

I close this final Report by saluting the two men who showed us what truly great character is all about.

William W. Harper and Dr. Thomas Noguchi - Harper for his taking on the SUS beast and Dr. Noguchi for saving Special Exhibit 10 from the hospital furnace.

Those two sure shook up history.

Rose Lynn Mangan, January 1, 2016