Probe of Kennedy Slaying in L.A. Called Confused

The investigation of Robert F. Kennedy’s assassination was marked by confusion, mystery and outright lies by purported witnesses and some allegations made to police were never completely resolved, a 1,453-page summary of the police investigation disclosed Tuesday.

The Los Angeles Police Commission said that the summary, released nearly 18 years after Kennedy’s death, contains no conclusions about whether his convicted assassin, Sirhan B. Sirhan, acted alone.

“I think the court concluded that when they convicted Sirhan,” said Bill Cowdin, executive assistant to the Police Commission. “This is just a summary of the investigation. No one said anything like that in there.”

Critics, including a victim injured during Kennedy’s shooting, said the summary was inadequate and called for immediate release of about 50,000 pages of documentation still sealed from public view.

In a section discussing the investigation of possible conspiracies, the summary said that police investigated “a great number of allegations implicating Sirhan and other individuals or groups in conspiracies to kill Robert Kennedy. . . .

“The notoriety which accompanied the assassination and the mystery surrounding Sirhan’s character and background made the subject of conspiracy fertile ground for evoking unusual responses from the general public,” the report said. “Opportunists, political adventurers and publicity seekers came forward to volunteer that they had seen or spoken to Sirhan or that they had information which was valuable to the investigation.

“Investigations were made into each allegation with generally negative results,” the summary said. “The majority of the persons making the allegations were found to be lying for one reason or another.”

Although the summary said that “several allegations . . . were valid in one way or another,” it added that most were found to be “generally not important to the overall investigation.”

“As might be expected, due to the reluctance of witnesses or insufficiency of information, a few of the allegations remain partially unresolved; to some extent, resolution of these cases cannot be made because the witnesses have refused to cooperate with the department,” the summary said.

Release of the summary drew an angry response from Paul Schrade, who was shot in the head during the assassination.

‘Public Relations Gesture’

“You are doing a public relations gesture by providing this summary,” Schrade told the commission and accused members of arrogance for refusing to release the other 50,000 pages.

The commission recommended that Mayor Tom Bradley appoint a separate committee to handle the editing of the 50,000 pages and to set a timetable for their ultimate release.

“This commission for 17 years has refused to give up records that have been given up in every other assassination case,” Schrade said. “. . . This commission has scandalously refused to put the records in the public arena. You’ve been operating a closed shop.”

He was joined by several scholars and an attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union in declaring that laws governing public disclosure of records require the commission to open all files.

“You are a public commission, but you act as if you own these records,” Schrade said. “You don’t. The public does.”

Help Offered

An attorney from Washington and a scholar from New York offered to help the commission go through the 50,000 pages and remove any portions that might violate rights of privacy or governmental privilege before they are released to the public.

Barbara Schlei, acting commission chairman, said the commission had considered comments from the public as well as documentation submitted by experts on the assassination and decided to release only the summary now.

“Access to information concerning how government works is a fundamental right of every person in this state,” she told a crowded commission meeting.

Doubts about whether Sirhan acted alone when he killed Sen. Robert F. Kennedy in 1968 will remain, despite release of a summary of secret police files on the assassination, Schrade has said. He was an aide to the Democratic senator from New York who had just won the California presidential primary election the night he was killed.