Robert F Kennedy assassin Sirhan Sirhan to seek parole without opposition after 53 years in prison

The man convicted of assassinating Robert F Kennedy in 1968 will seek parole on Friday.

It will be the 16th time Sirhan Sirhan has faced a parole board, but the first time he’s done so unopposed.

ITV News US Correspondent Emma Murphy has the full story.

It is a story of three old men and a young man who never got to grow old.

Of youth and age and what weight is placed upon either in the American justice system.

Sirhan Sirhan was 24 that night at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles. He’s now 77.

He’s served 53 years. His lawyer will seek his freedom under new legislation which allows courts to consider youth a mitigating factor when considering how long a prisoner should serve.

The time he has already served means the court will also have to consider his current age as another potential ground for release.

For Sirhan, his brother Munir, whose adult life has been overshadowed by his brother’s crime, and Paul Schrade, one of those he shot, there is a feeling that whilst youth and age gives them the best chance to achieve freedom, time is now against them.

Paul Schrade was lucky to survive. His life since has been spent trying to recover then understand the events of that night.

Now 96 his home is piled high with documents, photographs and evidence he’s accumulated. He wants to live long enough to see the man who nearly killed him freed.

As a young union activist Schrade believed in Robert Kennedy’s dream for America, he shared his belief in justice and rights for all.

As an old man he believes the justice his lost friend would want is the freeing of the man who killed him.