Sirhan Sirhan: Robert Kennedy assassin stabbed in prison

Man convicted of shooting senator is in stable condition after being attacked by fellow inmate

Sirhan Sirhan, convicted of assassinating the late Senator Robert F Kennedy, was reportedly stabbed in a California prison and sent to an outside hospital. (Bettmann Archive)

The man who was convicted of shooting Robert F Kennedy was stabbed in a California prison by a fellow inmate.

Sirhan Sirhan, 75, was taken to hospital after the attack at the Richard J Donovan Correctional Facility, where he is serving a life sentence for the 1968 killing of the senator and presidential candidate.

A statement from the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation read: “Officers responded quickly, and found an inmate with stab wound injuries. He was transported to an outside hospital for medical care, and is currently in stable condition.”

Sirhan was the victim of the stabbing, a government source with direct knowledge said, after the incident was first reported by TMZ.

The prison identified the suspect in the stabbing and has removed them from the general prison population, according to corrections officials.

“The suspect in the attack has been identified, and has [been] placed in the prison’s administrative segregation unit, pending an investigation,” a statement read.

Sirhan was originally sentenced to death after being found guilty of shooting Kennedy the night of his victory in the California Democratic presidential primary 5 June, 1968, but his sentence was later reduced to life in prison when the state outlawed the death penalty for a period.

Sirhan has been held at the correctional facility after telling authorities he did not prefer being housed in a protective unit at another prison in Northern California, where he was kept apart from the prison population.

Sirhan was taken to a hospital outside of the prison facilities and was later said to be in stable condition.

Corrections officials declined to confirm Sirhan was the victim in the stabbing attack, citing department policies.

The Associated Press contributed to this report