Alleged threat to Kennedy clouds parole for Sirhan

Sirhan B. Sirhan, the killer of Robert Kennedy, threatened to assassinate Edward M. Kennedy if the Massachusetts senator were elected president, Los Angeles district attorney John Van de Kamp said. Urging the state Board of Prison Terms to reverse its 1975 decision to parole Sirhan on Sept. 1, 1984, he said the threat was made in a conversation with another Soledad Prison inmate during the 1980 presidential campaign.

Mr. Van de Kamp also argued that the parole decision was based on policies invalidated by the courts, which now allow the board to take public opinion into account in deciding whether to free a prisoner.