Greek shipping magnate 'paid for Robert Kennedy's killing'

The assassination of US senator Robert F Kennedy, brother of slain president John F Kennedy, four decades ago has spawned a variety of conspiracy theories.

Now, more than 40 years after his death, one of Robert Kennedy's close actor friends, Robert Vaughn, has claimed that Greek shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis actually paid for the assassination of the Democratic presidential candidate.

Though the perpetrator was a 24-year-old Palestinian immigrant Sirhan Sirhan who remains incarcerated for the crime as of 2009, Vaughn said that "Bobby's (Robert Kennedy) killing was carried out by more than one gunman".

And, according to him, Onassis funded the killing.

To corroborate his conclusion, Vaughn has also cited investigative journalist Peter Evans's book 'Nemesis' which suggested that Onassis was responsible in part for Kennedy's murder, the Daily Mail reported.

According to Evans, the notion of killing a Kennedy did not take shape in Onassis's mind until early 1968 when he met Mahmoud Hamshari, Yasser Arafat's follower and a fanatical anti-American and anti-Israeli activist.

"Enraged by US support for Israel during the Six Day War in 1967, Hamshari suggested killing 'a high-profile American on American soil' would make the US government 'think twice about backing the Jews'."

"When Hamshari had an opportunity to meet Onassis, he used it to shake down the Greek magnate for money to carry out the plot," Vaughn said. 

In fact, according to him, Onassis and Bobby first crossed paths in 1953, "when Bobby became assistant counsel to Roy Cohn, the chief investigator working for senator Joseph McCarthy's anti-Communist crusade.

"One of Bobby's assignments was to study the 'blood trade' between certain American allies and Red China. Bobby found more than 300 New York Greek shipping families were trading regularly with China."

"None of Onassis's vessels was involved, but he was afraid anyone prying into his business would discover he was secretly negotiating with Saudi Arabia to supply tankers to transport oil under Saudi flag."

"Onassis's fears were realised in October 1953 when sealed indictments were handed down to seize any ships owned by Onassis that came into an American port. He blamed Bobby for his predicament."