The mystery of the girl in the polka dot dress

A unique feature of the RFK assassination is the participation of a young woman who was obviously Sirhan's handler. Known to history simply as the 'girl in the polka dot dress,' the still unidentified female was apparently seen with Sirhan on a number of occasions prior to the evening of the assassination. She was seen at Robbie's Restaurant in Pomona, where Kennedy held a campaign luncheon for 400 guests on May 20, at the RFK campaign office in Azusa on May 30, and at the Ambassador Hotel on June 2, the Sunday before the assassination. (Although Sirhan was also seen there on June 2, the witness did not see the two together.)

On the night of Kennedy's assassination, the polka dot girl was noticed by a great many people. She was noticed because she was rather attractive and because, as she and the tall young man in the golden shirt fled the crime scene (closely followed by the Sirhan double in the blue suit), she was overheard exclaiming repeatedly 'We killed him! We killed him!' - a boast that was bound to attract attention in a venue full of Kennedy supporters.

The girl's most memorable feature, however, was her dress. It is clear from the convergence of eyewitness statements that she was wearing a flowing white dress with small ('quarter-size') black polka dots. A couple of particularly attentive eyewitnesses have provided extra details such as that the dress was made of a voile material, had 3/4 inch sleeves and 'ruffles around the neck and front.' The dress seems to have attracted attention on account of its dubious taste. When interviewed by the Los Angeles police, Ambassador Hotel busboy Vincent DiPierro, who saw the girl with Sirhan, dismissed it as 'kind of lousy.'

The girl herself remains a mystery. Invariably described as 'beautiful,' 'attractive' or 'good looking' with 'a good figure,' those who saw her were able to give fairly detailed descriptions afterwards. The matter of her ethnicity is easily resolved. She was clearly Caucasian. Klaber and Melanson cite three witnesses who chose the word 'Caucasian' to describe her (William Schneid, George Green, Jeanette Prudhomme), while the same descriptor is found in the LAPD description that ultimately derived from the Bernsteins. The second part of Lisa Pease's article, "Rubrick's Cube," lists three more (Vincent DiPierro, Sandy Serrano, Conrad Seim). Of the witnesses who provided a description of the girl seen wearing a polka dot dress at the Ambassador Hotel on the night of June 4-5, therefore, the only ethnic descriptor used was Caucasian. Those who did not use the word Caucasian said nothing about her ethnicity at all. (See Table 1 below.) Furthermore, not one of the witnesses who heard her speak detected a foreign accent. It is therefore clear that she was not a foreigner.

One witness present at the time of the assassination, Roy Mills, added the information that the polka dot girl was wearing a press pass, which explains how she managed to penetrate the Kennedy event, while Karen Ross, who believes she saw the same girl at the Ambassador Hotel the previous Sunday, June 2, recalled that she had a 'round face.' She apparently also possessed a deep suntan, a circumstance that surely cannot be considered unusual in southern California. However, as we shall see, the person who was most likely to have been the polka dot girl came from mixed Italian-Hungarian parentage. Her maiden name, Capomacchia, apparently derives from Campania, the region in the vicinity of Naples. It would not be unusual if, on account of a few days' exposure to the California sun, she had acquired a somewhat exotic look.

Estimates of the polka dot girl's height range from 5 foot 3 to 5 foot 8 inches, while those for her age vary from 20 to 30. Although the odd witness described her hair as blonde, she is generally described as a brunette. As for her hairstyle, she had 'bouffant type hair.' Despite being considered attractive, the polka dot girl had a less flattering feature: a 'strange,' 'pudgy,' or 'turned up' nose. Karen Ross thought that her nose might have been 'fixed'; nasal reconstruction would probably explain the peculiar appearance of her nose. .

This website sets out a theory of who the girl in the polka dot dress was. Seen in close proximity to Sirhan on several occasions, including just before he began firing his gun in Kennedy's direction, establishing her identity is probably the only means we have of finding out who killed RFK and why.

TABLE 1: THE APPEARANCE OF THE POLKA DOT GIRL

As described by persons who saw her at the Ambassador Hotel, Los Angeles, on the night of June 4-5, 1968.

WITNESS NAME/ETHNIC ID/OTHER DESCRIPTORS/SOURCE

Vincent DiPierro Caucasian Aged 20-24, brown hair, peculiar looking nose (Pease, "Rubrick's Cube" = Pease II)
Sandy Serrano Caucasian Aged 23-27, dark brown hair, 5'6", a funny nose (Pease II)
Dr Marcus McBroom Aged 20-26, brunette (Pease II)
George Green Caucasian Aged early 20s, blonde hair (Klaber and Melanson, p. 123; Pease II)
Ronald Johnson Panda 5'6" (Pease II)
Eve Hansen Dark brown hair, turned-up nose (Pease II)
Conrad Seim Caucasian Olive complexion (Pease II)
Jeanette Prudhomme Caucasian Aged 28-30, brown hair (Klaber and Melanson, p. 132; Pease II)
William Schneid Caucasian Aged mid-20s, 5'4" to 5'7", medium to light brown hair (Klaber and Melanson, p. 123)
The Bernsteins (Police report via Paul Sharaga) Caucasian Aged 23-27, 5'6", bouffant type hair (Klaber and Melanson, p. 140)

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