Robert Karl Tanenbaum (December 17, 1942 – January 3, 2026) was an American trial attorney and novelist who was the mayor of Beverly Hills, California.
Early life and education Robert Karl Tanenbaum was born in Brooklyn, New York, on December 17, 1942. He attended the University of California, Berkeley on a basketball scholarship where he earned a B.A. Tanenbaum received his J.D. from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.
Legal career Under the leadership of District Attorney Frank Hogan, Tanenbaum learned about trial preparedness and presenting evidence to a jury as an Assistant New York County District Attorney in Manhattan. Later, Tanenbaum became head of the Homicide Bureau, served as Chief of the Criminal Courts, and was in charge of the D.A.'s legal staff training program. During his time in the D.A.'s office, Tanenbaum never lost a felony case.
After his tenure in Manhattan's D.A.'s office, Tanenbaum served as Deputy Chief Counsel for the House Select Committee on Assassinations to investigate the John F. Kennedy assassination and the Martin Luther King Jr. assassination. He later resigned from the post shortly after being named. In 1988 he appeared in the documentary The Men Who Killed Kennedy and on 17 September 1996 he testified at a public hearing of the Assassination Records Review Board in Los Angeles. He wrote the introduction to Mark Lane's 2011 book Last Word: My Indictment of the CIA in the Murder of JFK. He was interviewed for the 2023 documentary JFK: What the Doctors Saw. In 2025 he published the book That Day in Dallas, featuring an introduction by Robert J. Groden.
In private practice, he was a special prosecution consultant on the Hillside Strangler case in Los Angeles; defended Amy Grossberg in her sensationalized baby death case; and represented eight black plaintiffs in a significant racial profiling case against the Beverly Hills Police Department.
He taught Advanced Criminal Procedure for four years at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley. He conducts continuing legal education seminars for practicing lawyers in California, New York and Pennsylvania. He was a member of the State Bars of New York, Pennsylvania and California.
Political career Tanenbaum served two terms as Mayor of Beverly Hills and was a City Councilmember for eight years, from 1986 to 1994. He ran unsuccessfully for Los Angeles County District Attorney in 1992. He was defeated for re-election to the City Council in 1994."Bob's Back: (And He's Better Than Ever)", Beverly Hills Weekly, Issue #281, February 17, 2005, Pages 17-19Mathis Chazanov, Victory Vow : Beverly Hills Mayor Says He'll Finish Civic Center, 'Even If I Have to Do It Myself', The Los Angeles Times, April 20, 1989. He also ran D.A. Frank Hogan's re-election campaign for District Attorney in 1973.
Literary career His byline appears on 33 books; 29 novels and 4 nonfiction works. His cousin Michael Gruber was the ghostwriter of the first part of the popular Butch Karp -Marlene Ciampi series of novels, starting with No Lesser Plea and ending with Resolved. After the partnership with Tanenbaum ended, Gruber began publishing novels using his own name.
Tanenbaum's The Piano Teacher , co-written with Peter S. Greenberg, is the true story of a psychotic killer, Badge of the Assassin recalls the true account of Tanenbaum's investigation and trial of self-proclaimed members of the Black Liberation Army who assassinated two NYPD police officers, Waverly Jones and Joseph Piagentini. It was later adapted into a movie titled Badge of the Assassin, starring James Woods as Tanenbaum.
Tanenbaum's signature work, Echoes of My Soul was published in May 2013 by Kensington Books and was named 'Pick of the Week' by Publishers Weekly in its April 22, 2013 edition. It is about Miranda v. Arizona, the United States Supreme Court decision that laid the groundwork for Miranda rights.
A later novel, Without Fear or Favor, was published by Simon & Schuster Gallery Books in August 2017.
Death Tanenbaum died from cancer on January 3, 2026, at the age of 83.
Bibliography Non-fiction (with Peter S. Greenberg) (with Philip Rosenberg) (1985 TV film adaption Badge of the Assassin) Introduction to Introduction to
(with Steve Jackson) Introduction by Robert J. Groden.
Fiction 1987: No Lesser Plea 1989: Depraved Indifference 1991: Immoral Certainty 1992: Reversible Error 1993: Material Witness 1994: Justice Denied 1994: Corruption of Blood 1996: Falsely Accused 1997: Irresistible Impulse 1998: Reckless Endangerment 1999: Act of Revenge 2000: True Justice 2001: Enemy Within 2002: Absolute Rage 2003: Resolved 2004: Hoax 2005: Fury 2006: Counterplay 2007: Malice 2008: Escape 2009: Capture 2010: Betrayed 2011: Outrage 2012: Bad Faith 2013: Tragic 2014: Fatal Conceit 2015: Trap 2016: Infamy 2017: Without Fear or Favor
References
External links Appearances on C-SPAN. Addresses to the 2018 and 2019 JFK Assassination Conference. Address at the University of North Texas in 2023. robertktanenbaumbooks.com Interview with Len Osanic on Black Op Radio (Ep. 731).