Mike Rothmiller - Chappaquiddick The Killing Of Mary Jo Kopechne
Ed is joined by former LA Detective Mike Rothmiller to discuss Ted Kennedy’s biggest nightmare; the events surrounding the death of Mary Jo Kopechne.
The Chappaquiddick incident occurred on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts some time around midnight between July 18 and 19, 1969, when Senator Edward M. "Ted" Kennedy negligently drove his car off a narrow bridge, causing it to overturn in a tidal pond. This resulted in the drowning death of his 28-year-old passenger Mary Jo Kopechne, who was trapped inside the vehicle.
Kennedy left a party on Chappaquiddick at 11:15p.m. Friday. He maintained that his intent was to immediately take Kopechne to a ferry landing and return to Edgartown, but that he accidentally made a wrong turn onto a dirt road leading to a one-lane bridge. After his car skidded off the bridge into Poucha Pond, Kennedy swam free, and maintained that he tried to rescue Kopechne from the submerged car, but that he could not. Kopechne's death could have happened any time between about 11:30p.m. Friday and 1a.m. Saturday, as an off-duty deputy sheriff stated he saw a car matching Kennedy's license plate at 12:40a.m. Kennedy left the scene and did not report the accident to police until after 10a.m. Saturday. Meanwhile, a diver recovered Kopechne's body from Kennedy's car shortly before 9a.m. Saturday.
These events curtailed the Kennedy dynasty on a permanent basis; up until then it had seemed the illusion of Camelot was in his hands, but it lay shattered beyond repair.
Mike discusses his research into the case, and his conclusions based on his experience as a detective and his investigation and research. And it’s even more surprising than it sounds.
Mike Rothmiller is a New York Times Bestselling author, historian, a former cop, and an Army medic. He’s a former TV Reporter, an award-winning documentary television producer, and television host for ESPN, PBS, and other international television markets.
Website Wildblue Press
BooksL.A. Secret Police. Inside the LAPD Elite Spy Network,
Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe, True Crime Chronicles: Serial Killers, Outlaws, and Justice...Real Crime Stories from the 1800s, Frank Sinatra and the Mafia Murders, Secrets, Lies and Deception: Top-Secret Presidential Telephone Transcripts, Top-Secret Presidential Letters, Top-Secret Documents and Other Amazing Pieces of History, The Confederate General's of America's Civil War: A Photographic Portrait Book, Secrets, Lies & Deception 2: And Other Amazing Pieces of History, True Stories of the OSS and CIA: Formation of the OSS and CIA and their secret missions. These classified stories are told by the CIA, Pearl Harbor. The Top-Secret Japanese Messages: What did President Roosevelt Know?, Chappaquiddick: The Killing of Mary Jo Kopechne, The Psychological Analysis of Adolph Hitler: His Life and Legend
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