Mary Jo Kopechne, the daughter of an insurance salesman, was born in the
village of Forty Fort, Pennsylvania, on 26th July 1940. After graduating
from Caldwell College for Women in New Jersey, she moved to Wa****ngton
where
she worked as a secretary for George Smathers and Robert Kennedy. During
this time she shared an apartment with Nancy Carole Tyler, who worked for
Bobby Baker.
On 17th July, 1969, Kopechne joined several other women who had worked for
the Kennedy family at the Edgartown Regatta. She stayed at the Katama
Shores
Motor Inn on the southern tip of Martha's Vineyard. The following day the
women travelled across to Chappaquiddick Island. They were joined by
Edward
Kennedy and that night they held a party at Lawrence Cottage. At the party
was Kennedy, Kopechne, Susan Tannenbaum, Maryellen Lyons, Ann Lyons,
Rosemary Keough, Esther Newburgh, Joe Gargan, Paul Markham, Charles
Tretter,
Raymond La Rosa and John Crimmins.
Kopechne and Kennedy left the party at 11.15pm. Kennedy had offered to
take
Kopechne back to her hotel. He later explained what happened: "I was
unfamiliar with the road and turned onto Dyke Road instead of bearing left
on Main Street. After proceeding for approximately a half mile on Dyke
Road
I descended a hill and came upon a narrow bridge. The car went off the
side
of the bridge.... The car turned over and sank into the water and landed
with the roof resting on the bottom. I attempted to open the door and
window
of the car but have no recollection of how I got out of the car. I came to
the surface and then repeatedly dove down to the car in an attempt to see
if
the passenger was still in the car. I was unsuccessful in the attempt."
Instead of re****ting the accident Edward Kennedy returned to the party.
According to a statement issued by Kennedy on 25th July, 1969: "instead of
looking directly for a telephone number after lying exhausted in the grass
for an undetermined time, walked back to the cottage where the party was
being held and requested the help of two friends, my cousin Joseph Gargan
and Paul Markham, and directed them to return immediately to the scene
with
me - this was some time after midnight - in order to undertake a new
effort
to dive."
When this effort to rescue Kopechne ended in failure, Kennedy decided to
return to his hotel. As the ferry had shut down for the night Kennedy,
swam
back to Edgartown. It was not until the following morning that Kennedy
re****ted the accident to the police. By this time the police had found
Mary
Jo Kopechne's body in Kennedy's car.
Edward Kennedy was found guilty of leaving the scene of the accident and
received a suspended two-month jail term and one-year driving ban. That
night he appeared on television to explain what had happened. He
explained:
"My conduct and conversations during the next several hours to the extent
that I can remember them make no sense to me at all. Although my doctors
informed me that I suffered a cerebral concussion as well as shock, I do
not
seek to escape responsibility for my actions by placing the blame either
on
the physical, emotional trauma brought on by the accident or on anyone
else.
I regard as indefensible the fact that I did not re****t the accident to
the
police immediately."
At the inquest Judge James Boyle raised doubts about Kennedy's testimony.
He
pointed out that as Kennedy had a good knowledge of Chappaquiddick Island
he
could not understand how he managed to drive down Dyke Road by mistake.
For
example, on the day of the accident, Kennedy had twice had driven on Dyke
Road to go to the beach for a swim. To get to Dyke Road involved a
90-degree
turn off a metalled road onto the rough, bumpy dirt-track.
An investigation at the scene of the accident by Raymond R. McHenry,
suggested that Kennedy approached the bridge at an estimated 34 miles (55
kilometres) per hour. At around 5 metres (17 feet) from the bridge,
Kennedy
braked violently. This locked the front wheels. According to McHenry: "The
car skidded 5 metres (17 feet) along the road, 8 metres (25 feet) up the
humpback bridge, jumped a 14 centimetre barrier, somersaulted through the
air for about 10 metres (35 feet) into the water and landed upside-down."
Investigators found it difficult to understand why he was crossing Dyke
Bridge when he said he was attempting to reach Edgartown which was in the
opposite direction. They also could not understand why he was driving so
fast on this unlit, uneven, road. They also could not work out how Kennedy
escaped from the car. When it was recovered from the water all the doors
were locked. Three of the windows were either open or smashed in. If
Kennedy, a large-framed 6 foot 2 inches tall man could manage to get out
of
the car, why was it impossible for Mary Jo Kopechne, a slender 5 foot 2
inches tall, not do the same?
Local experts could not understand why Kennedy (and later, Markham and
Gargan) could not rescue Kopechne from the car. It also surprised
investigators that Kennedy did not seek help from Pierre Malm, who only
lived 135 metres from the bridge. At the inquest Kennedy was unable to
answer this question.
There were also doubts about the way Kopechne died. Dr. Donald Mills of
Edgartown, wrote on the death certificate: "death by drowning". However,
Gene Frieh, the undertaker, told re****ters that death "was due to
suffocation rather than drowning". John Farrar, the diver who removed
Kopechne from the car, claimed she was "too buoyant to be full of water".
It
is assumed that she died from drowning, although her parents filed a
petition preventing an autopsy.
Other questions were asked about Kennedy's decision to swim back to
Edgartown. The 150 metre channel had strong currents and only the
strongest
of swimmers would have been able to make the journey safely. Also no one
saw
Kennedy arrive back at the ****retown Inn in wet clothes. Ross Richards,
who
had a conversation with Kennedy the following morning at the hotel
described
him as casual and at ease.
Kennedy did not inform the police of the accident while he was at the
hotel.
Instead at 9am he joined Gargan and Markham on the ferry back to
Chappaquiddick. Steve Ewing, the ferry operator, re****ted Kennedy in a
jovial mood. It was only when Kennedy reached the island that he phoned
the
authorities about the accident that had taken place the previous night.
Dr. Robert Watt, Kennedy's family doctor, explained his patient's strange
behaviour by claiming he was in a state of shock and confusion and
"possible
concussion."
--
When this effort to rescue Kopechne ended in failure, Kennedy decided to
return to his hotel. As the ferry had shut down for the night Kennedy,
swam
back to Edgartown. It was not until the following morning that Kennedy
re****ted the accident to the police. By this time the police had found
Mary
Jo Kopechne's body in Kennedy's car.
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