Ted Kennedy

:This article is about the U.S. senator, for information about the ice hockey player see Ted Kennedy (hockey player).

Chappaquiddick

After a party at Chappaquiddick on Martha's Vineyard on July 18, 1969, Kennedy drove away with Mary Jo Kopechne as a passenger in his 1967 Oldsmobile Delmont 88. Kopechne was a secretary and "boiler room" girl who had previously worked for Robert Kennedy's 1968 Presidential campaign. Ted Kennedy made what he claims to have been a wrong turn, onto an unlit road that led to Dike Bridge (also spelled Dyke Bridge), a wooden bridge angled obliquely to the road. Kennedy drove off the bridge; the car plunged into tide-swept Poucha Pond (at that location a channel) and landed upside down under the water. Kopechne died; according to the medical examiner, she drowned. Kennedy claims he tried several times to swim down to reach Kopechne, then rested on the bank for several minutes. He returned on foot to the Lawrence Cottage where the party attended by Kopechne and other "boiler room" girls had occurred. His cousin, Joseph Gargan, and party co-host Paul Markham, then returned to the pond with Kennedy and tried to rescue Kopechne. All involved failed to use the telephone at the Lawrence Cottage to call the police for help.

Related Topics:
Chappaquiddick - Martha's Vineyard - July 18 - 1969 - Mary Jo Kopechne - "boiler room" girl

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kennedy discussed the accident with several people, including his lawyer, before he was contacted by the police. The next morning July 19, 1969, a science teacher and a 15 year-old boy discovered Kennedy's car. Police Chief Dominick Arena called Kennedy from the house nearest the bridge. Kennedy was given the news that his mother's car had been involved in a fatal accident. Kopechne's body was discovered by diver John Farrar. Farrar observed that a large amount of air was released from the car when it was righted in the water, he also noted that the trunk when opened was remarkably dry. These observations and others have led some to believe that Mary Jo Kopechne had not drowned, but suffocated in an air pocket within the car.

Related Topics:
July 19 - 1969 - Mary Jo Kopechne

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The incident quickly blossomed into a scandal. Kennedy was criticized for driving drunk, for failing to come to Kopechne's aid, for failing to summon help, for contacting not the police but his lawyer first, and for failing to report the accident to the authorities. Because of a lack of evidence other than Kennedy's own word, allegations persist that he did not try to save Kopechne, and that he intentionally turned onto the road crossing the bridge going to the beach in order to have sex with her.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kennedy entered a plea of guilty to a charge of leaving the scene of an accident after causing injury. He received a sentence of two months in jail, which was suspended. An Edgartown grand jury later reopened the investigation but did not return an indictment.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Kennedy's critics and political enemies question whether justice was served in this case. Rumors still circulate of a conspiracy by Kennedy and his family to alter his driving record to obviate charges of negligent homicide, and to influence the Edgartown grand jury. Some people question his description of his escape from the car, because of his back troubles, caused by the 1964 airplane accident. Though claiming to be injured, Kennedy swam a second larger body of water after the accident to return to his hotel room as the ferry was closed for the night.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~