Chappaquiddick Tragedy

A new assessment of the unanswered questions surrounding Ted Kennedy and the death of Mary Jo Kopechne on a summer night in 1969.

On July 18, 1969, Ted Kennedy drove his Oldsmobile 88 off Dike Bridge and into Poucha Pond in Chappaquiddick, Massachusetts, after a night of partying in nearby Edgartown. Kennedy was unharmed and returned to Edgartown as if nothing had happened. His cousin Joe Gargan was reportedly willing to take the rap for the wreck—but he was not going to be held responsible for a death.


In the morning, a body was discovered in the back seat of the sunken car—the body of Mary Jo Kopechne, one of the six unmarried women at the party the night before. The Edgartown police chief charged Kennedy with leaving the scene of an accident that caused personal injury. Kennedy pleaded guilty to avoid a trial, but his sentence was suspended. The public did not understand this "accident," and they demanded answers. The district attorney, Edmund Dinis, launched an inquest, but the proceedings were closed to the public.


The mystery surrounding this incident still baffles some to this day. Why was Kopechne in the rear seat? Why didn't Kennedy call for help after the crash? Why did Kennedy flee to Edgartown? Why was Rosemary Keough's handbag found in the submerged, inverted car on the ceiling of the front-seat compartment? This compelling book proposes a new theory to answer all of these intriguing questions.