Chappaquiddick 18: Wrap-Up + My Working Theory of What Happened

[@danp.6082]

1:03:12. Good analysis and theory. You’re a real life Nancy Drew!

[@wolfhound45]

Occam’s Razor. It happened as he (and others) said it did. He was driving. And in the aftermath of the accident he demonstrated his lack of character. At that point the system protected a deeply flawed man who never fully took responsibility for what he did.

[@lauramason5667]

Dear Jess, The more I learned about Chappaquiddick and really go into the details the more I feel upset and angry at the injustice that he was allowed to get away with… he was a dishonest, cowardly alcoholic who left a woman to die. It’s beyond my comprehension to accept this kind of behavior. I don’t know if you remember this, but he was out one night with his nephew Kennedy Smith at a bar in Palm Beach and they brought a woman home who put rape charges against William. The trial was something I watched every day and they strategically had a priest or a monk sit behind William during the whole trial. I didn’t realize till later that I thought the whole thing was a hoax and he was probably guilty. His innocence was declared by the courtroom. I don’t know if there’s a book about that but it’s worth looking into for an episode on your channel. Thanks for the beautiful work.❤

[@HarrietCraig323]

The summation of your comment: Ted was a Kennedy. 😉

[@Taryngracia]

@@HarrietCraig323🎯

[@PCAGA2298]

I remember that too. Awful

[@marystratton9769]

WOW! A new theory! Very interesting! Thanks so much for reading Chappaquiddick. You have done an in-depth and wonderful analysis of this book. My theory: Mary Jo Kopechne was alone in the car when she accidently it drove off Dyke Bridge. She was driving an large vehicle (she usually drove a Volkswagen Beetle) that she was unfamiliar with, in the dark, with limited knowledge of the terrain, and with alcohol in her system. There was a coverup. Evidence was either "lost", mishandled, destroyed, omitted or misdirected due to legal, political and police power. Since Ted Kennedy (nor his minions) never gave a "death bed" confession regarding this matter...we will never know what actually happened! If there was a Madam X or Ms. Kopechne was alone with Ted Kennedy a young woman, who believed in the Kennedy family mystique, died a horrible death and no one was brought to justice under the law! Thanks again reading Leo Damore's insightful book.

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad we made it through this excellent book. Thankful for you guys’ willingness to “read it” with me.

[@marys33794]

​@@Jess_Connell 👍 👌

[@Kentuckyaccent]

Jess, I have enjoyed this immensely! Thank you so much for sharing this book with us! I’m also enjoying your reading of The Palace Papers!

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad you’ve enjoyed it and are enjoying palace papers too. We’ve moved through some interesting things in that book and I just peeked ahead and it’s really about to get crazy good in a different way!

[@sm-k5513]

This was very interesting!!! Thanks for all your diligently unpicking this very complicated accident. I am very impressed by your theory. It could well be what really happened. I certainly believe there was another woman next to Ted in the front of the car when they left the party.

[@veronicamaria2730]

I've learned a lot about Chappaquiddick listening to this series. I was a young adult during this time, but between work, young children, (and youthful arrogance), I dismissed a lot of the situation as "Kennedy drama". But life experience does give perspective and I wish I had paid more attention (to a lot of things).🤔

[@wolfhound45]

Thanks for all of your hard work Jess 😊

[@ShirleyMalia]

Thank you Jess for all your hard work on this book. Im waiting excitedly for your next choice

[@AliceStClair-t4m]

New subscriber here. Really enjoyed your reading and commentary on this book. Thank you!

[@Jess_Connell]

@@AliceStClair-t4m welcome! So glad to hear you enjoyed it!

[@rhondathrower7813]

I lean toward Mary Jo being asleep in the backseat and Ted leaving with one of the boiler room girls and not realizing she was back there, possibly the girl who said Mary Jo “was in the wrong car at the wrong time with the wrong people.” They both got out of the car but Mary Jo didn’t. Possibly they didn’t realize she was there until it was too late to help her. In my theory the other woman could also possibly be madam X but in either case they didn’t realize Mary Jo was in the back seat sleeping until it was too late. At this point everything is a theory unless as you said someone has an undisclosed as yet diary or possibly a deathbed confession.

[@katiemarie4035]

I tend to agree they (Ted and one of the other women at the party) didn’t know Mary Jo was in this large vehicle. Perhaps we’ll hear something once this other woman passes on. She’d be about 85 by now.

[@Jess_Connell]

@@rhondathrower7813 totally possible. I like your theory too.

[@sallymiller6139]

Good theory I can go along with it Have also read about this ms x Really enjoyed this book choice

[@ellenmccain6740]

I like your theory; it seems plausible to me and actually explains a lot of the strange behavior. I’ve enjoyed this book very much; thank you for reviewing it. What’s next? I love your channel!

[@Jess_Connell]

@@ellenmccain6740 thank you Ellen. I’ve got a busy semester starting this week and so for now my plan is to be faithful with Palace Papers and occasionally do a special article or feature. Once we hit spring break, I’m planning an all-Kennedy week like we had in November… After that I may consider pulling in a second book again. Once the bulk of the semester is behind me. Thanks for asking and for your kind encouragement!!

[@HarrietCraig323]

Brava, Jess! Excellent book review and analysis!! 👍🏻👍🏻💪🏻💪🏻🐈‍⬛🐈‍⬛

[@debbieclark7031]

I love watching The Behavior Panel too they are so interesting. Your overview of the book has been very informative and thorough. I think your theory of the accident makes so much sense. The lesser of two evils in his mind. Kennedy knew they could control the narrative in their back yard, so the outcome of him taking the blame could be manipulated. Thank you so much for these videos. 🌼

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad!!

[@irenebarlow8865]

I’ve really enjoyed this book review thank you. I read the book years ago and found some of it confusing. Your explanation has cleared up a lot of my confusion. The incident certainly scuppered Ted Kennedy’s chance of ever becoming president thank goodness.

[@elizabethannegrey6285]

Jess, many thanks for this reading. I find your analysis credible, and illustrates a man of doubtful honour obliged to accept blame for an incident in which he was technically innocent, in order to elude an even worse fate. A frisson of irony.

[@EverythingHomemade03]

Thanks for covering this.

[@marys33794]

@Jess_Connell Thank you, Jess, for a thorough review of Leo Damore's excellent and serious book on Chappaquiddick. I enjoy your book reviews as you have a lovely, warm, soothing voice. (I also am thinking of those who have lost their homes in the Los Angeles ongoing wild fires disaster at the moment in Jan 2025) I think your theory, the same as what the author Leo Damore was told by someone who knew the truth, was strong enough for Damore to believe it was the truth of 3 people in the car that night and not 2. The cover up was to possibly or allegedly protect the identity and existence of this 3rd person with Ted that night etc., It was still a terrible death for Mary Jo Kopechne. And a huge loss for her parents as she was their only child. Author Leo Damore died some 4 or 6 years after this book was written. He was researching for his planned book on the JFK assassination. But he died in strange circumstances. His research papers were never found. Perhaps because he knew too much? Cork, Ireland 🙏🙏

[@Jess_Connell]

Agreed. That he was in the middle of that research feels eerily similar to Dorothy kilgallen.

[@carolynchapman7733]

Jess, loved this book! I am 76yr old and I remember this incident very well. This book has answered a lot of questions from so long ago. However, I too do not believe that TK was driving. As you suggest it had to be a high level person to protect… for TK to take the wrap! Amazing. I am in Pasadena Ca about 5 mi from the fire…and want to thank your state of Texas for helping us. I have no internet and will not for quite awhile till the electric co can get to me .

[@Jess_Connell]

Right. Something crazy had to have to be the case for him to walk in and claim that he was driving.

[@Jess_Connell]

@@carolynchapman7733 also- I am so glad you enjoyed the book. And I sincerely wish you well as you walk through these unexpected post-fire days.

[@suzandennis5919]

Brilliant!!...you always leave us excitedly awaiting your next video!!

[@Jess_Connell]

Aww that’s kind! 🥰❤️

[@dianemcgill9965]

This has been a very interesting book to read along with you Jess. I like your theory about Madam X. That actually sounds more plausible than the ones we read about. Thanks again Jess.

[@Taryngracia]

I have really enjoyed this book. I also think your opinions as to what happened are spot on! I, too, didn’t know all the details before… very logical conclusions! (And the best observations & interpretations I’ve heard, Detective, Jess)!

[@megansovik5629]

Great summary of a complex case

[@kathleengarnham6191]

Bravo Bravo Bravo Jess!!!!

[@Jess_Connell]

☺️

[@tomneeley1936]

I never believed Ted could have swam across that bay at dark, without someone seeing him dripping wet, on the other side.

[@Jess_Connell]

Yes! That was another part for me too, that made me lean toward “boat.”

[@tmtb80]

Best theory yet!!!!

[@ryvirkelley5047]

I think your theory makes the most sense.

[@ryvirkelley5047]

I didn't know anything about Chappaquiddick, and no one is forcing anyone to watch. 😉 We made it to the end girl!! 🥳

[@lynette4392]

Really enjoyed this book! Thank you!

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad!! It was a great read.

[@christineparckys3326]

Excellent. I wonder why it was so important to protect madam x.

[@Jess_Connell]

I think, if there was an Intel connection, or even a foreign affairs concern, it could explain that.

[@CounterfeitChristianityCanada]

I like your theory.

[@shelleysykes5317]

Though I'm loathe to give Ted a pass on anything, your theory DOES tie in some loose threads. And am I wrong, or was there some question about a plane taking off at night? Maybe you'll know where that came from and maybe I'm confusing it with something up at the compound... Anyway, Jess, thank you so much for this read. It's one of the most interesting Kennedy books and I never knew of it.

[@Jess_Connell]

@@shelleysykes5317yes i didn’t go there but if there was that plane I’m assuming it was Madame x being spirited away.

[@roseannburke6512]

Thank you for this very fascinating book. My bottom line observations are... Ted Kennedy lied completely, Gwen Kopechne should have gotten some type of parents grief therapy and more of all, Mary Jo never got any justice. How incredibly sad.

[@Jess_Connell]

Glad you enjoyed it. I love your observations and agree. The element of observing her parents through it all makes this such an extra level of tragedy.

[@marymccartney5680]

I think you are spot on. 1:17:37

[@ninahill2319]

I have enjoyed the book

[@Jess_Connell]

So glad!!

[@kathleengarnham6191]

Ok I’m going over your therapy. Bc I really want to feel I do have it . I’ve heard it a couple times. I can agree with you . Definitely agree about Maryjo in the wrong car with the wrong people !!!

[@HarrietCraig323]

I suspect that the Kopechnes didn’t also want to meet with a Kennedy-associated “accident.”

[@Jess_Connell]

@@HarrietCraig323 yes. Sadly.

[@kathleenwerner-leap1681]

Your theory is the only one that makes sense. I always wondered how Ted got out of the car and then swam across the channel etc etc. If that was true, he was a liar, a drunk, an adulterer, a murderer and Houdini???? Weirdly, he was willing to accept all of it (including an accidental murderer) to hide being a slut and a drunk. The hidden lives of the elite are both tragic and entitled. Yet, it “we the people” who suffer their consequences. Ted’s lies devastated so many good people like the Kopechne family and local law enforcement. Sex, money, alcohol and secrecy brought down a presidential candidate. However a very traumatized Ted from his earliest years lived his life destroying others beyond how his own soul had been destroyed from his early youth. Hurt people hurt people. What ever happened at Chappiquidick is as disgusting as whatever really happened years later when a woman was raped in Palm Beach. I was riveted by this book and I had never heard of “the mystery lady”. Great job Jess, and thank you!!

[@MsBackstager]

I really feel for Mary Jo's parents and how they had to live out the rest of their lives without her. :(

[@Jess_Connell]

So very sad. And with no answers at all.

[@Cynthia-nm6tg]

Thank you, Jess !!! Yes, I’m disappointed it’s over. I don’t have a better theory, but doesn’t explain what happened to MJ’s undies. 🤣 I got too confused & gave up trying to make sense of his mess. Who knows, maybe if they investigated better, they would have found Ted wearing MJ’s undies. 😂 Now that would have been a reason for all the coverup ! 🤣

[@Jess_Connell]

🤣🤣🤣😂👍🏻👌😮🤣😉😬🙃🤯🤔😲😭🤣👍🏻

[@katiemarie4035]

I think someone got to Ted and put the fear of God into him and thought a party of young women still mourning his brothers was an ideal situation to warn him he wasn’t going anywhere above the seat he has in the senate. If not Chappaquiddick, then something else around Hyannis. This was a time of a lot of scandal and a time when people who wouldn’t stay quiet got killed. Two women come to mind here: Dorothy Kilgalen, who was found dead in 1965 after a series of interviews with Jack Ruby; and Karen Silkwood, a young nuclear lab worker oWas found dead after her brake cables were cut. The late 60s and 70s were an eerie period.

[@Jess_Connell]

@@katiemarie4035 I agree. Very eery .

[@Taryngracia]

I knew the basic premise but it was too messy and never made total sense either. Key- why did he take responsibility, when he hadn’t ever in the past? To not divulge the identity of the 3rd person. I’ve heard and seen Kehough interviewed and it seems to me she was withholding information, as in knew something she couldn’t divulge! Maybe it will be eventually told but I don’t know 👀!

[@oonaghmarguerite6752]

@Taryngracia I would like to believe that of the people still living who know what happened, someone would leave a letter with their lawyer to be opened at their death. It just seems so wrong to leave this unanswered. 😢

[@Taryngracia]

@@oonaghmarguerite6752 agree!

[@kathleengarnham6191]

It still doesn’t explain why he had to say he was driving. I don’t think Maryjo was driving. She would have had ramifications with the steering wheel. Marks from the hit in drivers seat. Plus that would mean she would have moved herself from the front drivers side to the conscious position fitted into the sterwell backseat. Why place yourself into your tomb when if your moving that much not feel a window , that was opened. She looked like she could if gone to a party . No marks. Plus she didn’t take her keys or purse. I do think she was in that back seat while TK and Madsm x were in that car. I think that is why TK told Madsm x to get out like you said . But I think TK continued looking in mirror for Look and rolling upon the last moment rolls out the door seeing the bridge. Madsm x can ID him as driver. Along with Look . I think TK took longer to get Gargan and killed any chance to save her so by time he Gargan tried he felt a non responsive Maryjo. He then proceeded to get Madam x off island and far away . By time gets back to cottage realizes TK didn’t do what he said . Gargan says in this book with me hearing it 100 percent certainty that he can be ID . I think it’s what Gargan says to Leo . TK character was not a hero , stand up man, drive in to save a drowning (woman) man. He was not Jack . He was not Bobby. I don’t think he first heard of her death in the morning. Bc I think he was there. But I agree with madam X being one of the missing puzzle pieces. If he heard about it for the first time in 8 am area , then that would mean TK out of no where took not only Gargan but Markham and added them into this accident from thin air and being attorneys and the involvement is a made up .

[@Jess_Connell]

@@kathleengarnham6191 you could totally be right. Thanks for the pushback and for interacting with the idea. I’m still pretty malleable in the theory and could definitely see your perspective being correct.

[@nealpellecchia3738]

Ted helped make the family a freak show. Why should anyone care about a conspiracy for his brother's murders when he's part of his own conspiracy to get off?

[@martinham1409]

A lying Kennedy? Will wonders never cease

[@Jess_Connell]

🤣

[@BethHopkins-dt2yw]

I couldn't listen to this book. I think Ted Kennedy acted very, very inappropriately. It felt like a waste of time listening to his horrid life.

[@bluerose_11]

Loved your theory and your reading/covering this piece of history for us Jess 🩵

[@oonaghmarguerite6752]

I have enjoyed the book review very much. I have appreciated the insight of yourself & other channel members. 🩵 I had never heard of a 3rd party or Madam X or the 2 boats crossing the channel. Both new info for me. The boiler room girl saying Mary Jo had gotten into the car with the wrong People at the wrong time makes more sense. Sen Kennedy getting across the channel with Madam X by boat makes sense. Him swimming that channel, drunk, in the middle of the night, after escaping from a car tumbling off a bridge & submerging upside down & him trying to repeatedly dive & rescue Mary Jo & then swimming that channel has Never made sense to me ! Do you think the girls at the party knew about Madam X during the weekend ? Or did they learn after they were told Mary Jo had died while driving the car alone when Kennedy & Madam X left the vehicle to met the waiting boat ?

[@Jess_Connell]

@@oonaghmarguerite6752 good question. I think they all would’ve had to have known about her. Could they have been convinced to lie “For national security” or some such? 🤷🏻‍♀️ if she was intel, did someone else put pressure on them? IDK. Possible but idk.