However, we don't just write about the movies on this blog, so we're going to do a one-time spinoff of this series with a fourth and final (unless something bizarre happens where I feel the need to write about it, I don't think any other crime articles will be here so this will be a series with a proper finale) look at crimes in American politics. All of the stories we'll profile today are related in some fashion to politicians or political figures, and are long unsolved.
Writing about political mysteries presents its own unique challenges. For starters, there aren't as many of them-most political crimes have been solved, and so even to get to twelve, we're going to have to get to at least one famous unsolved death, and only a couple of crimes that are confirmed homicides. Secondly, it's weird discussing crimes because not only is the crime a horrible homicide, it's frequently an indictment on the beliefs of the person, and so it feels like an attack on other people's belief systems, and so it feels more personal. I wasn't sure if I should write this from a sensitivity standpoint, but figured if we stuck to this in an analytical sort of way, it would feel okay. I'm aware though that there's a heightened sensitivity to discussion of these crimes, and wanted to acknowledge that before we begin.
Which brings us to the third point-politics invites both passion, but also conspiracy theories. Some of these crimes are among the most speculated about in American history. We will discuss today, of course, the Kennedy assassination, which has literally filled entire books, but also crimes connected to presidents, organized labor, foreign governments, and high-ranking officials. I'll make a point of separating fact from theory from total fiction, but if you're interested in learning more about these crimes or these figures, know that discussion of them gets bizarre depending on what corners of the web you head toward, and not all of it is steeped in evidence or the truth. With that said, as a reminder this is discussing some heavy subject matter so if you are squeamish about such things, proceed with caution.
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| Rep. Nick Begich (D-AK), left, with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs (D-LA) |
The DC Connection: Boggs was the House Majority Leader and Begich was a first-term congressman from Alaska.
The Death(?): On October 16, 1972, Boggs and Begich were on a flight from Anchorage to Juneau with two other men (the pilot and one of Begich's aides). Boggs was out campaigning for Begich, who was in a tough re-election with State Sen. Don Young. The plane disappeared, and despite exhaustive recovery efforts, neither the plane nor the four men on board were ever found. They were declared legally dead on December 29th, 1972.
Why It's Unsolved: Unlike the other deaths listed here, there's no evidence that foul play was involved in the deaths of Boggs, Begich, and the other two men on board their flight. What's bizarre about this is some of the things that happened afterwards. For starters, as you're going to see in a number of these stories, Boggs had a massive connection to the Kennedy Family, and specifically the Kennedy assassination as a member of the Warren Commission. Boggs was also highly critical of the FBI, calling for J. Edgar Hoover's resignation, and accusing the FBI of tapping the phones of members of Congress. This invites a lot of room for conspiracy theories (the Kennedy assassination and the career of J. Edgar Hoover being breeding grounds for such things), but there are odd quirks about this case that should puzzle people. Specifically, after Boggs & Begich disappeared, there was a tip called in stating that they knew the location of the flight that came from a number that a reporter found would later (and may have at the time) been associated with a pro-life conservative group with connections to then-President Richard Nixon. Boggs had also reported two years earlier an attempt on his life where someone had tried to run him off the road. And in the immediate aftermath of the crash, there were radio operators in Northern California who claimed (independently-multiple accounts here) that they heard of survivors of a crash. The fact that no one has been able to tie together these loose ends, particularly the phone call and its weird connection to Nixon (who was a political foe of Boggs'), is unusual, and the lack of evidence forty years later of any bodies or plane keep this tragedy shrouded in mystery.
The DC Connection: At the time of his death, Clayton was involved in a tempestuous election against Rep. Clifton Breckenridge for an Arkansas congressional seat; he had also been a prominent member of the Arkansas state legislature.
The Murder: Clayton was a Republican state legislator in the late 1880's, who was in the middle of a contentious battle that has been described as one of the most corrupt in American history. Clayton was initially declared the loser, but this was partially driven by a group of masked men stealing a ballot box from a predominantly black precinct (Clayton had overwhelming support from African-Americans). Before Clayton could successfully contest the election, he was shot & killed on January 29, 1889, through the window of a boardinghouse.
Why It's Unsolved: Clayton was definitely murdered, so that's not the unsolved part here-it's simply that his killer was never found, and from what I can find there's not really any suspects. The circumstances of his death, considering that Arkansas politics at this time was deeply violent, suggest that he was killed in retaliation for contesting the election, but there's no proof of that-it's possible this was a complete coincidence. Clayton was, it's worth noting, eventually declared the winner of the election by the House, but Breckenridge won the next election and held the seat until 1894, when he resigned to join the Cleveland administration
The DC Connection: While Epstein himself was not a politician, he sure did run with a lot of them. Among those who were his social acquaintance were Presidents Donald Trump & Bill Clinton, as well as former Senate Majority Leader George Mitchell and former NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
The Murder(?): Talking about Epstein is inviting a horror show in the comments section, as discussions of him are a breeding ground for conspiracies, and as a result, more than anyone on this list, this might be the most challenging to discuss factually. Essentially here's why this is considered a potential homicide. Epstein, under trial, had been put on suicide watch three weeks before his death. He was taken off of suicide watch, and was assigned a cellmate, but on the evening of his death on August 9th, he was not with a cellmate, and he was not looked in on every thirty minutes by a guard (as was required). Instead the guards (who fell asleep) left Epstein alone for three hours. When he was discovered, he had died of what Attorney General William Barr would call an "apparent suicide," likely caused as a result of hanging (using a sheet from his bunk bed).
Why It's Unsolved: There are several major problems with the Epstein death's timeline, first that such a high-profile inmate would be essentially not looked on regularly feels like a stretch of credulity. Considering the high profile nature of Epstein's crimes and whom they involved, that trained guards wouldn't follow protocol (and would literally fall asleep on the job) feels like an eyebrow raise. Additionally, Epstein's injuries, particularly his broken hyoid bone, are more commonly associated with strangulation than suicide. But more critically to the festering corners of the internet's most ardent conspiracy theorists is that Epstein's associations with some of the most powerful men on earth (not just the four I listed above, but also Bill Gates, Prince Andrew, Larry Summers, Harvey Weinstein, and, yes, even the aforementioned Bill Barr) buttressed agains the heinous nature of his crimes (he ran a child prostitution ring), would leave a lot of room for a lot of people to not want Epstein to speak publicly.
The DC Connection: DC connection isn't really a thing here, as Goebel never worked in the nation's capitol (from what I can tell). However, he was a high-ranking politician, serving as Governor of Kentucky at the time of his death.
The Murder: The Kentucky gubernatorial election of 1899, like John Middleton Clayton's above, was one of the most notorious of the late-19th Century. Goebel had faced State Attorney General William S. Taylor, and immediately after the election, it appeared that Taylor had won (despite the state being overwhelmingly Democratic and Taylor being a Republican). Taylor was sworn in, but the state legislature was in the process of voting to overturn the election on January 30th, 1899, and considering the partisan lean of the state legislature, it was assumed that they would make Goebel the governor. However, that morning Goebel was shot outside of the State Capitol, and taken to the hospital. The state legislature did overturn the election results, making Goebel the governor, but it was too late-he would die less than a week later as a result of the shooting on February 3rd, becoming the only governor in American history to be assassinated.
Why It's Unsolved: It was largely assumed at the time that either Taylor or one of his supporters (principally Taylor's Secretary of State Caleb Powers) had some involvement in Goebel's death. Taylor was never questioned on this, since he moved to Indiana quickly after, and the governor there refused to honor an extradition request. While several of the men who were involved with the campaign were convicted of involvement, historical evidence of the crimes seem to indicate we'll likely never know who ultimately killed Goebel, and if Governor Taylor was involved with the crime.
The DC Connection: Hindman was a one-term congressman from Arkansas, but is better-known to historians for his role in the Civil War, where he served as a major-general for the Confederate Army.
The Murder: On September 27, 1868, Hindman was shot to death at his home while reading to his children. He survived long enough afterward to make plans for his wife and family while giving a heartfelt deathbed speech on his front porch, and then passing away at the age of 40.
Why It's Unsolved: Despite being a high profile figure in Arkansas, no one ever was charged with or convicted of killing Hindman, but a few theories continue to surround his death over 100 years later. The chief one was that Hindman's death was related to a debate against Governor Clayton Powell, who was anti-slavery in a state that still was angry about the changes that were happening at the time due to losing the Civil War. Rumors persisted that a black man had killed Hindman as retribution for a recent killing in his hometown of Helena of a black man, but there was no evidence of this (and in that era, if there had been any evidence, it would have surely led to an arrest, even if the evidence was flimsy). As a result, Hindman's murderer remains unknown, with him being one of the most prominent politicians in American history to have been assassinated without even a trial resulting from his death.
The DC Connection: Hoffa was the most storied member of the Teamsters, and a national fixture for decades. He had complex relationships with both the Kennedys (who put him in jail) and the Nixon administration (which got him out of jail, just to watch that largely backfire in the years that followed).
The Murder(?): Hoffa disappeared on July 30th, 1975, after meeting with two high profile figures in the mafia (Anthony Provenzano and Anthony Giacalone). Eyewitness reports of his last known appearances appear to have been at about 3 PM that day-he had called his wife, saying he would be home for supper (he did not show), and at least some witnesses reported seeing him as late as 2:30 that day. Hoffa was never seen again alive, and was declared legally dead seven years after he disappeared.
Why It's Unsolved: Obviously, we don't know ultimately what happened to Jimmy Hoffa. His body was never found, and we cannot confirm that he was, in fact, murdered. But it is largely assumed that Hoffa, considering his longtime connections with organized crime, was killed by the mob. The most common theory is that crime boss Russell Bufalino ordered the hit on Hoffa, and it was carried out by one of his men. The film The Irishman largely follows this theory, assuming that professional hitman Frank Sheeran killed Hoffa, though there are those who dispute this story. Regardless, Hoffa's legacy remains deeply associated with this disappearance, with some calling him a hero of the labor movement while others calling him an outright criminal.
The DC Connection: Again, Jordan isn't a DC politician, but a state-level one-he was a prominent Civil Rights activist in Missouri who eventually served three terms in the Missouri House of Representatives before he was murdered.
The Murder: Jordan was murdered on the morning of July 15, 1970. He was outside of Green Duck Tavern in Kansas City, and was shot by a rifle by what appeared to be three African-American men (according to eyewitnesses at the time). Jordan appears to have died immediately, at the age of 65.
Why It's Unsolved: No one was ever formally charged in the murder of Leon Jordan. The rifle that was involved in the crime had been stolen from a hardware store years earlier, but while several men were arrested, no one was ultimately charged. A Kansas City Star report in 2010 shockingly showed that the murder weapon involved in Jordan's death had actually entered back into circulation, and was found in the trunk of a police car as a result. Their report indicated that Jordan's death may have been the result of a mob hit from Nicholas Civella, a leader of organized crime in Kansas City in the 1970's, but as everyone involved in their report had already died, no one faced trial, and Jordan's death is still officially unsolved.
John F. Kennedy
The DC Connection: I mean, if you have to ask...but John F. Kennedy was a congressman, senator, and eventually the 35th President of the United States.
The Murder: On November 22nd, 1963, President Kennedy was shot twice during a parade in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a car with his wife Jacqueline, Governor John Connally, and his wife Nellie. Kennedy died instantaneously, while Gov. Connally sustained non-fatal injuries as a result of the attack. Mrs. Connally reportedly heard Kennedy's last words, after she stated "well, Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you" to which he replied "No, you certainly can't."
Why It's Unsolved: Okay, so there are literally hundreds of books about the Kennedy assassination, many of them centered around whether Lee Harvey Oswald, who is the only credited person in the assassination (and who was subsequently assassinated by Jack Ruby) could have acted alone, a lot of which is predicated on the "single bullet theory" that the same bullet struck both President Kennedy & Governor Connally, something that both Governor & Mrs. Connally disputed the rest of their lives (essentially, the technology would not have been there to have both Kennedy & Connally being shot by two separate bullets, so if there were, indeed, two separate bullets, Oswald could not have acted alone). If there was a second gunman, he or she was never found, and the official (but heavily disputed) stance is that Oswald acted alone. In terms of his motives, it's also not clear, and conspiracy theories have raged for decades that everyone from the FBI to the Mafia to Vice President Johnson to Cuban President Fidel Castro was somehow involved in President Kennedy's death, arguably the most-analyzed crime in human history.
Chandra Levy
The DC Connection: Levy was an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons who, prior to her death, was purportedly having an affair with California Congressman Gary Condit.
The Murder: Levy disappeared at the age of 24 on May 1, 2001. Her disappearance was not reported until May 6th, when her parents told police they had not heard from their daughter in five days. Both Levy's father and aunt told police that their daughter had been having an affair with Rep. Condit. When they went to Levy's apartment, they found that her credit cards, cell phone, & suitcases (which were partially packed) were still there, indicating that she had not fled. On May 22nd, 2002, Levy's body was found in a DC-area park, and medical examiner's officially declared Levy's death a homicide, potentially caused by strangulation (though due to the lapse between her death and finding the body, it was impossible to know for sure).
Why It's Unsolved: If you were alive during this time frame, you know that the principle suspect in the crime (in the media's eyes) for a long time frame was Gary Condit, as he was on the front page of every tabloid newspaper in America for months. However, most subsequent investigations centered around Ingmar Guandique, who had been in custody twice for attacking women in the same park that Levy was eventually found. According to Guandique's cellmate, he confessed to the Levy murder, claiming it was an accident, but later tape recordings brought the cellmate's testimony into question, and Guandique was later deported back to his native El Salvador. As of 2021, no one has officially been charged with the death of Chandra Levy, and Gary Condit, who at 73 is still alive, has never officially acknowledged their affair.
Larry McDonald
The DC Connection: McDonald was a controversial congressman from Georgia, most famous for his hard-right politics (despite being a Democrat). At one point he was voted the second most conservative member of Congress in the 20th Century, behind only Ron Paul.
The Murder(?): Okay, this one's a weird one so bare with me. Larry McDonald was invited, along with several other members of Congress, to go to South Korea to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. He was to be joined by Sens. Jesse Helms (R-NC) & Steve Symms (R-ID), as well as Rep. Carroll Hubbard (D-KY) Weather separated the men, though, with McDonald being stuck at JFK by himself, eventually settling for Korean Air Lines Flight 007. Symms & Hubbard both gave up on attending due to the weather, while Helms wasn't able to join McDonald on the plane because of delays. Helms tried to get McDonald to join him on his own flight when the two men were together in Anchorage on a layover, but McDonald remained sleeping on his plane. On September 1, 1983, KAL 007 was shot down on its flight from Anchorage to Seoul because it deviated from its flight plane, in the process entering prohibited Soviet airspace. Everyone on board died. Initially the Soviets denied shooting down the plane, and then accused the United States of entering their air space as an act of aggression. Eventually tempers simmered with the United States changing public policy regarding their GPS system and flights from Alaska, but this was generally considering one of the most frightening moments of the Cold War.
Why It's Unsolved: Here's the deal-when you have a plane carrying a controversial member of Congress get shot down by a foreign power at the height of the Cold War, you're going to get conspiracy theories, particularly considering Symms, Hubbard, & Helms all avoided getting on the plane through truly random acts of fate. Some people in the John Birch Society even go so far as to claim McDonald didn't actually die in the crash. But there's no actual evidence that this was anything more than the official stance of both the American & Soviet governments...though I list this because it's a deeply unusual death that still has its own chapters around the internet.
Mary Pinchot Meyer
The DC Connection: Meyer was the former wife of CIA official Cord Meyer, but her most noted DC connection was as one of the lovers of President John F. Kennedy.
The Murder: Meyer was murdered on October 12, 1964, near the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in DC. Reportedly she had been shot at point-blank by an unidentified African-American man, according to several witnesses who had supposedly seen Meyer while she was on her walk.
Why It's Unsolved: The only person ever charged with Meyer's death was a black man who had been found, wet, on the path near where Meyer was murdered named Ray Crump. However, there was never any evidence to associate Crump with the murder (and the gun was never found), so with Crump acquitted, the case remains unsolved. Occum's razor suggests that Meyer, an attractive, wealthy woman, was likely killed in connection with either a sexual assault or robbery that escalated, but because of her associations with the Kennedy family, obviously this invites additional conspiracies, particularly since Meyer purportedly kept a diary during the time of her affair with the president that was (purportedly) later destroyed by CIA Chief James Angleton, an allegation brought forth by Meyer's brother-in-law Ben Bradlee, who would soon after her death become executive editor of the The Washington Post.
Tom Wales
The DC Connection: Wales was the former college roommate of Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, and was a famed gun control advocate when he died.
The Murder: On October 11, 2001, Wales was shot in his home in Seattle. An assailant had crept into Wales' backyard, and killed him with a handgun through a window looking into Wales' office. The suspect seen fleeing the scene was supposedly male.
Why It's Unsolved: No one has ever been tried in the death of Tom Wales, believed to be the only federal prosecutor in American history to be assassinated. It is not entirely clear if Wales' job, particularly as a gun control advocate, may have been one of the reasons behind his being assassinated, or if this is just a coincidence. In 2018, though, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced an increase in the reward for Wales killer, and the FBI admitted that year that Wales may have been the victim of a contract killer, adding credence to the idea that Wales' death was the result of a conspiracy, potentially related to his role as an attorney.
The DC Connection: I mean, if you have to ask...but John F. Kennedy was a congressman, senator, and eventually the 35th President of the United States.
The Murder: On November 22nd, 1963, President Kennedy was shot twice during a parade in Dallas, Texas, while riding in a car with his wife Jacqueline, Governor John Connally, and his wife Nellie. Kennedy died instantaneously, while Gov. Connally sustained non-fatal injuries as a result of the attack. Mrs. Connally reportedly heard Kennedy's last words, after she stated "well, Mr. President, you can't say Dallas doesn't love you" to which he replied "No, you certainly can't."
Why It's Unsolved: Okay, so there are literally hundreds of books about the Kennedy assassination, many of them centered around whether Lee Harvey Oswald, who is the only credited person in the assassination (and who was subsequently assassinated by Jack Ruby) could have acted alone, a lot of which is predicated on the "single bullet theory" that the same bullet struck both President Kennedy & Governor Connally, something that both Governor & Mrs. Connally disputed the rest of their lives (essentially, the technology would not have been there to have both Kennedy & Connally being shot by two separate bullets, so if there were, indeed, two separate bullets, Oswald could not have acted alone). If there was a second gunman, he or she was never found, and the official (but heavily disputed) stance is that Oswald acted alone. In terms of his motives, it's also not clear, and conspiracy theories have raged for decades that everyone from the FBI to the Mafia to Vice President Johnson to Cuban President Fidel Castro was somehow involved in President Kennedy's death, arguably the most-analyzed crime in human history.
The DC Connection: Levy was an intern at the Federal Bureau of Prisons who, prior to her death, was purportedly having an affair with California Congressman Gary Condit.
The Murder: Levy disappeared at the age of 24 on May 1, 2001. Her disappearance was not reported until May 6th, when her parents told police they had not heard from their daughter in five days. Both Levy's father and aunt told police that their daughter had been having an affair with Rep. Condit. When they went to Levy's apartment, they found that her credit cards, cell phone, & suitcases (which were partially packed) were still there, indicating that she had not fled. On May 22nd, 2002, Levy's body was found in a DC-area park, and medical examiner's officially declared Levy's death a homicide, potentially caused by strangulation (though due to the lapse between her death and finding the body, it was impossible to know for sure).
Why It's Unsolved: If you were alive during this time frame, you know that the principle suspect in the crime (in the media's eyes) for a long time frame was Gary Condit, as he was on the front page of every tabloid newspaper in America for months. However, most subsequent investigations centered around Ingmar Guandique, who had been in custody twice for attacking women in the same park that Levy was eventually found. According to Guandique's cellmate, he confessed to the Levy murder, claiming it was an accident, but later tape recordings brought the cellmate's testimony into question, and Guandique was later deported back to his native El Salvador. As of 2021, no one has officially been charged with the death of Chandra Levy, and Gary Condit, who at 73 is still alive, has never officially acknowledged their affair.
The DC Connection: McDonald was a controversial congressman from Georgia, most famous for his hard-right politics (despite being a Democrat). At one point he was voted the second most conservative member of Congress in the 20th Century, behind only Ron Paul.
The Murder(?): Okay, this one's a weird one so bare with me. Larry McDonald was invited, along with several other members of Congress, to go to South Korea to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the end of the Korean War. He was to be joined by Sens. Jesse Helms (R-NC) & Steve Symms (R-ID), as well as Rep. Carroll Hubbard (D-KY) Weather separated the men, though, with McDonald being stuck at JFK by himself, eventually settling for Korean Air Lines Flight 007. Symms & Hubbard both gave up on attending due to the weather, while Helms wasn't able to join McDonald on the plane because of delays. Helms tried to get McDonald to join him on his own flight when the two men were together in Anchorage on a layover, but McDonald remained sleeping on his plane. On September 1, 1983, KAL 007 was shot down on its flight from Anchorage to Seoul because it deviated from its flight plane, in the process entering prohibited Soviet airspace. Everyone on board died. Initially the Soviets denied shooting down the plane, and then accused the United States of entering their air space as an act of aggression. Eventually tempers simmered with the United States changing public policy regarding their GPS system and flights from Alaska, but this was generally considering one of the most frightening moments of the Cold War.
Why It's Unsolved: Here's the deal-when you have a plane carrying a controversial member of Congress get shot down by a foreign power at the height of the Cold War, you're going to get conspiracy theories, particularly considering Symms, Hubbard, & Helms all avoided getting on the plane through truly random acts of fate. Some people in the John Birch Society even go so far as to claim McDonald didn't actually die in the crash. But there's no actual evidence that this was anything more than the official stance of both the American & Soviet governments...though I list this because it's a deeply unusual death that still has its own chapters around the internet.
The DC Connection: Meyer was the former wife of CIA official Cord Meyer, but her most noted DC connection was as one of the lovers of President John F. Kennedy.
The Murder: Meyer was murdered on October 12, 1964, near the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal in DC. Reportedly she had been shot at point-blank by an unidentified African-American man, according to several witnesses who had supposedly seen Meyer while she was on her walk.
Why It's Unsolved: The only person ever charged with Meyer's death was a black man who had been found, wet, on the path near where Meyer was murdered named Ray Crump. However, there was never any evidence to associate Crump with the murder (and the gun was never found), so with Crump acquitted, the case remains unsolved. Occum's razor suggests that Meyer, an attractive, wealthy woman, was likely killed in connection with either a sexual assault or robbery that escalated, but because of her associations with the Kennedy family, obviously this invites additional conspiracies, particularly since Meyer purportedly kept a diary during the time of her affair with the president that was (purportedly) later destroyed by CIA Chief James Angleton, an allegation brought forth by Meyer's brother-in-law Ben Bradlee, who would soon after her death become executive editor of the The Washington Post.
The DC Connection: Wales was the former college roommate of Congressman Joseph P. Kennedy II, and was a famed gun control advocate when he died.
The Murder: On October 11, 2001, Wales was shot in his home in Seattle. An assailant had crept into Wales' backyard, and killed him with a handgun through a window looking into Wales' office. The suspect seen fleeing the scene was supposedly male.
Why It's Unsolved: No one has ever been tried in the death of Tom Wales, believed to be the only federal prosecutor in American history to be assassinated. It is not entirely clear if Wales' job, particularly as a gun control advocate, may have been one of the reasons behind his being assassinated, or if this is just a coincidence. In 2018, though, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein announced an increase in the reward for Wales killer, and the FBI admitted that year that Wales may have been the victim of a contract killer, adding credence to the idea that Wales' death was the result of a conspiracy, potentially related to his role as an attorney.
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