Thursday, July 18, 2013

Photos: On this day – July 18, 1969 – Senator Ted Kennedy drives off a Chappaquiddick bridge killing Mary Jo Kopechne

Mary Jo Kopechne, shown in this undated photo, was killed after Sen. Edward M. Kennedy drove a car off a bridge on Massachusetts' Chappaquiddick Island on July 18, 1969. (AP Photo)

Events at Chappaquiddick Island gained international attention on July 18, 1969, when the dead body of Mary Jo Kopechne was discovered inside an overturned car in a channel on the island. The car belonged to Senator Edward M. “Ted” Kennedy, who did not report the midnight incident to police authorities until the following morning.Kopechne’s body was recovered from the submerged car, and 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. (Wikipedia)