John F. Kennedy Jr. died 25 years ago - What is behind the 'Kennedy Cover-Up'?
Twenty-five years ago, did the "Kennedy Curse" resurface? John F. Kennedy Jr., born in 1960, his wife Carolyn, born in 1966, and her sister Lauren Bessette, born in 1964, were fatally injured on July 16, 1999. They had taken off from New Jersey in Kennedy's Piper Saratoga aircraft and were on their way to Massachusetts, where his cousin Rory Kennedy (55) was getting married.
John F. Kennedy Jr., the son of the assassinated US President John F. Kennedy (1917-1963), was at the helm of the aircraft when it crashed off the coast of Martha's Vineyard. The takeoff had been delayed, it was dark, and visibility was poor. Kennedy was flying solo, unlike his usual practice of having his flight instructor on board. It appears he lost orientation over the water.
With John F. Kennedy Jr., who was a lawyer and publisher and was known for his charm with women, another prominent Kennedy family member lost his life under tragic circumstances. The images from November 1963, showing him saluting his father's casket on his third birthday, were broadcast around the world. Five years later, Kennedy's uncle, Senator Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968), was assassinated. Like his older brother, he was shot by an assassin. Later, Kennedy's brother, Senator Edward "Ted" Kennedy (1932-2009), even publicly wondered aloud if his family was the victim of a "terrible curse"... Besides the two assassinations of John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy, there were also these tragedies...
Airplane Crashes
Thirty-five years before John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife and sister-in-law perished in an airplane accident, Ted Kennedy, the younger brother of JFK and RFK, survived a plane crash in 1964 that claimed the lives of two people. Kennedy was campaigning when the private aircraft lost altitude in poor visibility conditions and crashed into an orchard near the runway. Authorities blamed the pilot, who died in the crash.
The eldest brother of President Kennedy, Joe Kennedy Jr., died in 1944 at the age of 29 in an airplane accident. He had volunteered as a pilot for a secret and extremely dangerous mission during the war.
Four years later, President Kennedy's sister Kathleen "Kick" Kennedy, 28, lost her life in another plane crash. In 1948, their small aircraft crashed in France during a storm, killing her and three other passengers.
The Chappaquiddick Incident
The Chappaquiddick incident haunted Ted Kennedy throughout his political career. Chappaquiddick is the island in Massachusetts where Mary Jo Kopechne (1940-1969), a campaign worker, lost her life in a car accident in 1969. Kennedy was driving when he lost control of the vehicle and it plunged into the water. The young woman was trapped in the car, while Kennedy managed to swim to safety and return to his hotel on foot. He reported the accident to the police only ten hours later. He received a two-month suspended sentence. In a TV appearance, he explained the incident with the words: "All kinds of confused thoughts went through my mind. Including questions like: Is there really a Kennedy curse?"
David Kennedy (1955-1984), one of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel's (96) eleven children, died in a Palm Beach, Florida, hotel in 1984 from a drug overdose. He was 28 years old. Reports claim that as a child, he had watched his father's assassination live on television and later struggled for many years with drug addiction.
In 2019, Robert and Ethel's granddaughter, Saoirse Kennedy Hill (1997-2019), was found dead on their Massachusetts estate. The cause of death for the 22-year-old, according to US media reports, was an accidental overdose. The family stated: "We are shocked and saddened by the loss of our beloved Saoirse. Her life was filled with hope, promise, and love. She cared deeply for her friends and family, especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel."
Death during sports
Another son of Robert F. Kennedy, Michael Kennedy (1958-1997), died in Aspen, Colorado, on New Year's Eve 1997 from a skiing accident. The three-time father was 39 years old.
Kara Kennedy (1960-2011), daughter of Senator Ted Kennedy and niece of JFK, died on September 16, 2011, at the age of 51, from a heart attack while training at a fitness studio in Washington, D.C.
RFK granddaughter Maeve Kennedy Townsend McKean (1979-2020) and her then eight-year-old son Gideon drowned in the Chesapeake Bay in 2020. They were reportedly trying to retrieve a ball that had fallen into the water but went too far out. Their bodies were found a few days later.
Serious allegations against Kennedy nephews
In 1991, Ted Kennedy was forced to testify about a party night near the Kennedy family's Palm Beach, Florida, vacation home. His nephew, William Kennedy Smith (63), was accused of having raped a woman they had met in a bar. In the end, Smith was acquitted of all charges. The trial was broadcast live on TV.
Botched brain surgery
The sister of JFK, Rosemary Kennedy (1918-2005), was long described as "intellectually slow." In the hope of improving her life, the Kennedy family patriarch, Joseph P. Kennedy (1888-1969), allowed the doctors to perform a lobotomy on her in 1941. The surgery in the brain worsened her condition, and Rosemary was institutionalized until her death in 2005 at the age of 86.
JFK loses his newborn son
In 1963, President Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy (1929-1994) announced the birth of their third child, Patrick. He was born prematurely and had breathing problems. The infant died two days after birth.
Early cancer diagnosis
In 1973, Ted Kennedy's twelve-year-old son Edward Jr. (63) lost a leg due to bone cancer. He had to undergo an immediate and lengthy two-year medical treatment.
Suicide
Mary Richardson Kennedy (1959-2012), Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s estranged wife, died by suicide on May 16, 2012. Two years prior, Kennedy had filed for divorce.
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr., following in his father's footsteps, is a prominent environmental lawyer and advocate.
- Ted Kennedy's plane crash in 1964 was a tragic event that left him feeling as if his family was under a "terrible curse."
- Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the granddaughter of Robert and Ethel Kennedy, also passed away tragically in 2019, due to an accidental overdose.
- In 1991, William Kennedy Smith, a nephew of Ted Kennedy, faced serious allegations of rape at a Palm Beach, Florida, party.
- John F. Kennedy Jr. was not just a lawyer and publisher, but also a charmer known for his relationships with women.
- Theresa Kennedy, a cousin of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., lost her life in a car accident in 2004, adding to the tragic history of the Kennedy family.
- Ted Kennedy Jr., the son of the late Senator Ted Kennedy, founded the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University.
- In 2017, Rory Kennedy, the cousin of John F. Kennedy Jr., directed a documentary titled "Ted Kennedy: An Uncensored Life."
- Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has been a vocal critic of vaccines and has advocated for alternative treatments for autism, a stance that has gained him both supporters and critics.
