[Sasparilla]

...I wouldn’t call it a Kennedy tragedy; it was a Mary Jo Kopechne tragedy....

I wouldn’t call it a Kennedy tragedy; it was a Kennedy murder.

[mewzilla]

More Kennedy road kill, anyway...

[utahagen]

At the risk of quibbling, “tragedy” refers to a downfall due to a fault in one’s self...it's the condign word for anything attached to Ted Kennedy. Regarding that fateful night and Mary Jo Kopechene...that was a catastrophe.

[KamperKen]

"I wouldn’t call it a Kennedy tragedy; it was a Kennedy murder.

I read an article by a retired NYC city detective some years ago who speculated that it could have been murder. I had never heard anyone suggest before that it was murder and not an accident. What struck me most was the theory best explained Kennedy's behavior after the 'accident' which I always found baffling.

In this scenario, my guess is that Kennedy was never in the car when it entered the water. He possibly strangled Kopechne and she had passed out and he assumed she was deceased. He then had to make it look like an accident and drove the car into the channel. I'm convinced there were no rescue attempts as he claimed. Kopechne was definitely alive in the car after it was partially submerged.

Why would Kennedy murder her? The most likely possibility that I've heard over the years is that she was pregnant by him. Kennedy was capable of attempting rape when in an intoxicated state so why not murder when he was in a drunken rage?

As far as I know an autopsy was never performed which would have noted evidence of trauma, a part of the massive coverup.