Chappaquiddick | Circling the Wagon | 3

0:00American scandal uses dramatizations that are based on true events. Some elements, including dialogue, might be invented, but everything is based on historical research.

0:20It's around 9.30 a.m. on July 19, 1969, on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. Local police chief Dominic Arena and fire department scuba diver John Farrar stumble up the sandy shore carrying a stretcher. On it lies the body of a young woman. Just over an hour ago, a pair of fishermen reported that they found a car upside down in the water near the beach. When Chief Arena ran the Oldsmobile's license plate, he was shocked to learn it was registered to Senator Ted Kennedy. But an even more disturbing discovery awaited inside the car. The dead woman on the stretcher was in her 20s. Dressed in a sodden white blouse and navy blue slacks, her body shows almost no signs of visible injury, which is unusual for someone who's just been in a car accident.

1:09But Chief Irina is still in the dark about the woman's identity, and he doesn't know if Senator Kennedy is even aware of the crash.

1:20Irina nods toward his deputy's police cruiser. So let's put her in the backseat for now. We don't need people standing around gawking. Irina signals another officer to open the cruiser's rear door. Then he and Farrar slide the stretcher onto the back seat. All right, now we just need to figure out who this poor girl is. Well, I'll see if there's anything left in the car. Maybe there's an ID floating around somewhere. That'd be good. Thanks, John. Farrar walks back toward the water and wades in. Irina turns to his fellow officer with some orders. Would you call the medical examiner and the undertaker too?

1:54and we need to get a tow truck out here to pull the car from the water. The officer nods and hops in the front seat to use the radio. And while he's making these calls, Irina turns to a local man who's wandered over to watch. Hey, sir, could you do me a favor? I'm a little shorthanded here, and I need someone to head down to the ferry landing to meet with the medical examiner. His name's Dr. Mills. He's an older guy with horn-rimmed glasses. You really can't miss him. The helpful local quickly agrees. And with wheels in motion, Irina returns his attention to the body in the back seat. She looks like a lovely young woman who's just laying down for a nap.

2:30Ah, what a waste. What were you doing in that car, kid? Got something, chief. Irina turns to see Farrar standing in the shallows. He's holding a floral-patterned hard-shell bag. Irina hurries down the slope to take it. Water gushes out as Irina opens the bag. Rooting around inside, he pulls out a driver's license. Rosemary Keogh. All right. And this is what looks to be a pass for the U.S. Senate. Also for Miss Keough. Okay, well, must be her, right? Maybe she worked for Senator Kennedy. You think he let her borrow the car for the weekend or something? That's possible, but we won't know for sure until we talk to him.

3:09There are two keys for a hotel over in Egertown here, too. So for now, why don't you head back in the water, make absolutely sure Keough was the only person in the car. There could be another body in the water we haven't found yet, so focus your search downstream. That current's pretty strong. As Chief Arena watches the scuba diver once again disappear into the water, he hears a tow truck driver pull up and parked just beside him. Arena walks over to the truck and begins chatting with the driver about how to pull the car safely from the water. In passing, Arena mentions that the Oldsmobile belongs to Senator Ted Kennedy, and to the Chief's surprise, the driver explains that he just saw Kennedy over by the ferry landing.

3:51At once, Arena hurries over to his cruiser and gets on the radio. He needs an officer at that ferry landing right away because he has some bad news for Senator Kennedy.

4:04We all have routines. I'm Jabron, and with diabetes, mine was finger sticks. Sometimes, I skip them because it hurt. The Freestyle Libre 3CGM changed that. It gives me glucose insights without finger sticks. Learn more at freestyllibre.us. Fingers sticks are required if your glucose alarms and readings do not match symptoms or when you see check blood glucose symbol for the first 12 hours. The views expressed should not be used for medical diagnosis or treatment as a substitute for professional medical advice. Individual circumstances may vary. For prescription only. Safety info found at FreestyleLibre.us

4:36This summer, switch to Xfinity and get Wi-Fi so reliable, you can host the world. And now, you can lock in your price for five years, guaranteed. Xfinity. Imagine that. Restrictions apply. Select plans only.

4:56From Audible Originals, I'm Lindsey Graham, and this is American Scandal.

5:20In July 1969, Senator Ted Kennedy attended a party at a small cottage on Chappaquiddick Island in Massachusetts. Sometime after 11 p.m., he left the cottage in his car with 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechny. Later, he drove the car off a nearby bridge and landed upside down in a stretch of water close to the beach. Kennedy apparently escaped the wreck with minimal injuries, but Kopechny was killed. Ted Kennedy should have reported the crash immediately, but instead he tried to rope in his cousin Joe Gargan and their associate Paul Markham into coordinating a false story that would absolve the senator of any responsibility.

5:58Gargan and Markham refused to go along, though, and the following morning they finally convinced Kennedy to go to the police. But the crash was discovered before Kennedy could report it, and now his political and legal problems are threatening to go from bad to worse. This is Episode 3, Circling the Wagons.

6:20When Police Chief Dominic Arena calls the station to report that Ted Kennedy was just seen in the area, he's shocked to learn that he's already in the office. Arena asks to speak with him, and in a brief phone conversation, Kennedy explains that he's aware his car was involved in an accident, but volunteers little other information. Arena tells Kennedy to stay put, and speeds off to speak with him in person. Not wanting to lose any time, Irina doesn't even change out of his bathing suit. He's still dripping wet when he arrives at the Egretown police station. Outside, he spots two local reporters hovering near.

6:56That's unusual for a Saturday morning, so word about the crash must be spreading. Chief Irina hurries inside, and when he reaches his office, he finds Kennedy and another man taking the liberty of using his office phone.

7:12Good morning, Senator Kennedy. I'm Chief of Police Dominic Arena. Kennedy quickly ends his conversation. Oops, sorry. Gotta go. I'll call you back. Kennedy hangs up the phone and rises from the chair. Chief, it's a pleasure. This is my friend Paul Markham. He nods to the man beside him. Arena recognizes Markham instantly. Paul and I, we've crossed paths before. He was the U.S. attorney in Boston, and I was just a state trooper. Oh, good. Then we're all friends here then, right? So, Senator, I understand you're aware there was an accident involving your vehicle? Yeah, I am. I was driving the car when it crashed.

7:50Marina wasn't expecting this. Oh, I see. I didn't know that. Well, first things first, I'm afraid we've recovered a body from the wreckage. A young woman we believe to be Rosemary Keogh will need to inform her family. Oh, no, that's not Rosemary. The woman is Mary Jo Kopechny, and I've already spoken with her mother. Kopechny? How do you spell that? I'm not actually sure. I'll have someone check on it for you, but do you have a strategy for dealing with the press? The press? Rena is frazzled. Here's Kennedy, well-dressed and in control, while Rena is stuttering through his words in a wet bathing suit.

8:28Kennedy puts a calming hand on his shoulder. Yeah, I mean, look, once reporters hear about this accident, they're going to descend on this place like locusts. I imagine I'm a little more used to that kind of thing than you are, so it helps to think things through beforehand. Well, I saw two reporters outside already. Did you talk to them? No. Well, good man. Best not to say anything just yet. You'll need a statement from me, I guess? Yeah, of course. Can we do that now? Well, if it's okay with you, I'd like to write it out. Avoid missing any details. That'll work? Sure, absolutely. I'll just need somewhere to write it.

9:01I assume you want your office back. Well, yeah, thanks. But there's an empty accounting office down the hall. No one's going to bother you there, so just take your time. All right, splendid. And don't feel obligated to wait around. I'm sure you have plenty to do. For Police Chief Dominic Arena, what started out as a routine traffic investigation has suddenly become something else entirely, the type of case it's impossible to prepare for. His mind reeling, he heads back to Chappaquiddick. And while Arena is en route, medical examiner Donald Mills arrives at the crash site. Mills looks over Kopechny's body, which is still laid out on a stretcher in the back of a police cruiser.

9:41At first blush, all the evidence is consistent with death by drowning. With his initial examination complete, he has to decide whether or not to request an autopsy, but this is a tricky question. Usually in the case of a car accident, there would be no need. But as this crash involves a U.S. senator, there's sure to be more scrutiny. He can imagine being criticized no matter what choice he makes, so he decides not to make the call himself. He'll leave it to the district attorney's office to make the decision. And while Mills is with the body, Chief Arena arrives back on the scene. By now, volunteer Deputy Huck Look has shown up.

10:17He's turning any traffic away from the bridge and keeping the public at a safe distance. And when he sees Arena, he tells him what he saw the night before. Luke explains that around 12.45 a.m., he saw an Oldsmobile just down the road from the crash site. It was a man driving with a woman in the passenger seat. They seemed to be lost, but when Luke approached, the driver suddenly sped off. In the darkness, though, Luke was able to catch a glimpse of the license plate. It began with L7, which are the first two digits of the car in the water behind them. Chief Arena nods his thanks. That'll be useful for establishing a timeline.

10:54Then he walks onto the bridge. Scuba diver John Farrar is still in the water looking for other bodies. When he surfaces, Irina calls out that he can stop. He already knows who was in the car and no one else is missing. Farrar wades back to the shore. When the tide is at its lowest, the Oldsmobile is then hauled out of the water. Its windshield is shattered and panels on the top and passenger side are crumpled from the impact with the water. Marina and Farrar look inside, and they soon come to a disturbing conclusion. When Farrar found Kopechny's body, her head had been pressed against the floorboard of the upside-down vehicle.

11:31That would have been precisely the area that filled with water last. This suggests that Kopechny survived the initial crash and was conscious long enough to find an air pocket. As an experienced rescue diver, Farrar knows that these air pockets can sometimes last for hours before the oxygen in them runs out. So it's possible that Kopechny suffocated rather than drowned. And if emergency services had been called to the scene immediately after the accident, there's a good chance she could have been saved. To Chief Arena, it looks like Ted Kennedy has some explaining to do. He should be finished with his statement by now, so Arena decides to head back to Egertown to see what he has to say.

12:11Irina arrives at the police station just after 11 a.m. On the way into the building, he passes a crowd of locals, tourists, and journalists, but again he ignores them and heads straight inside. Poking his head into the unused accounting office, Irina sees Kennedy pacing the room as Markham sits at the desk, writing out the statement by hand. A moment later, Markham tears off the page from the yellow legal pad and hands it over to Chief Irina. Irina looks it over. The writing is a bit sloppy, with some words crossed out and replaced. It's still mostly legible, but Arena suggests he type it out for the official record.

12:47Markham agrees, so the three men head down the hall to Arena's office. Arena takes a seat at his desk, and Markham watches over his shoulder as he types. It doesn't take long to copy. The entire statement is only three paragraphs long. But Arena is mostly focused on getting the words right, rather than scrutinizing the statement's actual content. But he can already see there's no real explanation of why Kennedy took so long to contact the police. When he's done typing, he gives a carbon copy to Kennedy and Markham to look over. Kennedy nods his approval. It's been transcribed correctly. But he does have one request.

13:22Before he signs the statement and makes it all official, he'd like his family lawyer, Burke Marshall, to look it over. Chief Arena doesn't object. As long as the statement is still delivered to him promptly, it won't be a problem. With that, Kennedy gets up to go. But before Arena can let him leave, he has a request of his own. He needs to see Kennedy's driver's license. Kennedy glances at Markham and then explains he doesn't have his wallet with him and isn't even sure where it is. Chief Arena frowns. Technically, it's a crime not to present a driver's license when reporting an accident. Combined with the fact that Kennedy left the scene and took so long to come forward, Arena could arrest Kennedy on the spot.

14:02But he quickly pushes this idea from his mind. It's already been a long morning. So instead, Chief Arena tells Kennedy he can drop off the license later. Then he leads Kennedy and Markham toward the rear of the building, helping them avoid the growing crowd out front. And as he says goodbye, Arena has no idea that the unsigned statement in his hand will be the only information he gets from Kennedy for days to come, or that the brief document is riddled with omissions and errors. In the statement, Kennedy puts the time of the crash at 11.15 p.m. But Deputy Sheriff Huck Look saw the Oldsmobile on the road nearby around 12.45.

14:38That's an unexplained 90-minute discrepancy. The statement also doesn't mention anything about the boozy cottage party leading up to the accident. And Joe Gargan and Paul Markham's rescue attempts are omitted as well. Arena just thought Markham was a friend, helping Kennedy out. Not that he was also involved in the case. But now it's too late to question either man any further. Soon after leaving the police station, Markham and Kennedy fly to Hyannis Port and the safety of the Kennedy family compound there. They aren't the only witnesses taking the opportunity to slip away. Joe Gargan has arranged for the five remaining boiler room girls to leave Chappaquiddick altogether.

15:16He then quickly settles up their bills with the hotels in Egertown before departing the area himself. And when the growing throng of media at the police station learn that Kennedy has slipped out of town, they're furious. And Chief Arena only fuels their outrage when he refuses to share Kennedy's statement without the senator's permission. To the press, it begins to look like this small-town police chief is being played. It's an assessment that county prosecutor Walter Steele agrees with. He lives nearby, and when he shows up to the police station later in the morning, he quickly determines that Chief Arena could use some help.

15:51Inside the station, Steele tracks down Arena and asks to see Kennedy's statement. Looking it over, the prosecutor immediately sees red flags. Kennedy claims that he was attempting to drive himself and Kopechny to the car ferry on the west side of the island, but took a wrong turn east toward the beach where the accident occurred. But Steele points out that Kennedy was familiar enough with the island to know which way the landing was. it's just not credible that he'd drive in entirely the opposite direction, along a bumpy dirt track, and not realize he'd gone wrong. And Kennedy's story about what happened after the crash is just as suspicious.

16:27In his statement, he claims he was in a state of shock and exhaustion, and that's why he didn't report the accident sooner. Steele quizzes Irina about Kennedy's physical and emotional state when they spoke earlier, and Irina has to admit that Kennedy seemed fine. He showed no obvious emotional distress, and Arena could see no physical sign he'd been in a car crash at all. Something doesn't add up. In Steele's eyes, Kennedy should be looking at a charge of leaving the scene of an accident at the very least. But Chief Arena just lets out a sign. He clearly isn't thrilled at the idea. But there's no getting away from the facts, so he walks away to call the district attorney's office.

17:05Steele doesn't envy Chief Arena's predicament. But he's confident he's just saved Arena an even bigger headache down the line. Because if Senator Kennedy is lying to them about what happened, the last thing they want to do is look like they're joining the cover-up.

17:22With the VentureX Business Card from Capital One, you earn unlimited double miles on every purchase. Plus, big purchasing power means you can spend more and earn more. The Capital One VentureX Business Card. What's in your wallet? Terms apply. See CapitalOne.com for details. Man, I can practically taste match day. This summer, the 2026 FIFA World Cup hits your backyard, and I'm already in the zone. My perfect patio setup's gotta have burgers on the grill, a freshly mowed lawn, and all my buddies over-watching the game. One thing not in the cards for my next watch party? Last-minute stress. And that's where the Home Depot comes in with the assist.

18:02Fast, free delivery on over 2 million home items keeps the focus on the match, not my to-do list. Grill out of charcoal? No sweat. Order any supplies you need through the Home Depot app and get them delivered right to your door, just in time for kickoff. That's the power of the Home Depot. Official supporter of the FIFA World Cup 2026. Subject to availability.

18:39As County Prosecutor Walter Steele digs further into the accident on Chappaquiddick, he comes to the conclusion that an autopsy on Mary Jo Kopechny should be performed. It's still unknown exactly how long she survived inside the submerged car, and it's better to be thorough to avoid any hint that Ted Kennedy is receiving special treatment. Steele passes this recommendation along to the district attorney's office. But the issue devolves into a game of hot potato. The DA decides to let Egbertown Police Chief Dominic Arena make the call. Arena then defers to the local medical examiner, but he punts the decision back to the DA.

19:17None of them seems to want the responsibility for ordering an autopsy in such a politically sensitive case. It means that in the end, no autopsy is performed. Instead, Mary Jo Kopechny's body is released to her family and flown to Pennsylvania for the funeral. By then, Ted Kennedy is back at his family's compound in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts. More than a dozen legal and political advisors have joined him there. They include Ted Sorensen, the renowned speechwriter and top lawyer in the John F. Kennedy administration, and Robert McNamara, the former U.S. Secretary of Defense. This legal team works downstairs in the main house while the political team huddles upstairs with Kennedy himself.

19:58But as the day goes on, the lawyers become frustrated. They suspect Kennedy isn't sharing the full truth of what happened on Chappaquiddick, and they're dismayed that he seems more focused on the potential political fallout than any legal consequences. But while the aides and lawyers jostle for Kennedy's attention, also lingering around the compound are Paul Markham and Joe Gargan. They are the confidants who were with Ted Kennedy on Chappaquiddick in the hours just before and after the accident. But they've been excluded from the team meetings in the main house. Gargan feels especially hurt. And it's not just because he's been shut out of the inner circle.

20:35Based on the side-eyed looks he's been getting, Kennedy's other advisors somehow hold him responsible for the accident and the failure to report it. As the sun begins to set, Gargan makes his way down the dock, hoping that the sea air will help clear his head. A moment later, Paul Markham joins him. They both light cigarettes, and Gargan takes an opportunity to vent. Gargan begins by recounting a disturbing conversation he had earlier in the day with one of Kennedy's lawyers. He told Gargan that Kennedy is planning to invoke attorney-client privilege with both Gargan and Markham. Markham is taken aback by this.

21:10While he is technically a lawyer, he doesn't represent Kennedy and never thought he did. Stripping naked and trying to rescue a woman from an upturned car isn't something attorneys typically do. And even when he went to the police station with Kennedy to finally report the accident, Kennedy never asked for his legal advice. So Markham doesn't understand. But Gargan can see exactly how this might play out. Soon, the public will learn that Ted Kennedy waited more than nine hours to report the accident and that he spent much of that time with Gargan and Markham. Kennedy, of course, will claim that he was in shock, and that's why he didn't go to the police.

21:46At that point, people will either have to believe Kennedy's story and question why Gargan and Markham didn't call in the accident themselves, or they'll think Kennedy is lying and assume Gargan and Markham are working with him to orchestrate a cover-up. Either way, Joe Gargan and Paul Markham will be blamed. And if they're bound by lawyer-client privilege, they won't be able to speak publicly about what really happened. They won't be able to defend themselves. They won't be able to say that they risked their lives to save Mary Jo Kopechny, or that they were begging Kennedy to report the accident before he abruptly ditched them and swam back to the hotel alone.