054 - The Mysterious Death of Dorothy Kilgallen

Trace Evidence

Steven Pacheco

True Crime, Documentary, Society & Culture, History

4.7 • 4.2K Ratings

🗓️ 31 July 2018

⏱️ 119 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Dorothy Kilgallen was one of the most well known and prominent reporters in American history. Her tenacious personality and intense columns examines major stories of her time, including the murder trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard and the Cuban Missile Crisis. While her readers loved her dynamic style, powerful figures in Hollywood and Intelligence Agencies were not fans of her work.

After the assassination of President, and her close friend, John Kennedy in November of 1963, Dorothy dedicated her work to uncovering what she believed to have been a massive conspiracy and cover-up. She had a contact in the Warren Commission who leaked information to her, which she in turn published. The FBI began keeping a file on her, and tapping her phone after Dorothy refused to reveal her sources. Dorothy became the only journalist to get a private, one on one interview with Jack Ruby, the man who shot and killed Lee Harvey Oswald. In the days and weeks leading up to her death, Dorothy told friends she was going to break the case open and she had plans to travel to New Orleans to meet with an informant. Sadly, Dorothy would be found dead in her home just days before this trip, and what information she had gathered would never be revealed as her research files were never found.

The official ruling in Dorothy's death was that she died from an accidental overdose, a lethal combination of alcohol and sleeping pills. While this was the official story, many believe that Dorothy was murdered to halt her investigation.What happened to Dorothy Kilgallen and why, today, is her name so rarely recalled? Join host Steven Pacheco as he explores the intriguing and vibrant life of the woman once dubbed "The Most Powerful Voice in America."

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Music Courtesy of: "Lost Time" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

Sources: https://www.trace-evidence.com/dorothy-kilgallen

Transcript

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0:00.0	Did you know choosing the train can take up to 500 cars off the road? Just one train at a time.
0:07.0	One gig at a time, one last minute plan, one festival, one going then, why not at a time?
0:18.0	One train journey at a time can help create a greener future.
0:23.0	So when will you take your next trip? Find out more at nationalrail.co.uk for what's last greener?
0:30.0	Dorothy Kill-Gallon rose to prominence as a journalist in the mid-1930s.
0:44.0	By the end of the decade, her daily column would capture the attention of East Coast readers
0:50.0	before blasting her further into popularity through nationwide syndication.
0:56.0	By the 1950s, she was an icon of the newspaper business as well as a radio show host and television celebrity.
1:06.0	In an era when journalism was dominated by male personalities, Dorothy shattered glass ceilings
1:13.0	and became one of the most well respected and popular journalists in the world.
1:19.0	While her beginnings were in the direction of Hollywood gossip columns, her true passion was for investigative journalism,
1:26.0	covering controversial stories and figures of the time. Her coverage of major murder trials was acclaimed
1:34.0	and her defense of those she felt were given a raw deal, brought on criticism and argument,
1:40.0	but Dorothy was not afraid to speak her mind, nor to stand up for what she believed in.
1:46.0	The subject of lawsuits and feuds with celebrity royalty and even the United States government,
1:53.0	Dorothy never hesitated to voice her opinion.
1:57.0	In 1963, the United States was forever changed when President John F. Kennedy was killed by an assassin's bullet in Dealey Plaza in Dallas, Texas on November 22.
2:11.0	Dorothy was devastated, not just at the loss of a president whom she admired greatly, but John was a personal friend she had gotten to know years earlier.
2:21.0	While the world watched the story unfold, from the arrest and murder of Lee Harvey Oswald, to the trial of Jack Ruby and the release of the Warren Commission,
2:31.0	Dorothy dared to ask questions at a time where it was not popular to do so.
2:37.0	She dedicated the last years of her life to investigating the assassination, became the only person to get a private interview with Jack Ruby,
2:46.0	and compiled an extensive dossier on the murder, all while being under FBI surveillance.
	...

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