The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups

According to the Oklahoma State Highway Patrol, Silkwood’s death was a one-car accident. She fell asleep at the wheel and her Honda Civic drifted off the left side of the road. The patrol also cites an autopsy report showing that methaqualone, a sleep-inducing drug prescribed for Silkwood to combat stress, was present in her body. If Silkwood fell asleep at the wheel, this explains why she made no attempt to veer away from the concrete culvert. A dent discovered in the Honda’s rear bumper was determined to have been caused by the recovery vehicle that had pulled the Honda out of the culvert. Subsequent investigations by the Justice Department and FBI agreed there was no foul play, and two congressional subcommittees dropped their investigations.

The unofficial version is a little different. The OCAW accident investigator found the Honda’s tyre tracks showed the car had skidded violently off the left side of the highway, then straightened out and driven along the shoulder. He believed this was evidence that Silkwood was prevented from returning to the highway by another car, and that a «drifting car» would anyway have veered into a field before reaching the culvert. Another OCAW-hired expert found the dent in the Honda’s rear bumper resulted from «contact between two metal surfaces». Scratch marks in the dent were from rear to front, indicating the car had been hit from behind. No fewer than eight independent toxicologists agreed that Silkwood had built up such a tolerance to methaqualone (Quaalude) that the 0.35 milligrams of the drug found in her body would not have caused her to fall asleep at the wheel.

In March 1979 the Silkwood case finally reached the courts, with a suit brought by her father and children. The presiding judge allowed only one issue to be decided: Kerr—McGee’s negligence or not in Silkwood’s contamination. Other counts, which might have uncovered liability for her death, were barred. Lawyers for Silkwood’s estate theorized that she had been under surveillance by Kerr—McGee, who knew she was about to blow the whistle on the company. The lawyers were not allowed to present testimony that documents with the Kerr—McGee insignia had been found in Silkwood’s wrecked car and that — according to the owner of the garage where the car was taken — only government, police and Kerr—McGee officials visited the wreck during the night after the accident.

On 18 May 1979 the jury awarded $10 million in punitive damages to the Silkwood estate. On appeal, the judgment was reduced to US $5,000. In 1986, the Supreme Court restored the original verdict. The case was headed for retrial when Kerr—McGee settled out of court for $1.38 million, admitting no liability.

There is still no legal closure, however, on the question of whether Silkwood was murdered, and, if so, by whom. It is a heck of a coincidence, though, that she died en route to the very meeting where she was due to hand over the proof of Kerr—McGee’s negligence.

Kerr—McGee, incidentally, closed its nuclear plants in 1975.

Union activist Karen Silkwood was murdered to prevent her whistle-blowing on the Kerr—McGee nuclear company: ALERT LEVEL 8

Further Reading

Richard Raske, The Killing of Karen Silkwood, 2000

Skull & Bones

It’s so secret that we can’t talk about it.

President George W. Bush on membership of Skull & Bones, NBC’s Meet the Press, 2004

Win some, win some. When Democrat John Kerry took on Republican George W. Bush for the US presidency in 2004, one group of Americans was assured of victory whichever way the result went. For Kerry and Bush were both members of the secretive Yale University society known as Skull & Bones.