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Hello. Welcome back to another episode of Diagnosing a Killer, the regular Diagnosing
a Killer.
Circle around and an audience of visitors could connect to so you can
coming up with that. Yeah, if you go to that website, I think it's truecrimepodcastfestival.com,
you can check out their content, you can check out all the podcasts that are going to be there,
there's a lot of really great names that are going to be at that festival. Our little logo
is on there and if you click on that it actually takes right to our website anyway, so two birds.
And yeah, that's super exciting. Can't wait to do that. We were talking about the panel in our
last episode, I think about how we're both like kind of nervous if we do get chosen for a panel,
like we have to take like some shots or something. Yeah. So super excited to tell you this story.
I know this is one that you don't know and if you do you're going to really surprise me because
I had never heard about this. I wanted to do something like super different than I know we
would say that, but super different than we've done MOIs and just kind of like altogether
scenario situation wise. So I landed on a little fella named John Jack Gilbert Graham.
His name is my name too. So he does go by Jack, that's what we're going to call him. Jack.
All right, let's start on this little number here. On November 1st, 1955, Daisy King boarded
United Airlines flight 629 en route from Stapleton Airport in Denver, Colorado to Portland, Oregon.
The plane was to eventually land in Seattle, Washington, where Daisy would then change planes
and travel to Alaska to visit her daughter. The plane took off at 6.52 p.m. And just 11 minutes
later, a tremendous explosion occurred in the cargo department of the plane, cleanly severing
its tail section and causing a flare to separate and ignite. A secondary explosion occurred when
the plane's engine and forward compartment hit the ground, instantly killing the 39 passengers and
five crew members aboard, 44 people in total. The plane crashed on a sugar beet farm near
Longmont, Colorado. Upon hearing the news, the FBI immediately offered its services and
identifying the victims of the seemingly accidental tragedy. Although as the bodies were recovered,
an investigator sifted through the evidence and stories of the victims, the scenario was beginning
to seem a bit fishy. While the days went by and their investigation became more detailed,
the uneasy feeling became too big to ignore and the FBI was forced to face the truth.
This plane crash was indeed not accidental and in reality, a bomb had been placed purposefully
into one passenger's luggage, Daisy King. Oh, heaveys. In order to fully understand why this bomb
was put onto this plane to detonate on purpose, we need to learn who would have wanted to cause
harm to Daisy King. Wow. John Jack Gilbert Graham was born on January 23, 1932 in Denver,
Colorado, to Daisy William Graham. Daisy herself was raised in a seemingly normal middle to upper
class family. Her father was a school teacher who eventually rose to not only a state representative
but district attorney and district court judge in Colorado. Wow. After growing up and moving to
Denver, Daisy met and married a man by the name of Tom Gallagher in the early 1920s and the two
would shortly welcome a daughter named Helen Ruth Gallagher. Shortly after Helen being born,
Daisy and Tom would divorce and Daisy would eventually meet and marry William Graham. Okay.
Due to Jack being born in the height of the Great Depression, his family unfortunately would struggle
with poverty throughout his entire childhood. William was a mining engineer, but due to the
economic impact of the Great Depression, he was unable to pursue his career and the family became
under a lot of financial stress. William and Daisy would ultimately separate when Jack was just 18
months old. Oh, it's a little baby. I know. Though they were separated, William was still providing
for the family financially as much as he could. But unfortunately, in 1937, he would contract
pneumonia and ultimately pass away from the illness. Whoa. This is when Jack was just five years old.
After William died, Daisy would move in with her mother in order for her to work more while the
grandmother watched not only Jack, but Daisy's daughter Helen as well. Within a couple years,
however, Daisy's mother would ultimately pass herself, leaving Daisy with both children and no
time to work. It was during this time around 1940 that Daisy made the decision to send Jack to an
orphanage named the Clayton College for Boys, seeming as though she sent her daughter with her dad
at the same time. This orphanage was named as an orphanage for quote, poor white male orphans born
of reputable parents. She's like kind of fucked up. That's disgusting. But not kind of fucked up.
It is fucked up. Now, it seems as though Daisy giving Jack up to the orphanage was in her mind
for his own well-being because of course she couldn't provide for him financially, right?
Jack would later recall that he thought his mother did not love him anymore, and that's why she
dropped him off at the orphanage. It makes my heart hurt. However, shortly after giving up Jack,
in 1941, Daisy would marry a third time, this time to a wealthy rancher named Earl King. And she went
back for Jack, right? This new marriage would dramatically change her finances,
yet she never chose to pick Jack up from the orphanage and bring him to live with her,
although she could afford it now. That's awful. During the next couple of years, Daisy would have
Jack come out to the ranch to spend holidays and vacations with the family only to be returned
back to the orphanage during the school year. I am Jack's complete lack of surprise.
Jack, wait, Jack's like apostrophe-ess? Yeah. Like from Fight Club? It's from Fight Club, yeah.
When Jack was 13, he was taken out of the orphanage and sent to stay a while with some neighbors of
his stepfathers. Not like with them at the house, who just went with some neighbors. Only to be
returned back to the orphanage shortly after. Geez, this poor kid. So in his mind, they don't want
me either. Yeah. Jack was noted as asking around this time why he could not just simply live with
his mother. Like, what the fuck? Yeah. Why can't I just live here? I mean, I'm related to you,
and you're also my mother. Despite all of his struggles, Jack was still attending school,
but would ultimately drop out of high school after completing the ninth grade.
You see this a lot. After dropping out of school at age 16, Jack decided that he was going to enlist
in the Coast Guard, lying about his age during the application process. Jack was able to join
the Coast Guard because IDs weren't a thing. I mean, they were. And ended up serving starting in
April 1948. Less than a year later, however, in January of 1949, Jack would go AWOL for 63 days
and was required to go to a court martial hearing following his return. Oh shit. Where was he?
When asked why he went AWOL, Jack responded by saying that he was tired of having to listen
to his higher ups, and he just wanted to party instead. Just want to party, bro. Just want to party.
Just want to party. He also did not seem to care about his decision, stating, quote,
I don't feel sorry about it, but I'm not happy about it. I don't want a bad conduct discharge.
But why apply though? Why apply to the Coast Guard if you just aren't going to pay attention or listen?
Well, I guess he thought he was going to, and then he got into the military and he was like,
fuck this. I don't want to be told what to do. It was better than staying at the YMCA.
Well, yeah. And then also like his whole life, I mean, he went to the orphanage, I guess, so he
did have like structure, but he's probably like, you're not my fucking parents. You know, you can't
tell him what to do kind of like that attitude. Yeah. The only one that can tell me what to do
is my mother apparently. Yeah. Following the hearing, Jack was sent to a hospital for neurological
testing and was later honorably discharged from the military. Like how? He went AWOL.
For 63 days. Honorably discharged. I don't know. I don't know what he said to them. Yeah.
Yeah. According to Jack, he claimed that he was given shock treatments while being evaluated,
but these claims were never confirmed. On the contrary, records would indicate that Jack was
actually immature, displayed poor judgment and exhibited impulsive behavior. Honorably discharged.
Yeah. But he's like, they gave him a shock treatment. They were like, no, he's like,
like a delinquent. Yeah. After being discharged from the military, Jack would actually receive
his high school diploma after passing entrance exams at Denver University. And during this time,
he would meet fellow student Gloria Elson. The two would quickly marry. Every time.
The two would quickly marry. The two would marry in 1953 and would quickly have a child together,
seeming to have the perfect family life on the outside. Okay. Dennis, writer.
Just a panty-rater. Panty-rater. One year into his marriage, Jack had still not had any contact
with his estranged mother since before he dropped out of school. So that was like 16 and this is
what he's 19 or 20 now. So yeah, it's been about five years since he seeded his mother.
The same year in 1954, so this is one year later after he gets married, Earl King,
Daisy's new husband, accidentally, accidentally passed away. Whoops.
My bad. Earl King passed away, leaving his huge inheritance behind and now in Daisy's possession.
During this time, Daisy and Jack would reconnect, seemingly due to the fact that Earl had passed
away and maybe Daisy reached out to Jack to let him know, kind of said like, hey, look, like,
I know we can rekindle our relationship. Yeah, because now I'm lonely and I have this big house
all to myself. Yeah. So Daisy would ultimately purchase a home in the same year that Earl died.
I'm not sure what happened to his home. Maybe it got, maybe she sold it and got it something smaller.
Might have been a family home or something. Yeah. Her inheritance is some kind for somebody else.
Yes. However, it went, Daisy would actually invite Jack and his wife along with their child to move
in with her. Okay. I wonder if he didn't like Jack and that's why she was like, oh, you can't stay here.
Can't stay here. I don't know. I feel like, and I'm not trying to like speak ill, but I feel like
she might have just felt felt it easier to just leave him in the home because her daughter was
taking care of. Yeah. Right. And she's like, well, he's fine over there. I don't think she realized
like how detrimental like that was to his upbringing. During this time, Daisy and Jack's
relationship was very tumultuous. And the two were known to argue often. Although they were
known for constantly arguing, a friend of Daisy's would later say about their relationship at this
time, quote, Jack was her favorite. She took his word as law and gave him a lot of things.
I suppose Daisy was a little neurotic. So Daisy's clearly putting on this persona outside of the
home that her and Jack have this great relationship. And neighbors are like, no, they fought like all
the time. Well, I wonder if for her it's like overcompensation. Like I've definitely seen that
before in other families where, you know, maybe the mom or the dad had moved away while the child
was young, but then they come back in their lives and it's like anything you want, anything you want
because I owe you now because I abandoned you. And now she has all this money. So Daisy would
actually become a successful businesswoman and even begin to purchase and run her own restaurant
that became very popular. In February of 1955, Jack and his wife, Gloria would welcome their
second child to the world. Hmm. Their growing family seemed to be thriving with his mother's
business booming and the family dynamic looking promising. Hmm. At least she was working. Oh,
absolutely. However, Jack's half sister Helen would later say about this time that Jack had
anger issues, a very dark sense of humor, and had enacted violence on numerous occasions on Helen
and his wife alike. I guess at some point Helen, the half sister came back. I'm sure she's like
visiting. I think she was like many years older than him. So she's probably has her own family
at this point. I think she was just visiting. Okay. And remember, she's living in Alaska. I mean,
within five years after this, so maybe she wasn't even living in the same state. True. So
funny enough, the criminal activity of Jack did not start and stop with this bombing.
But in reality, he had a long record of crimes dating back to 1951. Hmm. In early 1951, Jack was
employed as a payroll clerk when he was caught stealing a set of blank checks in order to commit
fraud. So this is before he was married. Before he was married. Okay. He filled out 42 of the checks
for $100 each, then forged the name of the company owner to cash them. Hmm. This act would land him
on the local most wanted list. What? Yeah. Damn. I mean, I bet that's a lot of fucking money.
Stealing nearly $4,500 in the 50s. So I did the conversion rate. It's about 52 grand today.
That's a pretty penny. Jack would spend $2,000 of this money to go on the run to Texas. Hmm.
Because he's on the most wanted list. He can't be there anymore. Right. In Colorado. Where do you
go in Texas? I'm actually not sure. I think he was in like the Panhandle area. Okay. Because
that's like closest to Colorado. Sure. Being in Texas less than a year, Jack would ultimately
find himself in trouble with the law there as well. On September 11th, 1951, Jack would be caught by
police when trying to illegally transport whiskey. Cool. He would be sentenced to 60 days in the
county jail before being sent back to Denver to face his forgery charge. Yeah. He was convicted on
November 3rd for this charge, but the conviction was suspended and he was placed on probation instead
for a total of five years. Don't you love to see it? Don't you love to see it, folks? Love to see it.
He would also pay financial restitution for this crime from 1952 to 1955. Okay. So it's kind of
become a theme now that he'll do like whatever he can for financial gain. Right. Yeah. Was it Richard
Ramirez or was it, I want to say it was Richard Ramirez was kind of like that at the beginning.
Yeah. Just like finding any way to scam people. Yeah. Stil money. Stil money. Yeah. And that just,
I mean, the crimes escalated clearly for you. Yeah. Jack would ultimately get a job as a heavy
duty equipment mechanic from January 1953 to December 1954. This is again, right around the
time that he moved in with his mother, his pregnant wife and their first child. Of course, the baby
has been born. Yeah. Going back to Daisy and Jack arguing very frequently. The most common
topic of these fights was over management of the restaurant that Daisy had owned. Jack wanted to be
the manager and I don't think that she wanted him to be the manager because of their, like,
she didn't want to mix like business and family. Yeah. You know, of course, they didn't really
agree on a lot of stuff. So Jack didn't like that clearly. And shortly after the restaurant was
opened, I would say within six months to a year, it was vandalized considerably, but the perpetrator
was never caught. In September of 1955, so this is two months before the plane crash, Daisy's
restaurant mysteriously caught fire caused by an explosion from a gas line being disconnected. What?
The restaurant was completely destroyed in the explosion, but again, no perpetrator of the crime
or even confirmation that it wasn't an accident. So they really didn't even know that there might
have been foul play. The FBI would later note that Jack's truck was also hit by a train around
this same time. Something they believe was also to try to collect insurance money from.
Whoops, just happened to leave my park ditch. Accidentally.
Like a lemony Snicket snap bitch. Parked a lot of the train tracks.
Yeah. I don't know. My truck was just in my driveway and all of a sudden this train game.
Yeah, they should fix the tracks or something. So shortly after this restaurant explosion and
truck accident, on November 1st, 1955, Daisy King would board the aircraft that would explode 11
minutes into the flight. So she was going to Alaska to go see what Helen? Okay.
Daisy's luggage actually almost didn't make it on the plane at all or almost missed the plane
because it was actually overweight due to the stuff that Jack had added. Wow. The airline wanted
to charge Daisy $27.82 for the overweight charged. So she was trying to say, Oh, I'll just get some
stuff out of it. And Jack was like, No, no, no, just pay it. You're going to need everything
that you packed. Like don't leave anything behind. And she goes, Okay. And she pays it and they
check it. Jesus. That's fucking evil. Like you can. Oh my gosh. Now it's very clear that Jack was
the mastermind behind this explosion. Becoming obsessed with money and financial gain, Jack had
devised a plan that would give him the ultimate payout. His first plan was to burn the restaurant
down in order to collect the insurance money. Shortly before the explosion, he was noted as
taking out an insurance policy on the restaurant that was in his name. And he was able to collect
it after the restaurant was destroyed because again, they didn't know it was foul play, right?
This was not enough for Jack, however, and he knew that he could kick it up a notch and gain even
more money. After dropping off his mom at the airport security, Jack utilized something that
was available in airports at the time, a life insurance policy on his mother through the airlines.
So when flying was like unreliable because it literally like was barely happening in the 50s.
It was like a step above a hot air balloon. You used to be able to purchase life insurance
on the passengers from a vending machine at the airport. And I told this to mom and mom goes,
Oh yeah, I remember that because it didn't go away until like the 80s. Yeah.
Yeah. That's bonkers. Yeah. So the benefit was put to rest in the 80s again with new technology
and stuff. But also like probably fucking issues like this. Oh no, I would be ashamed of the plane
crash. Like I think it was that D.B. Cooper documentary. They were talking about how anybody
and everybody could just like hop on fucking planes and like planejacking was a really serious
issue because they had like no fucking security, just all this shit. Nobody fucking checked the
bags. It was essentially just like a place where people that could afford it or you know,
misogynists or whatever can grow up like the stewardesses and like can't do anything about it.
Yeah. And it's just it was just lullish. It was just like a zoo. Not to mention these life insurance
policies could be purchased in these vending machines for like 25 cents each. Like literally
like put a quarter of it and get a million. Yeah, right. It's like a slot machine.
Like a big scam or something. It's a fucking slot machine. Now, Jack's motive for the bombing was to
collect $37,500 in life insurance money, which is the equivalent of $416,000 today on his mom.
So he took out that policy on his mom. He also took out two additional policies on Daisy while in
the airport, totaling $6,250 each, which is about $70,000. And he took these out to make sure that
it would go to her sister and to Helen. Okay. Nice fucking guy. Yeah, he's so sweet. I'm just gonna
make sure you get some money out of it. What a nice guy. Stupid ass. Do you think that maybe
part of that was because he didn't want them coming after like the fortune he was already
getting from his mom? I think he might have thought like if they get money out of it, maybe
they'll be distracted and they won't like come from my money. Yeah, come from my inheritance.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, you're right. Because in addition to this money, Jack was also set to be the
beneficiary of his mother's home that was totaled at $150,000. Yeah. $1.7 million today. Oh my gosh.
Yeah, it was shut up money. It was like, here's your 70. Here's your 70 shut up. But of course,
they didn't know. Yeah. Days before the bombing, Jack had gone shopping for what he said was an
artistic toolkit. His mom liked to hand make jewelry. So he had gone shopping for what he
said was a gift for his mother because it was close to Christmas time. It's like needle nose pliers
and well, red and black wires. Yeah, he didn't really even buy any of that gunpowder. On the
morning of November 1st, Jack brought the package to the basement where his mother had been packing.
The package that consisted of 25 sticks of dynamite, two primer caps, a timer, and a 6 volt battery
was disguised as a Christmas present and packed into his mother's suitcase. That's fucking evil.
Not only that, but there's like, that's overkill almost. Yeah, 25 sticks. This was not Jack's first
experience with dynamite, however, as he would later confess to having performed demolition work
while in the military. Oh, his sister Helen even admitted that he once casually joked about using
dynamite to blow off a stuck bolt while they were working on a project. He's like, oh, just dynamite
it'll come off dynamite it dynamite it dynamite it dynamite. Lastly, the truck credit manager of
his vehicle that was hit previously had remembered that Jack had once commented on the ease of putting
a bomb onto an airplane and blowing it up. Well, it's true. Well, back then, yeah. Yeah, sure.
Although there were these seemingly like eyebrow raising comments made, nobody was the wiser when
it came to Jack and they never took any of his comments seriously. Yeah. So in the afternoon
of November 1st, 1955, Jack, his wife, and his two children all drove Daisy to the airport.
Jack, knowing that the bomb was in the back of the car the whole time and could possibly fucking
detonate with his fucking children in the car. If he like fucked up any anytime like making this
bomb like he could have killed all of them. Yeah. His children and his wife, not even his mom. I mean,
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feel good about. Jack dropped his mother and family off at the terminal door, drove to the
parking lot, and took her luggage to get checked. Again, this is when they met up with the whole
money thing and then he was like, no, no, no. The FBI worked endlessly in order to narrow down the
cause of the crash and to determine if it was an accident or a chilling plot to purposely explode
the plane. They sifted through all of the rubble, ID'd everyone on board, and even interviewed their
family members to gain knowledge about them. They were able to reassemble the plane with the pieces
that they found and in order to determine where the explosion happened. Yeah. Because of course,
there wouldn't be as enough rubble right there. Right. The FBI work on this case is absolutely
incredible. And if you Google the case, you can actually find this is where I got most of my info
on the FBI.gov website and it details every single thing that they did to reach Jack in their
investigation. That's cool. And it's a lot more than I would than I detailed here. So if you want
like a really deep dive into this, it's a really good read. And it's like a legal document, you know.
So law enforcement discovered that Jack had a criminal record for embezzlement by Czech forgery
and illegal transport of whiskey in Texas. They were also able to uncover that Jack's truck had
been totaled under suspicious circumstances, as well as his mother's restaurant being burned to
the ground. Yeah. On top of all of these discoveries, while looking through the insurance policies
taken out on each passenger aboard the aircraft, police noticed that Daisy King was the only passenger
with three different insurance policies taken out the same day, which the same day wasn't really
weird because that's why they were there on the airport. Yeah. But still. Perhaps the most damning
piece of evidence to Jack being a potential suspect were items that were determined to be on
Daisy's person during the explosion. In what detectives determined to be her handbag, Daisy had
personal letters, newspaper clippings and more about Jack Graham's forgery conviction and placement
on Denver's most wanted list. I think that she was maybe bringing this to like share with her
daughter like what she found out about Jack. Like he was having a record, maybe he was like wanted.
That's the only reason that I can think of that she would have it in her purse. Yeah. Because she
didn't, as far as I know, say anything to him about that she knew about his past charges. I
think that it was something that would be planted either. I mean, why would he do that? No, I don't
think, I mean, that's what I'm saying. I don't think he even knew that she had that. Again, this
is all speculation. I have no idea. But yeah, she had like in her purse, like in her carry-out. It's
really interesting. Unless she had a sneaking suspicion. Yeah, that's true. That's true. That too.
Yeah, that's true. The true, true. Detectives having more than enough circumstantial evidence
to question Jack were told by FBI director J. Edgar Hoover to quote, focus on him. J. Edgar Hoover.
Yeah, it's a really cool name right? Company. Edgar Hoover is like a very, very famous person.
Yeah, I know. Okay, I was quoting Clue, the movie Clue. Yeah, J. Edgar Hoover.
Oh, I thought that sounded familiar actually. It's Tim Curry. Oh, really? I'll steal it, credit card!
Now? Now. Jack was originally interviewed with the company of Helen, his half-sister,
on November 10th, 1955. During this interview, Jack relayed detailed information about his mom,
dad, and his childhood. He and his sister were both free to go following this interview.
On November 11th, the following day, Jack and his wife, Gloria, willingly spoke to the FBI
about Daisy's final days, Gloria stating that she knew what Daisy's luggage looked like,
but not what was in it. Gloria explained that Daisy was very particular about the contents
of her luggage and she would never let anyone else pack for her or even help her pack. Gloria did
recall that Jack said he was going to give Daisy a present before she left for the airport,
and she believed that it contained a small artistic tool set. She also recalled that she did see
Jack take the package down to the basement where Daisy's luggage was, but she did not know if he
gave it to Daisy or not after that. She didn't press because it didn't seem weird to her.
At least one Gloria knows how to communicate with police officers. Yeah, exactly. However,
after the FBI had Jack in their grips, they would question him ruthlessly over the course of the
over the course of the next 12 hours. Now, at this point, they already know that he had tampered
with his mother's luggage on the day of the explosion because they had narrowed it down to
her bag that was the cause of the explosion. Right. And Jack had actually told a neighbor
earlier the day of the crash that he was planning on sneaking a Christmas present into his mother's
luggage. Like, why would you say that? Dummy. Further interviews went on on November 11th and 12th
with relatives and associates of Daisy, but the only one that carried any weight was this neighbor.
Not wanting to spook Jack any further, but still wanting to question him,
FBI agents would actually invite Jack and his wife Gloria back to the federal building around noon
on November 12th with the guys that they needed them to help identify some charred pieces of luggage
as well as to help clear up some details of the case. So they were like, wait, I just need your help.
When questioned if he had messed with Daisy's luggage on the day of the explosion, Jack simply
stated that he had purchased a jewelry making tool for her and just put that in the bag for her
securely before bringing up her luggage. What Jack and the FBI both knew at this point was that there
was no jewelry making tool at all. And instead, the 25 sticks of dynamite, a few blasting caps,
and a timer set for 90 minutes. Wow. FBI agents were not entirely convinced that Jack did not have
this explosion to begin with. But the more they questioned him, the more it became apparent that
he was most definitely involved and most likely the mastermind. Yeah. Around 6 30pm, FBI agents
informed Jack that he was now officially a suspect in the bombing and that he was both free to go
and to call an attorney. They can't arrest him, but they now have him as a suspect, right? Yeah.
And I'm sure they want to get everything down to a T. Right. This was actually before the Miranda
rights were a thing. So that's why they told them he was both free to go and call an attorney,
but they didn't like read him any rights. Yeah. Now the Miranda rights, I just had to pepper
this in there because I thought it was interesting. They didn't go into effect until 1966. So in 1963,
Ernesto Miranda was arrested in Arizona for kidnapping and rape. During his interrogation,
he was not informed of his right to remain silent and his right to an attorney. He eventually
confessed to the crimes and was convicted, but his case was appealed all the way to the US Supreme
Court in which they ultimately ruled that his confession was not admissible because he had
not been informed of his rights. Damn. After this ruling, police became required to read a standard
set of rights to a suspect before any questioning could take place, a.k.a. the Miranda rights.
Cool. Thanks for that though, because I didn't know what the origin was. Yeah, I didn't either.
And I asked Casey last night, I said, do you know when the Miranda rights became a thing? And he
was like, I don't know, like pretty recently. I was like, yeah, it's like the sixties. He's like, yeah.
So instead of leaving around 6 30 after finding out that he was a suspect,
Jack continued to talk to FBI agents and argue his point that he was innocent. Hello. Well,
this would continue for the next several hours. And around midnight, Agent James R. Wagner finally
had enough stating, quote, you've been lying to us all night. We are going to charge you with this
crime. Why not make it easy for us? To which Jack stoically replied, quote, where do you want me
to start? Damn. I'll give you. No. Jack began telling the FBI that he put together a bomb consisting
of 25 sticks of commercial dynamite, two blaster caps, a timer with the max capability of 90 minutes
and a small battery. He admitted that he wrapped up the device to look like a Christmas present
and placed it in his mom's luggage before driving her to the airport, stating about this, quote,
I then wrapped about three or four feet of binding cord around the sack of dynamite to hold the
dynamite sticks in place around the caps. The purpose of the two caps was in case one of the
caps failed to function and ignite the dynamite. I placed the suitcase in the trunk of my car with
another smaller suitcase, which my mother had packed to take with her on the trip. End quote.
He had set the timer for 90 minutes immediately before putting it into the bag. He recalled
thinking that he had to hurry in order to get his mother on the plane and in flight before the 90
minutes was up. Right. Like that could have gone off in the fucking airport. Right. I mean, he still
killed 50 fucking people. But after he dropped his mother off at the terminal, he went to the coffee
shop in the airport and had some coffee and donuts. He told the FBI here, remembered watching his
mother walk toward the plane saying quote, I watched her go off for the last time. I felt happier
that I ever felt in my life. Oh my God. Jack admitted to not even giving a second thought about
the other 43 people that would be on the plane and ultimately would die from his actions. On top of
his matter of fact explanation about the events that transpired on that day, perhaps the most
shocking thing FBI agents would hear was that Jack's only regret was that the plane had a 10
minute delay causing it to crash in the beat field rather than the Rocky Mountains. Oh, he wanted
them just to not be found. He was bummed because if the plane crashed into the mountains, it would
have been much harder to investigate. Yeah. I just got like the chills. When interviewed later by
psychiatrist about the amount of people that he put into harm's way for his own gain, Jack said
calmly quote, the number of people to be killed made no difference to me. It could have been 1000
when their time comes. There's nothing they can do about it. When their time comes, not when you
make it happen. Yeah, he just really fucking hated his mom. He really did. When Jack heard the news
about the plane explosion back at home, the same neighbor that had been interviewed recalled Jack
turning pale white and uttering the statement quote, that is it. I know. Shortly after the crash,
a representative from United Airlines contacted Jack to let him know that they believed his
mother was a victim of this plane crash to which Jack responded quote, well, that's the way it goes.
That's the way the cookie crumbles like so fucking like, yeah, monotone, you know, completely
dissociative. Yeah. During this questioning, Jack would also provide the FBI with detailed reports
of where he bought the bomb parts, which were later determined confirmed by hardware store clerks.
On November 14, 1955, a complaint was filed before a US commissioner at Denver by a special
agent charging Jack Gilbert Graham with sabotage. I'll explain why in a second. Jack appeared
before the commissioner where he was advised of the charges against him and afforded an opportunity
to make bond at $100,000. He was unable to make bond and was actually then committed to the custody
of the US Marshal in lieu of bond. On November 17, 1955, Jack Gilbert Graham was charged with one
count of murder of his mother. Authorities were actually shocked to discover that there was no
federal statute on the books at the time that made it a crime to blow up an airplane. Therefore,
the murder charge of his mother was the only charge they could place on him at the time of his arrest.
Like they were just like, they just happened to be casualties of this other thing. But since
she was a target, yeah, like blowing up an airplane is not a crime. So all the people that died on
board, like you didn't murder them. They just happened to be on the plane crash. They just
happened to be on the plane. Yeah. Of course they changed that afterwards. Yeah, still illegal.
Like we can't just be doing that. Okay. Yeah, can't just be doing that. He would be arraigned in
December 1955 to which he entered pleas of innocent and innocent by reason of insanity.
Wait, but he, okay, go ahead. Shortly after his arrest, Denver radio station KDEN owner
Gene Amole and Rocky Mountain News photographer Maury Engle arranged to sneak a camera into the
county jail for an interview of Jack during a reunion with his wife, Gloria. They wanted it on
camera. It's like 1950s. Yeah. I mean, who could afford cameras for seriously with the interviewers?
Fuck, TV station. I like how you just like sneak that in. Like now you can fit like cameras on
the head of a pin. Yeah, like then it was like this big fucking coffee set. He's like a giant trench
code. Yeah. Jack was recorded saying to his wife, quote, I love my mother very much. She meant a lot
to me. It's very hard for me to tell exactly how I feel. She left so much of herself behind.
When Amole asked Jack why he signed a confession, he stated that the FBI had threatened to point
out inconsistencies and statements made by his wife when she was interviewed by authorities.
He stated, quote, I was not about to let them touch her in any way, shape or form.
So now he's trying to say like, oh, I confess because I was protecting my wife. I'm protecting
people. Although they brought the interview back with them, none of the Denver TV stations would
agree to air it believing that it might spark sympathy for Jack. Like, oh, he was just trying to
take care of his wife. With Jack's confession on the table, the prosecution believed it would be
an open and shut case from the get go. The FBI, United Airlines and the DA wanted Jack tried,
found guilty and executed quickly as a quote deterrent to others who might plan copycat murders.
Yeah, absolutely. Just like this is looking to happen if you fucking do that shit.
However, just days after his arrest and this interview, Jack would recant his confession
in an interview that appeared in the Rocky Mountain News under the headline, quote,
dynamiter changes his story. Dynamiter. Dynamiter. Like it's a fucking verb. Yes. Me, the dynamite.
Me, the dynamite off. I always think that recanting a confession is hilarious. It's like,
but you already said it. Yeah, it's like, oh, now you're not okay. Now we believe you because
now you didn't do it. Okay, we're gonna believe you the second time. Yeah. Not the first time you
told us. But the second time. Jack's change of heart and the amount of evidence piling up against
him throughout the months leading up to his trial led to a downward spiral. On February 10th, 1956,
Jack was found by guards on the floor of his cell with his socks twisted around his neck
and was taken to the state hospital in Pueblo. Oh, wow. It's not clear if he was really suicidal or
if this was another attempt to make himself seem insane because he was really trying for the insane
defense. Yeah. But he was transferred back to a psychiatric unit at Colorado General Hospital
with 24 hours surveillance after this. So he lived while there. Jack was evaluated by psychiatrist
and during a series of interviews to determine his mental state, doctors concluded that Jack was
putting on an act claiming his quote, patchy amnesia intermittent disorientation and absurd as well as
correct answers to arrhythmic problems were all an attempt to make him seem crazy. So again,
he's playing it up. In conclusion to these interviews, psychiatrists determined that he was
indeed fit to stand trial. Jack would drop his insanity plea on February 24th, 1956,
and his trial would begin on April 16th, 1956. This trial would actually become the first ever
criminal trial to be televised in America. Whoa. That's interesting. So the judge actually had
a remote in which they could use to turn the cameras on and off as necessary in case obviously
content warning and stuff. And only one person opted out of being recorded on camera. Jack.
What? So they asked, of course, everyone, are you comfortable being filmed? And he was like,
no, not coming. Not me. Not me. No, I don't want to be on camera. Thank you. Stupid.
The trial also set an all time record for the number of jurors examined for a Colorado
trial with 231 examined for bias. Wow. Over a 15 day trial, witnesses testified to Jack's purchase
of dynamite and other bomb making materials and testified as character witnesses for the prosecution.
Jack refused to testify on his own behalf. Usually they're like jumping at the chance.
Yeah, they love it. They love it. Or sometimes they're their own defense attorneys. True.
At one point during the trial, the judge and jury were even brought to the massive hangar
that the airplane had been reconstructed at to show them that the explosion could not have
been accidental. That's interesting. On May 5th, after hearing 80 witnesses and examining 174
pieces of evidence, the jury was left to render their verdict. In just over an hour, 69 minutes
to be exact, the jury would find Jack Gilbert Graham guilty with a recommendation of the death
penalty. Whoa. Though his attorneys advised against it, Jack waived his right to all of his appeals.
And on May 15th, 1956, he was sent to Colorado's Death Row in Canyon City.
He didn't want an appeal. He was like, no, I'm fine. Jack adapted to life on Death Row
relatively well and was actually pleased to have a larger cell than he had in Denver. He's like,
this is cozy. This is really nice. So nice. Other place sucked. Remember when we lived there?
That place sucked. While in prison, he never expressed any sort of remorse for his crimes,
and he kept to himself for the most part. On October 7th, 1858, 1956,
Whoa. I was like, are we going to Great Grandpa now? October 7th, 1956, a fellow inmate tried to push
us. A fellow inmate.
I was just going to keep going with that. It's not even from a child. I'm a child.
I was going to keep going, but I said, push.
This is actually kind of fucked up. A fellow inmate tried to push religious
insight on Jack while talking to him, to which Jack responded, quote,
what do I need with that stuff where I'm going? It won't do me any good in hell. Whoa. Yikes.
It's not my fault that she died on the plane. It's not my fault the timer only went up to 90 minutes.
Jack did not make any decisions about his final meal, although the prison did provide him with steak,
fried potatoes, tossed salad, fruit, and ice cream. Jack rebelled by only consuming the
ice cream and leaving the rest of the food. What a child. He's like, I just want ice cream.
That's awful. That is bad. Sorry. In one of his last interviews, Jack jokingly invited a Denver
Post reporter who had covered his trial to sit on his lap during his execution as one of his last
requests. Come take a sit on Papa's lap. Come sit on my lap for my execution. He chose the gas chamber,
by the way. Oh, you can still choose. Yeah, you get to choose. I don't know you could choose.
Yeah. Today they still make you, they still let you choose today. Really? Mm-hmm.
On January 11th, 1957, Jack was led to the Colorado State Penitentiary's gas chamber,
where guards removed all of his clothing, leaving only his underwear. Prison officials then strapped
him to a chair and covered his eyes with a mask. Warden Harry Tensley was noted as saying, quote,
God bless to Jack, who replied, quote, thank you. Jack Gilbert Graham breathed in poison gas for 11
minutes. 11 minutes? Until he died. Ironic, because that's how long the flight was in the air before
the bomb exploded. What? I'm gonna throw this fucking table. What? Wow. I didn't even get the
heaps. I got like a wave of like hot. Yeah. Isn't that wild? Ironically, as well, Jack was able to
turn his own death into insurance money for his wife and children. Cute. So he took out an insurance
policy on himself for his wife and children. When he passed, he actually left them, their,
them his estate as well and inherited all that money. All daisies stuff, though. Yeah, exactly.
And he was never diagnosed with any mental illness. Wow. That's the wild story. Clearly,
personality disorder. Oh, yeah. I what do you think? Anti social. Anti social. Yeah. I mean,
with the amount of but then again, wife and two kids, although he did, he was noted as potentially,
physically or verbally abusing his wife, being able to maintain a relationship at all is not
a something really different for anti social personality disorder. It also reminded me a lot
of H H to the fact that he would just go around scamming people seemingly like I mean, using
people's loved ones to gain money from you know, hospitals or whatever. And I mean, he probably
killed multiple people and then sold their bodies to hospitals and yeah, just not having any kind
of empathy or sympathy for anyone and just scamming people. That's definitely a symptom of
anti social personality is like the lack the complete lack of empathy and like the lack of
care like that's why he like he didn't even use his appeals. Yeah, he didn't care to even try.
He's like, isn't trying to find God. He's like, what is that fucking gonna do me any good?
Did I'm going you know, matter that he was also going to kill 40 plus people. Oh, yeah, he said
it could have been 1000 people. I still would have done it like that kind of mindset. Wow.
Yeah, definitely one that I saw though. And I was like, I have to do this case like very interesting
wild and I had never heard anything like that. You know, like I haven't there there's been
there was like one well known case of it happening before him which they kind of think he might have
gotten inspiration from and then there was like four after him but like other than that there's
only really been like a couple and especially now like this virtually impossible to do that now
right with how much security there is but yeah, that's incredible. And I don't want to victim
blame at all. I don't think that I mean of course Daisy didn't deserve to die. Nobody on that plane
deserve to die. I don't agree with her leaving him in the orphanage when she came into money though
because if her claims were true that she really couldn't afford to feed him. That makes a little
bit more sense but then when she finds the wealth and has the money like not taking him out. Yeah.
It kind of seemed to me like she didn't really want to be a mom. Yeah, that sounds bad but and
you know it could have been I guess it could have been worse but he definitely not an excuse at all
to do what he did even the even the restaurant thing is an excusable you know and little thing.
He was born in the 30s right and I think that it was very common for people to give up their
children because of the Great Depression and things like that. So it might just been a cultural
like a just a difference of the time. Yeah, definitely. And the the fact that he was raised
in such poverty and in the depression it kind of it makes me think that's probably why he was so
infatuated with money. Yeah. Because he never had it growing up you know and he just didn't want he
didn't handle authority well because usually because he never had it really. But I was gonna say
in some cases like this though like a lot of these people joined the military and they thrive on
the structure you know like the routine but he didn't it was like the opposite because I'm not
gonna be told what to fucking do like his dad died before he even remembered who he was you know he
didn't have that any kind of good parental figure in his life. I don't want to say Daisy wasn't a
good mom because she was I think she did what she had to do under the circumstances. Yeah and you
had even mentioned when he did finally go to prison that he kind of just fell into a routine and
then just you know he never had structure like you said. Yeah and I don't think that the prison I
don't think that the structure or routine of prison I don't think he thrived on that I just think he
just gave up like he didn't fucking give a shit anymore he's like okay like I'm here for the rest
of my life like I'm not gonna worry like the same thing with the religious thing I'm not gonna
worry about getting a little bit I'm not gonna worry about having a last meal what does it
fucking matter like he doesn't even matter you know and I think that's how he kind of felt in
his life too like I'll go AWOL in the military what does it fucking matter I'll kill a thousand
people what does it matter like I don't fucking care like I think honestly like it might have been
like a I want to die anyway kind of feeling you know and it's really unfortunate well I know I feel
like so bad for him like as a kid but again can't excuse the behavior that the adult made right you
know well thank you guys for sticking with us yeah a great case it's definitely a a trip yeah thanks
we will be back on Monday I'm going out of town but that's why we're recording these early so that
I can see us I will actually be out of town when you guys hear this so and we'll be back on Monday
with another mental breaky we always try to allow this to be accessible for most people and I think
that's what a lot of people enjoy about our podcast is that we're not very graphic however
all you savages out there everybody wants the uh everybody wants the nitty gritty details so I
think we're gonna do some cases that we have kind of taken off of our list for the time being just
because of the content itself and some of them don't fit the bill yeah like the toy box killer
you know I forgot to mention to Frankie that I personally wasn't going to cover that on the
regular streaming podcast because he was never convicted of any murders however I'm happy to
cover it for a patreon bonus yeah that'd be interesting yeah so I think we could and that'll
be kind of a way for us to get like outside of our theme a little bit right and and have an extra
episode all right sounds good well we will talk to y'all later get your tickets let us know if
you're gonna see us in august super excited about that sure and we will see you guys on Monday yeah
love you bye
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