In 1969, Ted Kennedy was a young, hotshot Senator with presidential ambitions of his own. After partying through the night with several female staffers, Kennedy gave a young, impressionable staffer, Mary Jo Kopechne a lift. Driving drunk, he veered off a bridge.
Kennedy saved himself and promptly left the scene. He did not report the accident for 10 hours – only after meeting with campaign strategists, state and local politicians, and his ailing father to establish an alibi and save his political career.
Investigators believe Kopechne, then 28-years-old, slowly suffocated to death during this time. Trapped in an air pocket, inside the darken, submerged car.