Dorothy Kilgallen: Suicide or homicide?

Like every other American in this country, I have seen video footage of President Kennedy’s assassination in Dallas, Texas on November 22, 1963. The president had been in Dallas campaigning for the next election. Unfortunately, Kennedy did not live long enough to complete his first term as president. Kennedy's death has been the subject of many movies and books over the years. The theory is that Lee Harvey Oswald killed Kennedy. It is assumed that Kennedy was killed by Oswald, but there are many people who believe the killing was part of something much bigger.

One of these people was Dorothy Kilgallen, a well-known reporter. She had done a thorough investigation into Kennedy’s homicide. The information she collected was to be presented as part of a groundbreaking story. Kilgallen, however, died under mysterious circumstances. Dorothy was found dead in her apartment on November 7, 1965. An autopsy concluded that she had overdosed on drugs.

But did she really overdose on drugs? In addition, where were all the notes and documentation she had for her Kennedy story? Mysteriously, the documents had disappeared. Today, it’s believed that someone killed Dorothy Kilgallen to prevent her from releasing her story about Kennedy’s death.

So who was Dorothy Kilgallen?

Her father was a successful reporter named James Lawrence Kilgallen. Back in her day, becoming a reporter wasn’t a common career choice for women. However, Dorothy was different. Born in Chicago in 1913, she traveled extensively as a child. She lived in Chicago, Indiana, Wyoming, and eventually settled in New York. After two semesters at the College of New Rochelle, she dropped out and began working for the New York Evening Journal. In the world of journalism, Dorothy was a natural. As a gossip columnist, she gained a great deal of fame and respect. And for over 15 years, she also appeared on a television program called What's My Line? She had also formed a friendship with Frank Sinatra, the famous crooner. However, their relationship soured after she published a story about Sinatra's involvement in organized crime. In 1954, she covered the murder trial of Dr. Sam Sheppard.

One of history's most horrific crimes, the case kept Americans glued to their TVs, waiting for updates. This case was the O.J. Simpson case of the 1950s. On August 3, 1963, Kilgallen broke the story about the affair between President Kennedy and Marilyn Monroe. She would be found dead from an overdose within two days of the story’s release.

After Kennedy's assassination, she began investigating the case immediately. In addition, she interviewed Jack Ruby, who shot and killed Kennedy's killer - Lee Harvey Oswald.

She planned to release her findings about the Kennedy case. On November 8, 1965, she was found dead at her home in New York City. According to her autopsy, she overdosed on alcohol and barbiturates. The coroner’s office couldn’t determine if it was suicide or an accident. And what happened to all of her notes and documentation involving her Kennedy assassination story? Today, no one has ever recovered her work and no one truly knows what happened to Dorothy Kilgallen. Did someone murder her to keep her story from ever seeing the light of day? Unfortunately, the answers died with Dorothy.

Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com or through Facebook: www.Facebook.com/themarcabe or his Twitter account @themarcabe. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.