The House of Kennedy(116)



31 “He’s dead, isn’t he?”: Alison Muscatine and Mary Thornton, “David Kennedy’s Body Is Flown to Virginia,” Washington Post, April 27, 1984.

32 “my chance to be a better mother died with him”: Taraborrelli, The Kennedy Heirs, 213.





Chapter 45




1 Mercer, who is paid forty thousand dollars: Sean Elder, “Tabloid Nation,” Salon.com, December 8, 1999.

2 Cassone charges multiple TV talk shows: Lisa Ocker, “Photographers, Witnesses Reap Windfall from Smith Rape Case,” Sun-Sentinel, November 3, 1991.

3 “An outrageous lie”: “Kennedy Nephew Surrenders to Police, Posts Bond,” United Press International, May 11, 1991.

4 “most-watched legal proceeding in American history”: David A. Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial,” Newsweek, December 8, 1991.

5 “Courtroom Television Network”: Dan Sewell, “Urgent: Judge Grants Delay in Trial of William Kennedy Smith,” Associated Press, July 31, 1991.

6 “This trial was perfect for TV”: Johnny Diaz, “William Kennedy Smith Rape Trial Returns to TV in New Fox News Channel Documentary,” South Florida Sun-Sentinel, March 8, 2019.

7 “Spectators’ Guide”: Lisa Ocker, “Kennedy Smith Trial: Two Lives Collide,” Sun-Sentinel, December 1, 1991.

8 Local businesses: Ocker, “Photographers, Witnesses Reap Windfall.”

9 “Trial Flavors”: Janet Cawley, “Smith Trial Not a ‘10’ in Palm Beach,” Chicago Tribune, December 13, 2019.

10 “more like a football game than a news event”: Diaz, “William Kennedy Smith Rape Trial Returns to TV.”

11 “quite charming”: John Taylor, “Men on Trial,” New York Magazine, December 16, 1991.

12 “tried to convince [her] that that wasn’t what had happened”: Taylor, “Men on Trial.”

13 “Willie has a really big problem”: Taylor.

14 “threw me over the couch”: Taylor.

15 “just getting more and more aggressive”: Janet Crowley, “Women Tell Similar Tales of Attacks,” Chicago Tribune, July 24, 1991.

16 “That’s when I kind of lost it”: Taylor, “Men on Trial.”

17 “consensual act of sexual intercourse”: Taylor.

18 “a disastrous witness”: Dominick Dunne, “The Verdict,” Vanity Fair, March 1992.

19 “I have to thank Steve Dunleavy”: Elder, “Tabloid Nation.”





Chapter 46




1 Judge Lupo’s exclusion: David A. Kaplan, “The Trial You Won’t See,” Newsweek, December 15, 1991.

2 “how this nice guy had turned”: Paul Richter, “Smith’s Accuser Testifies to Rape at Kennedy Home: Trial: Sometimes Tearful, She Tells Her Assertion of a ‘Disgusting’ Crime but Says She Cannot Recall Some Events,” Los Angeles Times, December 5, 1991.

3 “regular guy who happens to come from this amazing family”: Mary Jordan, “Willy Smith, the “Independent’ Kennedy, Anonymous No More,” Washington Post, May 10, 1991.

4 “doesn’t have any violence in him”: Jordan, “Willy Smith, The ‘Independent’ Kennedy.”

5 “gentle person”: Jordan.

6 Including Meg Ryan: Jordan.

7 “done something about Willie years ago”: James Ridgeway de Szigethy, affidavit via Hon. James A. Traficant, Jr., February 9, 1994, Congressional Record volume 140, number 12.

8 “stick by Willie through thick and thin”: Dominick Dunne, “The Verdict,” Vanity Fair, March 1992.

9 “You just don’t understand the pressure I’m under”: de Szigethy, affidavit via Hon. James A. Traficant.

10 “dating and drinking ban”: David A. Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial,” Newsweek, December 8, 1991.

11 “strategy session every night at dinner”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

12 “my family is on trial for me”: Kaplan, “Case No. 91-5482 Comes to Trial.”

13 “And he drinks”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

14 “I wish I’d gone for a long walk on the beach”: Robin Toner, “In Glare of Latest Scandal, Kennedy Defends the Dynasty,” New York Times, December 7, 1991.

15 “I was very moved by a lot of things”: Dunne, “The Verdict.”

16 Willie’s testimony: David Margolick, “Smith Tells Rapt Courtroom His Side of Story,” New York Times, December 11, 1991.

17 “she got very, very upset”: Margolick, “Smith Tells Rapt Courtroom His Side of Story.”

18 “I’ve searched myself every night”: Margolick.

19 “The issue here is I’m innocent”: Margolick.

20 Seventy-seven minutes: David Margolick, “Smith Acquitted of Rape Charge After Brief Deliberation by Jury,” New York Times, December 12, 1991.

21 “helping me off the floor”: “Willie Smith’s Accuser Fainted Upon Hearing Verdict,” United Press International, December 19, 1991.

22 “Willie! Willie! Willie!”: Mary Jordan, “Jury Finds Smith Not Guilty of Rape,” Washington Post, December 12, 1991.

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