Soledad O'Brien

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

John F. Kennedy. Listen to Murder on the Towpath with Soledad O'Brien on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

You're familiar with Georgetown, right? That posh neighborhood in Washington, D.C. with stately homes and cobblestone streets. Well, just steps away from all of that, there's a dirt road, a towpath, where you might find locals jogging. Over 50 years ago, it was the place where two women's stories collided. It started with a murder. October 12, 1964.

You're familiar with Georgetown, right? That posh neighborhood in Washington, D.C. with stately homes and cobblestone streets. Well, just steps away from all of that, there's a dirt road, a towpath, where you might find locals jogging. Over 50 years ago, it was the place where two women's stories collided. It started with a murder. October 12, 1964.

Mary Pinchot Meyer was found dead on that very same towpath. She was an artist, a woman on the verge of coming into her own.

Mary Pinchot Meyer was found dead on that very same towpath. She was an artist, a woman on the verge of coming into her own.

And then her life was cut short. But what happened next? That's why we're here. Just 45 minutes after Mary's death, her killer had been arrested. Or so the police claimed.

And then her life was cut short. But what happened next? That's why we're here. Just 45 minutes after Mary's death, her killer had been arrested. Or so the police claimed.

If a black man is in the vicinity of a crime against a white woman, he is considered guilty before, you know, even formally charged.

If a black man is in the vicinity of a crime against a white woman, he is considered guilty before, you know, even formally charged.

Only one woman, Dovey Johnson Roundtree, would defend him. I could make things right, I thought. and some things I had made right. Dovey was a lawyer during Jim Crow. She wasn't allowed to drink from the same water fountains as white people. Yet in court, she was the only thing standing between a man and his execution. This is Murder on the Towpath, and I'm your host, Soledad O'Brien.

Only one woman, Dovey Johnson Roundtree, would defend him. I could make things right, I thought. and some things I had made right. Dovey was a lawyer during Jim Crow. She wasn't allowed to drink from the same water fountains as white people. Yet in court, she was the only thing standing between a man and his execution. This is Murder on the Towpath, and I'm your host, Soledad O'Brien.

We're going to take you back to the 1960s, a time of political and cultural upheaval, when society felt constantly on the brink of war.

We're going to take you back to the 1960s, a time of political and cultural upheaval, when society felt constantly on the brink of war.

This is a story of two women who wanted to reach their fullest potential, even if society had very different plans for them. There's a strenuous thing with law school. You ain't married to nobody but the law. We're going to take you back to that courtroom where people found themselves asking, did this man really kill Mary Pinch O'Meara?

This is a story of two women who wanted to reach their fullest potential, even if society had very different plans for them. There's a strenuous thing with law school. You ain't married to nobody but the law. We're going to take you back to that courtroom where people found themselves asking, did this man really kill Mary Pinch O'Meara?

But what most people didn't know, and what could have altered the course of this case, was that Mary had had an affair with a very powerful man. I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression. That man was John F. Kennedy.

But what most people didn't know, and what could have altered the course of this case, was that Mary had had an affair with a very powerful man. I pledge you that we shall neither commit nor provoke aggression. That man was John F. Kennedy.

I'm Soledad O'Brien, and on my new true crime podcast, Murder on the Towpath, I'm taking you back to 1964, to the cold case of artist Mary Pinch O'Meara.