On this day, Nov. 1, in 1955, John “Jack” Graham planted a dynamite bomb in his mother’s suitcase that exploded minutes after takeoff from Denver, killing all 44 people aboard.
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Investigators connected Graham to the bombing after finding a article in his mother’s carry-on about Graham’s involvement in forgery and theft.
Graham told detectives that his mother had packed shotgun ammunition in her suitcase. A search of Graham’s home recovered shotgun ammunition, bomb making materials, and insurance policy for his mother.
At the time, there was no federal law that made it a crime to blow up an airplane, so prosecutors charged him with one count first-degree murder of his mother.
Colorado became the first state to sanction TV cameras in a criminal case.
Graham was convicted sent to the gas chamber in 1957.
— Scott McCabe
