January 27, 1979: At 1 am, a spokesman for the family of Nelson Rockefeller released an official statement to the press. The former Vice President died earlier that evening.
According to the statement, he had been at his office in Manhattan working on a proposed book project about his extensive art collection when he suffered a heart attack at 10:15 pm. Mr. Rockefeller’s personal chauffeur discovered him in distress and called the police. Mr. Rockefeller was then taken to Lenox Hill Hospital and arrived at 11:15 pm. He was pronounced dead an hour later.
The news media had questions. They wondered why an hour had passed between Mr. Rockefeller’s heart attack and his hospital admittance. Something didn’t seem right.
Then the official police report was released. It gave a different story, and the press picked up on it.
With most other businessmen, the news media probably would have accepted the family’s statement with little doubt. But Nelson Rockefeller was no ordinary individual. He was the grandson of one of the world’s richest oilmen, had been the former governor of New York State for nearly 15 years, and served two years as Vice President under Gerald Ford after Nixon’s resignation. His name was synonymous with wealth and privilege.
Rockefeller and his wife, who went by the nickname Happy, were known to be a respected power couple. (She was 18 years his junior.)
According to the NYPD’s official statement, Rockefeller’s heart attack occurred sometime shortly before 11 pm on January 26. He was not at his office in the Rockefeller Center, however. The police said he was at a private townhouse on 54th Street in midtown Manhattan. There was no mention of a chauffeur.
Instead, the police report stated that Mr. Rockefeller was with a young blonde assistant - a woman age 22 to his age of 70. The medical examiner suggested that Rockefeller might have died during sex.
When he suffered the heart attack, the assistant attempted CPR and then phoned a friend for help - a journalist named Ponchitta Pierce. It was Pierce who actually contacted the police.
Officers arrived at the townhouse and discovered Rockefeller still alive but unconscious. An ambulance then transported him to Lenox Hill and he died at 12:20 am.
The next morning, the Rockefeller family spokesman issued an updated statement. It correctly said that the former Vice President was not at his office but at the townhouse. Nothing was said about the female assistant, however.
When the news media persisted, the spokesman presented another update. Yes, Mr. Rockefeller’s assistant had been at the site and she had called 911, but the distressed woman had departed New York City and couldn’t be reached for comment.
The press already knew, however, that Ponchitta Pierce had contacted 911, not the assistant. Who was the young blonde?
Her name was Megan Marshack.
A California native, she had once been an Associated Press reporter before being hired as a staffer for Vice President Rockefeller. It was unclear whether she was still in his employ at the time of his death, but people who knew her well told the press that all signs pointed to them having an affair. Rockefeller supposedly paid her rent and kept some of his valuable art at her place.
The tabloids ran headlines about her. Johnny Carson made jokes about her. So did Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
Eventually, the sensationalism faded away. Nelson Rockefeller received a memorial service in Manhattan, was buried in Upstate New York, and everyone moved on.
It was later revealed that Megan Marshack was named in Rockefeller’s will.
She returned to her roots as a writer for a local TV news affiliate and faded into obscurity. She’s still alive as of this writing, now roughly the same age as Rockefeller when he died.
Despite her career in the news business, Ms. Marshack has never spoken to the press.
コメント