Unconscious Lady
07-Feb-07, 06:16
Astronaut -- armed, disguised and diaper-clad -- charged with attempted murder
February 6, 2007
BY MIKE SCHNEIDER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak is being charged with attempted murder today, hours after a judge set bail that would have let her leave jail on assault and kidnapping charges.
Nowak is accused of attacking and trying to kidnap a Patrick Air Force Base captain in a dark parking lot at Orlando International Airport early Monday morning. Nowak told police she wanted to talk to the woman about their involvement with the same male astronaut.
The Orange County, Fla., judge set bond at $15,500 Tuesday morning, but Orlando police prevented her release from jail by adding a charge of attempted murder, the police department said in a press release.
Jail spokesman Allen Moore said Nowak would not be released Tuesday and that additional charges may be filed.
Nowak, 43, a mission specialist on NASA’s second post-Columbia test flight in July, was also charged with attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery for allegedly spraying Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman with a chemical, Orlando police said.
According to police documents, Nowak attacked Shipman, of Cape Canaveral, in the parking lot at the Orlando airport.
Nowak told police she just wanted to talk to the woman, who works at Patrick Air Force Base, about her involvement with another astronaut, Bill Oefelein. Nowak said both women had relationships with shuttle pilot Oefelein.
Nowak apparently drove from Houston to Orlando to confront Shipman. Nowak told police that she wanted to talk with Shipman about astronaut Bill Oefelein, with whom both had relationships. Oefelein piloted his first shuttle mission in December.
Police gave this account: When Shipman arrived at the airport on a flight from
Houston about 1 a.m., Nowak followed Shipman to her car in the airport’s Blue Lot, police said.
In the lot, Nowak, wearing a trenchcoat and wig, rushed Shipman’s car and began
pounding on the window. When Shipman, an engineer in the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick since May 2005, wouldn’t open the car, Nowak burst into tears.
Shipman rolled the window down about two inches, and Nowak “sprayed some
type of chemical spray†into the vehicle, reports said. Shipman drove away and called police.
As Orlando police arrived, they saw Nowak place a black bag into a garbage can.
Inside the bag they found a wig, trench coat, a BB pistol, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, three to four feet of rubber tubing, several plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash. Also in the bag was a handwritten list of those items.
Police later searched Nowak’s car, parked at the La Quinta Inn about two miles from the airport, and found six latex gloves, directions from Houston to the Orlando airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, a love letter from Nowak to Oefelein and handwritten directions to Shipman’s house.
Diapers also were found in the car, which Nowak told police she wore so she didn’t have to stop to urinate during the 950-mile drive.
Nowak told police she was “involved in a relationship†with Oefelein. She categorized it as “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship,†according to the police report.
Nowak intended to discuss Oefelein with Shipman and that the BB gun was going to be used to “entice†Shipman to speak with her, police said.
Nowak was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted burglary to a vehicle with battery and destruction of evidence. Police considered Nowak a dangerous threat and asked that no bail be allowed, according to the report.
Nowak is still employed as an astronaut, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.
“Anything beyond that is just speculation,†he said.
Beutel said a “high-ranking†military officer flew from Houston to Orlando on Monday to discuss the situation with NASA officials. Beutel would not comment on a relationship between Nowak and Oefelein.
A married mother of three, Nowak flew her first mission into space in July, serving as a mission specialist. She is considered an expert shuttle robot arm operator and logged 13 days in space during a mission that launched on the nation’s Independence Day holiday.
Nowak, a U.S. Navy captain, was selected to NASA’s astronaut corps in 1996 after serving as a military test pilot. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Nowak has logged more than 1,500 hours in 30 aircraft.
Oefelein, 41 and the father of two, piloted Discovery on a 13-day International Space
Station assembly flight in December. From window perches inside the shuttle and the station, he orchestrated four spacewalks during one of the most complex outpost construction missions to date. Nicknamed “Billy O,†Oefelein, a U.S. Navy commander, came to NASA in 1998.
Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the wife of NASA astronaut Steve Hawley, said she can’t recall another incident in which a U.S. space flier was arrested on felony charges.
“It’s too early to speculate on what actions we’ll take, but now her status with us is unchanged,†she said.
“This is clearly going to be a very personal, tragic and unfortunate event, but we’ll do what we can to help with her physical and emotional well-being. But that’s about all we can do at this point.â€
.
February 6, 2007
BY MIKE SCHNEIDER
ASSOCIATED PRESS
NASA astronaut Lisa Marie Nowak is being charged with attempted murder today, hours after a judge set bail that would have let her leave jail on assault and kidnapping charges.
Nowak is accused of attacking and trying to kidnap a Patrick Air Force Base captain in a dark parking lot at Orlando International Airport early Monday morning. Nowak told police she wanted to talk to the woman about their involvement with the same male astronaut.
The Orange County, Fla., judge set bond at $15,500 Tuesday morning, but Orlando police prevented her release from jail by adding a charge of attempted murder, the police department said in a press release.
Jail spokesman Allen Moore said Nowak would not be released Tuesday and that additional charges may be filed.
Nowak, 43, a mission specialist on NASA’s second post-Columbia test flight in July, was also charged with attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery for allegedly spraying Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman with a chemical, Orlando police said.
According to police documents, Nowak attacked Shipman, of Cape Canaveral, in the parking lot at the Orlando airport.
Nowak told police she just wanted to talk to the woman, who works at Patrick Air Force Base, about her involvement with another astronaut, Bill Oefelein. Nowak said both women had relationships with shuttle pilot Oefelein.
Nowak apparently drove from Houston to Orlando to confront Shipman. Nowak told police that she wanted to talk with Shipman about astronaut Bill Oefelein, with whom both had relationships. Oefelein piloted his first shuttle mission in December.
Police gave this account: When Shipman arrived at the airport on a flight from
Houston about 1 a.m., Nowak followed Shipman to her car in the airport’s Blue Lot, police said.
In the lot, Nowak, wearing a trenchcoat and wig, rushed Shipman’s car and began
pounding on the window. When Shipman, an engineer in the 45th Launch Support Squadron at Patrick since May 2005, wouldn’t open the car, Nowak burst into tears.
Shipman rolled the window down about two inches, and Nowak “sprayed some
type of chemical spray†into the vehicle, reports said. Shipman drove away and called police.
As Orlando police arrived, they saw Nowak place a black bag into a garbage can.
Inside the bag they found a wig, trench coat, a BB pistol, a new steel mallet, a new folding knife with a 4-inch blade, three to four feet of rubber tubing, several plastic garbage bags and about $600 in cash. Also in the bag was a handwritten list of those items.
Police later searched Nowak’s car, parked at the La Quinta Inn about two miles from the airport, and found six latex gloves, directions from Houston to the Orlando airport, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, a love letter from Nowak to Oefelein and handwritten directions to Shipman’s house.
Diapers also were found in the car, which Nowak told police she wore so she didn’t have to stop to urinate during the 950-mile drive.
Nowak told police she was “involved in a relationship†with Oefelein. She categorized it as “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship,†according to the police report.
Nowak intended to discuss Oefelein with Shipman and that the BB gun was going to be used to “entice†Shipman to speak with her, police said.
Nowak was arrested on charges of attempted kidnapping, battery, attempted burglary to a vehicle with battery and destruction of evidence. Police considered Nowak a dangerous threat and asked that no bail be allowed, according to the report.
Nowak is still employed as an astronaut, said NASA spokesman Allard Beutel.
“Anything beyond that is just speculation,†he said.
Beutel said a “high-ranking†military officer flew from Houston to Orlando on Monday to discuss the situation with NASA officials. Beutel would not comment on a relationship between Nowak and Oefelein.
A married mother of three, Nowak flew her first mission into space in July, serving as a mission specialist. She is considered an expert shuttle robot arm operator and logged 13 days in space during a mission that launched on the nation’s Independence Day holiday.
Nowak, a U.S. Navy captain, was selected to NASA’s astronaut corps in 1996 after serving as a military test pilot. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy and U.S. Naval Postgraduate School, Nowak has logged more than 1,500 hours in 30 aircraft.
Oefelein, 41 and the father of two, piloted Discovery on a 13-day International Space
Station assembly flight in December. From window perches inside the shuttle and the station, he orchestrated four spacewalks during one of the most complex outpost construction missions to date. Nicknamed “Billy O,†Oefelein, a U.S. Navy commander, came to NASA in 1998.
Eileen Hawley, a spokeswoman for NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston and the wife of NASA astronaut Steve Hawley, said she can’t recall another incident in which a U.S. space flier was arrested on felony charges.
“It’s too early to speculate on what actions we’ll take, but now her status with us is unchanged,†she said.
“This is clearly going to be a very personal, tragic and unfortunate event, but we’ll do what we can to help with her physical and emotional well-being. But that’s about all we can do at this point.â€
.