Vanessa Richardson (23:08)
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After the 1972 disappearance of Hale Boggs and Nick Begich, the National Transportation Safety Board conducted an inquest to determine what happened to the plane. The results were inconclusive. Without any evidence, it was impossible to say whether there was a mechanical issue, a pilot error, or something else. But that didn't stop some NTSB investigators from casting blame on on pilot Don Johns. According to them, he was a reckless man who took unnecessary risks. This seemed partially true. After all, Johns enjoyed the thrills of flying, but people who knew him personally insisted that he always flew carefully when passengers were on board. Ultimately, the NTSB didn't think Johns or the engineers who serviced the plane before the flight were at fault. John they determined that icy conditions had caused the plane to crash. They believed that frost had gotten into the engine or caused some sort of mechanical failure. And the NTSB promised that if the plane was found, they would continue the investigation and figure out what happened once and for all. In the meantime, there were plenty of theories about what could have taken place. Boggs, in particular, was the focus of a lot of speculation. He was a historic figure who had served in Congress from the 1940s through the Civil rights era and Vietnam. But his most notable act wasn't a piece of legislation. It was his investigation into the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Almost 20 years before he went missing. Hale Boggs served on the Warren Commission alongside future President Gerald Ford and then CIA Director Alan Dulles. They were trying to answer the now legendary question, did Lee Harvey Oswald act alone? At 49 years old, Boggs had been the youngest of the seven man committee, and he took his role on the Warren Commission very seriously. According to personal letters, he planned to keep a diary throughout the process, this diary was never found. And in 2020, his surviving family members said they didn't know anything about about it. So either Boggs changed his mind or he kept a diary that was then either confiscated or destroyed. But that's not the only detail conspiracy theorists can't get past. Boggs was also one of the only members of the Warren Commission who publicly said he wasn't fully satisfied with their conclusions. He never said he thought Oswald didn't act alone or that there was more to the story to but that one admission was enough to make people wonder. According to this logic, Boggs knew something about the JFK assassination that made his higher ups nervous. Maybe they worried he'd tell the public everything he suspected as soon as he became speaker of the House. If that was the case, his Alaskan flight with Nick Begich wasn't the first attempt on his life either. On July 23, 1970, an unknown car ran him off the road in Washington, D.C. after recovering, Boggs chased the vehicle and got the plate number. Though he submitted a report to the police, the culprit was never found. But when it comes to the fatal flight, some people think they know who might have been responsible. Remember, Boggs had made an enemy of J. Edgar Hoover not long before his disappearance. Hoover was known to be a vindictive man in the it's possible he wasn't above targeting a sitting Congressman. Of course, this theory had a major problem. By the time Hale Boggs disappeared, J. Edgar Hoover had been dead for five months. If he had planned on taking the Congressman out, it would have been from beyond the grave. In the end, that was just another theory without any legs. We may never know if Boggs was targeted because of his public statements. But he wasn't the only one on board that day whose life was the subject of speculation. Decades after Boggs and Begich went missing in the late 2000 and tens, a journalist named John Walzack revisited the case, which culminated in his 2020 podcast, Missing in Alaska. During his research, Walzack spoke to many people who knew the two congressmen, and in the process, he uncovered a fascinating detail. Sixteen and a half months after the disappearance of Nick Begich, he his widow Peggy, remarried. She'd come into a lot of money after her husband's disappearance. His life insurance policy had a double indemnity clause in case of accidental death, which meant she pocketed around $158,000. This would be more than a million dollars today. The man she married was named Jerry Paisley, a bar owner she met in Fairbanks. It turned out Paisley. Paisley was a mob enforcer from Tucson, Arizona, who'd moved to Alaska because of the booming oil industry. He had experience terrorizing people on behalf of the Mafia and making and delivering bombs. There's no evidence that he did any mafia activity while in Alaska. However, he was implicated in a mafia protection racket and a series of bombings while in Tucson. One of the victims was a journalist who died in the early 1970s. Peggy and Paisley's marriage didn't last long. They divorced in 1976 after about three years. At that point, Paisley moved back to Arizona and spent the next decade serving minor prison sentences. He was locked up for good in 1993 for charges, including murder. And that was when things got interesting. The next year, in 1994, he. He reached out to the FBI, hoping to make a deal. In his interview with investigators, he alleged that Peggy Begich had met with a former mob boss In September of 1972, a month before the plane crash. According to Paisley, the boss had given him an assignment. Paisley was told to take a locked briefcase to Alaska. One of the mob boss's lieutenants told him there was an explosive device inside. Paisley alleged that Peggy wanted to cash in on her life insurance policy by exploding her husband's plane. He said only seven people knew about this. Peggy, the mob boss, Paisley, and three other associates. According to John Walzack, the three investigators who interviewed Paisley found him to be a credible witness. His story was consistent, and he told them facts about other unsolved cases they that they could verify. But of the seven people Paisley named, only three were still alive, and none would talk to Walzack. As interesting as this theory is, it has a few crucial holes. First, there's no evidence that Peggy Begich knew any mobsters. And second, she wouldn't have known which aircraft her husband was going to use. The Cessna was chartered at the last minute. The most likely explanation is that Paisley was just looking for a lighter sentence. Without any outside sources to verify his claims, we have to assume they don't hold up. At the end of the day, we're left without a shred of physical evidence to point us in the right direction. But we can look at the facts. Airplane accidents are common, and plane crashes happen more frequently in Alaska than almost any other state because of its sheer size. What happened to the two congressmen in 1972 was shocking and unpredictable. But it wasn't unheard of because of how many planes crash or go missing between Juneau, Anchorage and the northern town of Uqiagvik. The region even has a nickname, the Alaska Triangle. Like the Bermuda Triangle, it has an ominous reputation. The Alaska Triangle has been the site of more than 16,000 disappearances since 1988, at a rate of four people per year. Because of its proximity to the Arctic Circle, the Alaska Triangle is known to have magnetic anomalies that can disrupt navigation equipment. That might be why so many planes get lost there, but it probably doesn't explain why Don Johns lost control of the aircraft. According to his last known communication, he was flying vfr. So even if something went wrong with his compass or other equipment, he'd still be flying by eye. Which brings me to my final question. What do you all think happened to Hale Boggs and Nick Begich? Were they the victims of a tragic accident? Did their plane go haywire because of the Alaska Triangle? Or did something more sinister take place that day? Let us know your thoughts in the comments. The story of Hale Boggs and Nick Begich is a fascinating and tragic one. It's hard to accept that we may never get closure. But instead of focusing on what we can't change, we can reflect on everything we do know. Both congressmen died doing what they serving their constituents. Nick Begich was was at the beginning of his career. In many ways, he helped transform Alaska, boosting the state's economy while prioritizing Native residents. Who knows what else he could have achieved? Meanwhile, Hale Boggs took time away from his own campaign to help a younger congressman in his own storied career. He was a mentor to many and an inspiration to countless Americans. He was one of the few public politicians who was brave enough to go against the grain. He wasn't afraid to stand up to the FBI and the President. He cared more about transparency than preserving his own reputation. And that's something we can all admire. Thanks so much much for listening. I'm Vanessa Richardson and this is Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes. Come back next time. We'll decode the episode together and hear another story about the real people at the center of the world's most notorious cults, conspiracies and criminal acts. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is a Crime House original powered by Pave Studios Here at Crime House, we want to thank each and every one of you for your support. If you like what you heard today, reach out on social media, rimehouse on TikTok and Instagram. Don't forget to rate, review and follow Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes wherever you get your podcasts, your feedback truly makes a difference. And to enhance your Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes listening experience. Subscribe to Crime House plus on Apple Podcasts. You'll get every episode ad free. We'll be back on Wednesday. Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes is hosted by me, Vanessa Richardson and is a Crime House original. Powered by Pave Studios, this episode was brought to life by the Conspiracy Theories, Cults and Crimes team. Max Cutler, Ron Shapiro, Alex Benedon, Natalie Pertzovsky, Lori Marinelli, Sarah Camp, Robert Teamstra, Sheila Patterson and Michael Langley. Thank you for listening.