← The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told
The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told
The Housewife Who Tried to Kill the President, Part 1
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- [00:02]
Mary Kay McBrayer
At Lowe's.
- [00:03]
Leah
Our members get more with the Myloes Rewards programs. You can shop member only deals for your home and business every week. Plus members earn points on eligible purchases. So what are you waiting for? Join for free today. Lowes we help you save loyalty programs subject to terms and conditions. Details@lowe's.com Terms subject to change Free standard shipping not available in Alaska and Hawaii. Exclusions and more terms apply with the best all inclusive vacation deals to Mexico and the Caribbean. Booking your getaway with Cheap Caribbean Vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling, endless margaritas and more, or simply soak up the sun and sand in a tropical paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that. Plan and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive Budget Beach Finder. Or find a featured all inclusive package to Oasis Hotels and Resorts and do your deal@cheapcaribbean.com when you haven't found it.
- [01:02]
Matt
Can feel like everyone else has. It's in every movie, every song and all the PDA Looking for love sucks. Thankfully, California Psychics can give you the guidance you need to find the one we guarantee if your reading isn't life changing, it's free and new customers receive 20 minutes for just $20. Visit californiapsychics.com and experience the joy of certainty. California Psychics hi, I'm Matt.
- [01:31]
Leah
And I'm Leah and we're from the Grown Up Stuff Podcast.
- [01:34]
Mary Kay McBrayer
And just in time for tax season. On this week's episode we're chatting with CPA Lisa Green Lewis about how small.
- [01:40]
Leah
Businesses can tackle their taxes using TurboTax Business. A Forbes study mentioned that a whopping 93% of small businesses overpay their taxes and 17% of Gen Zers believed that you could write off any expense as a business expense.
- [01:57]
Mary Kay McBrayer
So can't blame them.
- [01:58]
Leah
Is really important to do your taxes right.
- [02:03]
Mary Kay McBrayer
Listen to Grown up stuff on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your favorite podcasts.
- [02:16]
Leah
Diversion Audio.
- [02:21]
Mary Kay McBrayer
A Note this episode contains mature content and descriptions of violence that may be disturbing for some listeners. Please take care in listening. It's a chilly Monday morning in San Francisco in September of 1975. A 45 year old bookkeeper named Sarah Jane Moore wakes up early, drops off her nine year old son at school, runs a few errands and then drives downtown to the St. Francis Hotel. She parks her car in the garage across the street and walks over to join the crowd that's gathered on the sidewalk outside. It's a big scene. A few thousand people are there and there's a security rope barrier keeping everyone back on the sidewalk. Sarah Jane is wearing slacks and a jacket and she has the kind of floppy bouffant hairstyle that was popular in the mid-70s. Honestly, she's pretty indistinguishable from any other middle aged woman in the crowd, which is probably on purpose. The crowd is starting to get bigger now, and as more and more people shuffle in, Sarah Jane gets pushed almost to the ropes at the front. She starts to feel a little uncomfortable. She doesn't want to be this close, but she doesn't let it distract her. She has a job to do and she's going to do it. Sarah Jane holds her purse tight against her waist as the space between her and the people around her gets tighter. She takes a deep breath and settles in for what she knows could be a long wait. An hour goes by like this, and then two, and then three. And then finally out of the hotel comes none other than the current President of the United States, Gerald Ford. He has police and Secret Service around him and they're all walking out of the hotel to get to his car, which is parked along the sidewalk. He's not here to make a speech, he's just making a quick exit on his way to his next appointment. But before the President gets in the car, he pauses for a moment and waves at the crowd. Everyone starts applauding and cheering and it's now that Sarah Jane reaches her right hand into the purse she's carrying and pulls out a gun. It's a.38 caliber revolver. Sarah Jane cocks it and takes aim right at Gerald Ford's head. And then welcome to the greatest true crime stories ever told. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer. Today's episode we're calling the Housewife who Tried to Kill the President Part One. It's part one of a two part series about the unlikely woman who wanted to kill the President and the bizarre life she led, which the headlines never got quite right. In most of my stories on this podcast, I like to leave you in the dark a little bit. I'll start with a flashback or an anecdote about a supporting character, but I try to keep you guessing about the main event until the end. With this story, though, I started at the climax because to be honest, the crime that this week's subject was involved in, the thing that got her into the history books and for which she will forever be known, is just the tip of the iceberg. Her most known victim, President Gerald Ford, is someone so powerful that most of the time, Sarah Jane's story gets squeezed into a footnote on his Wikipedia page. But as you're about to learn, President Ford was only one in a trail of victims. Few people even realize Sarah Jane left others in her wake. The biggest question seems to be how did this educated, matronly, middle class woman get tangled up in a plot to kill the President? But appearances deceive, because the more you learn about Sarah Jane, the less surprising this incident gets. In this two part series, we're going to take a look at the real Sarah Jane. The Sarah Jane that went home each night and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror before crawling into bed. The Sarah Jane that the press was never able to capture. And by the end of this series, trust me, you'll believe me when I say that the incident that got her into the history books might be shocking, but it's the stuff she did before and after that will really blow your mind. Let's travel back to West Virginia, where Sarah Jane was born in February 1930. Her family home was in a town called Charleston, nestled in the lush Appalachian Mountains. She was born Sarah Jane Kahn to parents Ruth and Olaf Khan. At first glance, the Khan family appeared to be the picture perfect middle class American family. There were five kids, three boys and two girls, and there was just enough space for them in their two story log home. A thicket of woods crept up to the back of the house and the modest neighborhood was the perfect place to run and play. Their father Olaf was a hard working chemical engineer for DuPont. He earned $10,000 a year, which was a very respectable income in the depression era. Her mother Ruth took care of the home and was a diligent housewife, always keeping things sparkling clean and making sure her kids were tidy and polite. She was one of those moms who always knew what was going on in the neighborhood and she probably showed up with the best snacks. Zooming in a bit on life inside the Kahn home revealed a few cracks in their idyllic image though. According to interviews with Sarah Jane's siblings, Olaf was a cold and exacting father. He wasn't the type to play or even interact much with his kids. In fact, they rarely saw him in anything but a three piece suit. Even when the kids were very young. Evenings were to be civil when the family would gather for dinner. Olaf expected good behavior and manners. After the kids cleared the table, they would work on homework or practice their instruments in the living room where Olaf would light a cigarette and read the paper. Any disturbance would be met with anger. In the rare instance when one of the kids would work up the courage to ask a question about homework assignment, Olaf would respond by raising his eyebrows and replying in a flat voice, if I told you, you wouldn't understand anyway. What a jerk hole. Their mother, Ruth, wasn't any warmer. She had extremely high standards for her children and expected them to excel in whatever they were doing. For Ruth, perfection wasn't too much to ask. This kind of parenting impacts people in different ways, and it's impossible to say whether and to what degree Sarah Jane's upbringing directly impacted the person she would later become. But one thing I think we can say is that living in a world of black and white, right and wrong, with incredibly high standards to live up to, could definitely contribute to some extreme views of the world. Despite her parents attempts to keep her on the right track, Sarah Jane never quite seemed to fit in either at home or at school. Her siblings got along great. They each had their own hobbies and bonds with one another, but Sarah Jane often kept to herself. Academics made sense to her and she did very well in school, though she even skipped a grade. In elementary school, she was active in orchestra and ballet and other after school groups. But most people who knew her would say that something was slightly off with Sarah Jane. She struggled to connect with her classmates. One of her junior high teachers delicately described her as a little odd. According to one of her ballet school classmates, Sarah Jane would tell crazy stories to the other girls in class. Stuff about her family being descendants of royalty and other things that the girls in class knew couldn't possibly be true. The adults in the neighborhood tried hard to get the kids to include her, but this just made Sarah Jane more of an outcast. One of her fellow Girl Scout troop members recalled that even if you tried to be nice to her, she never reciprocated. She never tried to really be a part of anything. The weird thing was, for as much as the other kids made her feel unwelcome, Sarah Jane loved their attention. In fact, she demanded it. It almost seemed like she either didn't notice that she made other people uncomfortable or she didn't care. One of the most bizarre examples of this was at her 13th birthday party when Sarah Jane insisted that all the neighborhood kids sit and listen to her perform a violin recital before anyone could have a slice of cake. I mean, we love the main character energy, but this is bordering on manipulative. The one social space where Sarah Jane did seem to fit in, though, was the theater. She joined her high school's drama club, and even though they didn't want to hang out with her, her classmates couldn't help but respect her acting talent. Like so many misfits before her, it seemed like stepping into the character of another person came naturally to Sarah Jane, almost like it was more comfortable to her than figuring out who she was in real life. Despite her social awkwardness, Sarah Jane was capable and smart. Her loved ones assumed she'd become successful in some way, maybe go to college, become a teacher or actress. Maybe she'd even fall in love and start a family. But that was before she disappeared. Foreign.
- [14:20]
Leah
This is Jenny Garth from I do part two. If you could lose 10.4 pounds in one month, would you try with Future Health you can Future Health gives millions access to affordable weight loss meds for less than three bucks a day. Find out if weight loss meds are right for you in just 3 minutes at tryfh.com try fh.com results vary based on start weight and adherence to diet, exercise and program goals. Data based on independent studies sponsored by Future Health. Future Health is not a healthcare services provider. Meds are prescribed at providers discretion.
- [14:50]
Matt
At California Psychics, we know that when you haven't found love, it feels like everyone else has. Every movie has a love interest. Every song is a love song. Hmm. Where are all the songs about cats? Well, the joy of early bedtimes and of course the pda. Looking for love sucks. Thankfully, California Psychics can give you the guidance you need to help you find the one we connect you with the very best. In fact, 98% of the psychics who apply to work with us don't make the grade. That's why we can guarantee if your reading isn't life changing, it's is free. Download the app or connect with us@californiapsychics.com Right now, new customers receive 20 minutes for just $20, so you could be feeling all lovey dovey real soon. Experience the joy of certainty.
- [15:49]
Leah
California Psychics with the Best All Inclusive Vacation Deals to Mexico and the Caribbean Booking your getaway with cheap Caribbean vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling, endless margaritas and more, or simply soak up the sun and sand in a trop paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that. Plan and book the exact way you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive budget Beach Finder. Or find a featured all inclusive package to Blue Diamond Resorts and do your deal@cheapcaribbean.com you know what's funny about fitness?
- [16:23]
Jenny Garth
When you do it right, it's hard for about 20 minutes a day. But the rest of your life feels easy. When you don't do that hard 20 minutes, well, pretty soon your whole life feels hard. I even saw an ad the other day for a workout that you do in a chair. I mean, who are they kidding? I'm not trying to be more fit when I'm on the couch. I'm trying to be strong and healthy doing real life. So I follow Bodi programs. That's Bodi with an I. Each program is professionally designed and shows you how to get fast results step by step. Since I know I want to feel good for the rest of my life, I committed to a one year subscription and cut the price from over a dollar a day down to less than 50 cents a day. This is how you take care of yourself and have a body that you love that will love you back. From your 40s through your 80s. It's time to love your body. Go to bodi.com and sign up now. That's Bodi with an I.com.
- [17:22]
Mary Kay McBrayer
One day in the fall of 1946, when Sarah Jane was 16, she packed up for school in the morning, left home like she always did, but never arrived. She didn't return that evening either. She didn't leave a note, didn't tell anyone what she was doing or where she was going. Her parents were, of course, panicked. They informed the police, who mounted a full search and questioned the town. No one had a clue as to where she could be, nor could they think of any activities or people she might be involved with that would have called her away. Three days later, just as abruptly as she had left, Sarah Jane walked back into the house as if nothing had happened. She looked exactly the way she looked the day she disappeared. Her family begged for an explanation, but Sarah Jane didn't give one. In fact, she refused to talk to anyone about the incident at all. Was it an abduction, her parents wondered, or sexual assault? Did she have some sort of secret romance with a boy in the next town over? Her mother, Ruth, insisted that Sarah Jane get examined by the family doctor to check for any signs of abuse or harm. The doctor sent her home with a clean bill of health. So Sarah Jane was not injured, she didn't appear to be traumatized, and clearly she hadn't been kidnapped. Eventually, when Sarah Jane's family realized that their questioning was no use, they gave up. Anyone who asked they just said it was amnesia, and Sarah Jane said nothing. Sarah Jane had always been a little unusual, but this was the first time that her parents had seen her not only completely disobey the rules, but but refused to acknowledge the seriousness of her behavior. It was almost as if she was testing a boundary, seeing how far she could push her family, how off the wall she could act and still manage to convince them that nothing was wrong. It's like she was normalizing her behavior either because she didn't want her loved ones to acknowledge how unusual it really was, or because she didn't realize it herself. Either way, it would not be the last time she pulled a stunt like this. When it came time for Sarah Jane to graduate high school in 1947, her parents were happy to learn that she was planning to go into medicine, a fine occupation for a smart girl like her. She was accepted into a top tier nursing school, and she excelled there. Administrators gave her glowing reviews, and it seemed like maybe Sarah Jane had finally found her thing. But after just one semester without explanation, Sarah Jane changed her mind. In 1948, she dropped out and announced to her parents that she'd be joining the Women's Army Corps instead. All right, they thought, she's never mentioned anything about the army before, but at least she's got a plan. And Sarah Jane was nothing if not driven. She told her parents she had her sights set on becoming a commissioned officer. And like in most things she attempted to do, Sarah Jane was kind of kicking ass. She earned top marks on the qualifying tests and military arms training, and it seemed like she was right on track to becoming an officer. But just as she was rounding toward the finish line, Sarah Jane took another abrupt turn that no one saw coming. In 1949, she got married. Marine Staff Sergeant Wallace E. Anderson was his name. And they probably met on the base where Sarah Jane was in training. They got married quickly, and in spite of the fact that marrying would bar Sarah Jane from ever becoming an officer, which up until this point seemed like her dream. In the space of just two years, Sarah Jane had gone from high school graduate to nursing student, to army cadet and now to housewife. Her family was confused, as was I, at learning of this particular pivot. But they were happy that she seemed happy, at least. Also, I am completely aware and perhaps a good example of the fact that people can make impulsive and inconsistent decisions in their early adulthood, but ultimately end up mostly fine and level headed. But that was not the case with Sarah Jane. Now, we're not going to get too deep Into Wallace or her marriage to him, because, believe it or not, Sarah Jane changes her mind about him pretty quickly. But I mention him here because there's one incident from this period of Sarah Jane's life that is just too strange not to highlight. It was on one of those early days of her marriage that Sarah Jane decided to go on a public tour of the White house. She and Wallace were living in Pennsylvania at the time, and Wallace must have been on duty because Sarah Jane made the trip out to D.C. by herself. It was a beautiful spring day. The cherry blossoms were decorating the national mall, and Sarah Jane, who was just 20 years old at the time, Wore a neat little pastel suit to match. At the end of the tour, Sarah Jane separated herself from the group and started wandering across the white house lawn. After she'd made it a few yards away, Sarah Jane suddenly went rigid and collapsed onto the ground. Secret service agents and other bystanders rushed in to see what was wrong. Apparently, she had fainted. When she regained consciousness a few moments later, Sarah Jane told the gathered crowd that she didn't know who or where she was. When the secret service agents couldn't find any form of ID on her, the only thing they could think to do was Was to check her into the Walter Reed army hospital. Here's where it gets really weird. As the nurses undressed Sarah Jane to get her into her hospital gown, they found something totally bizarre tucked up into the bodice of her dress. It was a handful of printed photographs, all of Sarah Jane. Over the next few days, because Sarah Jane's identity was still a mystery, her feigning spell got picked up by the local news. Newspapers published a few of the photos she'd carried with her and asked whether anyone could identify this mystery woman. It didn't take long for her husband and her mother to catch the story and rushed to the hospital to ID her. And would you believe it? Her memory mysteriously returned right after they showed up. Police later concluded that Sarah Jane had purposely traveled to the White house without her I.D. now, we may never know exactly what was behind this bonkers incident, but what I can say is that it fits into a pattern of bizarre outbursts from Sarah Jane that not only demand attention from everyone around her, but forced them to redefine what normal behavior looks like. Just like she did when she disappeared in high school, Sarah Jane went on after this amnesia spell as if nothing was wrong. It's almost like little by little, she normalized the insanity of these behaviors. For Sarah Jane, these feigning spells and mysterious Games of hooky were harmless enough, but they were paving the way for something much weirder and much more dangerous. Now back to Sarah Jane's marriage to Wallace Anderson. Practically as soon as his name escapes your lips, Sarah Jane had divorced him and moved on to her second husband, Air Force Captain Sydney Lewis Manning. And you may notice a pattern here. Sarah Jane loves military types, especially high ranking ones. That's one thing about her that I can understand. Sarah Jane and Sydney began their marriage by moving into family housing on the Air Force base in Tucson, Arizona, where Sydney was stationed. In 1951, at age 21, she became pregnant with their first child, and two more babies followed quickly after that. Sarah Jane now had her feet firmly planted in the world of motherhood, and this new Persona was sticking just about as well as the others she tried on. The other mothers in the Air Force community could clearly see that Sarah Jane was struggling. She had a hard time keeping up with all the tasks of running a household, which, I mean, I completely get that you forget to switch over one load of laundry before it sours and it blows the whole process to Smitherings. But worse, and probably more important, Sarah Jane just didn't seem to like being a mother. She fed her kids on an erratic schedule. The energy of the house was chaotic, but in an abnormal way, and Sarah Jane seemed resentful of it all. This wasn't the grandeur she had envisioned for her life, and her marriage wasn't doing any better. With each new addition to the family, Sydney and Sarah Jane grew further apart. He started taking more overseas assignments, leaving Sarah Jane even more isolated and unhappy. Eventually, he filed for divorce, and once it was finalized, he quickly lost touch with both Sarah Jane and his children. In 1956, Sarah Jane made one of her very rare calls to her mother. She needed help. She said she wanted to visit West Virginia with the kids and stay with Ruth and Olaf for a bit. Ruth was thrilled. She had been watching Sarah Jane's home life unravel from afar for the last few years, and she thought that maybe this would be her chance to finally help Sarah Jane get a handle on this whole motherhood thing. The flights were booked and Ruth and Olaf prepared for their stay. Sarah Jane's brother Dana, who still lived in West Virginia, was in charge of collecting Sarah Jane and the kids from the airport when they arrived. On the day of the flight, the plane landed right on time. Just before sunset. Dana stood at the tarmac and watched the ground crew roll the big staircase up to the plane's exit door. As the Door opened and the first passengers got off. Dana watched for the faces of his sister and her kids. Passenger after passenger walked down the staircase and was greeted by friends and loved ones on the ground. But no Sarah Jane. Finally, after every other passenger had left, Dana watched as little Sydney junior, who was just four years old at the time, grabbed the handrail and carefully walked down the steps alongside his three year old sister. Behind them was a flight attendant holding their nine month old brother in her arms. Dana was confused. Sarah Jane was not with them. Sarah Jane's parents were shocked when Dana arrived home without her. They were sure something terrible had happened. They called the airline right away, but the airline staff had no information. When they tried her home phone number and found that it was disconnected, they called the police. Days went by with no word from Sarah Jane. Sarah Jane's parents even ended up calling Sydney, the children's father at his Air Force base. But he had no idea where Sarah Jane could be. After weeks of panic and confusion, the cons finally had to accept what they didn't want to believe was true. Sarah Jane was not hurt or sick or abducted. She had orchestrated this whole thing. She had disappeared again. And this time she had left her children behind. Two and a half months went by without a single word from Sarah Jane. And then one day she called. And she called collect from a payphone. For those who weren't alive when payphones were a thing, call and collect meant that the person receiving the call is the one who has to pay the charge. It's a funny little detail, but it must have just been salt in the wound for Sarah Jane's parents. Not only did Sarah Jane leave her kids on her parents doorstep, but she wouldn't even pay the $2 to make the phone call to let them know she was okay. Her parents of course, begged her to come home and take care of her kids. They would help as much as they could, but the children needed their mother. Sarah Jane agreed and promised she'd be back. She never said when. Five more months and a few sporadic phone calls came and went. Sarah Jane never showed up. That's when the calls stopped altogether. In an act of desperation and exhaustion. The cons eventually called the police to have Sarah Jane arrested for child neglect. But by then, even the police couldn't find her. Sarah Jane had actually disappeared this time. To be honest, if Sarah Jane hadn't gone on to attempt to assassinate a US President, this incident could have been the focus of this entire episode. It's worth pausing to recognize the amount of trauma her actions are causing her family during this time. The crimes we normally cover on this podcast often tend to be violent and fatal, so it could be easy to cruise past an incident like this without acknowledging how emotionally destructive it is. Not only have these children had to watch their parents get divorced, but now, only a few months later, they're being abandoned by both of them. It's difficult to fathom the pain of that. And let's not forget how life altering this was for Sarah Jane's parents. Ruth and Olaf had already done the whole parenting thing with their children, and they were just getting ready to settle into retirement. But now it was back to diaper changes and baseball practice and college tuition. They wouldn't be settling down for at least another 18 years. So when I say that Sarah Jane left a trail of victims behind her, it may not be the kind of victims you're used to hearing about in our stories, but they were victims all the same. Eventually, Ruth and Olaf filed to adopt their grandchildren outright so they could collect some Social Security benefits and save some money to put them through college. What they could never do, though, was heal the wound of being left by a mother for reasons they would never understand. But Sarah Jane wouldn't disappear completely from her children's lives. 20 years from now, they'd see her again, but this time it would be on the front page of the newspaper. Foreign.
- [33:37]
Leah
This is Ashley Echenetti from the Ben and Ashley I Almost Famous podcast. You could have lost 10 pounds already if you already started one month ago. So are you ready to start today? Find out if weight loss meds are right for you in just 3 minutes at try fh.com try fh.com try fH.com results vary based on start weight and adherence to diet, exercise and program goals. Database on Independent Studies sponsored by Future Health. Future Health is not a health care services provider. Meds are prescribed at providers discretion.
- [34:07]
Matt
At California Psychics, we know that when you haven't found love, it feels like everyone else has. Every movie has a love interest. Every song is a love song. Where are all the songs about cats? Well, the the joy of early bedtime and of course, the pda. Looking for love sucks. Thankfully, California Psychics can give you the guidance you need to help you find the one we connect you with the very best. In fact, 98% of the psychics who apply to work with us don't make the grade. That's why we can guarantee if your reading isn't life changing, it's free. Download the app or connect with us@californiapsychics.com Right now, new customers receive 20 minutes for just $20, so you could be feeling all lovey dovey real soon. Experience the joy of certainty California psychics.
- [35:07]
Leah
With the best All Inclusive Vacation Deals to Mexico and the Caribbean Booking your getaway with Cheap Caribbean Vacations means you have more freedom to do your deal. Whether you want to enjoy snorkeling endless margaritas more or simply soak up the sun and sand in a tropical paradise, Cheap Caribbean Vacations has your deal for that. Plan and book the exact getaway you want at exactly the right price for you by using our exclusive budget Beach Finder. Or find a featured adults only all inclusive package to secrets, resorts and spas and do your deal@cheapcaribbean.com you know what's funny about fitness?
- [35:39]
Jenny Garth
When you do it right, it's hard for about 20 minutes a day, but the rest of your life feels easy. When you don't do that hard 20 minutes, well, pretty soon your whole life feels hard. I even saw an ad the other day for a workout that you do in a chair. I mean, who are they kidding? I'm not trying to be more fit when I'm on the couch. I'm trying to be strong and healthy doing real life. So I follow Bodi programs. That's Bodi with an I. Each program is professionally designed and shows you how to get fast results step by step. Since I know I want to feel good for the rest of my life, I committed to a one year subscription and cut the price from over a dollar a day down to less than 50 cents a day. This is how you take care of yourself and have a body that you love that will love you back. From your 40s through your 80s. It's time to love your body. Go to bodi.com and sign up now. That's body with an I dot com.
- [36:48]
Mary Kay McBrayer
Only Sarah Jane knows exactly what she did in the years after she abandoned her kids. The records that exist suggest that she was probably living in Los Angeles, but she covered her tracks well enough that law enforcement was never able to locate her. It's possible that she used aliases and even a different Social Security number. From what we can tell, it seems like she studied accounting and began to support herself as a bookkeeper. And surprise, surprise, she also managed to find a new husband. And just a real quick polling question for our listeners. You know, we have a lot of episodes that feature serial monogamists, women who get married many, many times. And I just wonder sometimes how how did they find these guys like how did they convince them to get married? I don't even think it's necessarily a regional or time period related thing. My brain just doesn't compute it anyway. Her new husband's name was John Alberg and he worked in Hollywood, y'all. This poor guy, he was known around town as a kind and genuine man. And he was head over heels in love with Sarah Jane. But just a month after their wedding and days after discovering she was pregnant with his child, wouldn't you know it, Sarah Jane had had enough. She left John and moved to San Francisco, where she decided she would raise the baby alone. Why San Francisco? It's hard to know why Sarah Jane did anything. But the one thing we do know about Sarah Jane is that she wanted to live a big life. She wanted to be at the center of things. Where better to be in the mid-1970s than San Francisco, the epicenter of the political and cultural revolution that was turning America upside down. For those of us who weren't alive at this time, me included, it can be hard to understand what a gigantic paradigm shift was going on in the 1960s and 70s in America. The buttoned up Ozzie and Harriet days, when wives had dinner on the table at 5 o'clock sharp, were no more. Clothes were getting looser, hair was getting longer, and women were leaving their girdles and bras at home. In the 50s, most Americans were content to live by the traditional values of hard work, family and patriotism. But once the 70s rolled around, political activism was ramping up all around the country. People were upset. The Vietnam War seemed to be getting more nonsensical and hopeless. Racial inequality was becoming more and more difficult to ignore. In the south, feminism and civil rights were on everyone's mind and were creating an atmosphere of both optimism and tension. Enemy number one for many radicals was the President, Gerald Ford. For one thing, Ford kept America entangled in the Vietnam War. He also chose to pardon Richard Nixon after his involvement in the Watergate scandal, which seemed to most people like an obstruction of justice. And hanging over all of that, there were questions about whether Ford was even a legitimate president. Now here's something I didn't know until I started researching this story. Gerald Ford was the first person in America to ever become president without being elected. It sounds crazy, but it's true. When Nixon's vice president, Spiro agnew, resigned in 1973, Nixon appointed Ford to fill Agnew's place. Then when Nixon resigned a year later, Ford automatically ascended to the presidency. It's a bizarre turn of events, and it made many Americans feel like the democratic process was crumbling under their feet. So suffice it to say, left wing Americans were upset about it in the 70s and San Francisco had become their home base. You can imagine how the energy of a city like this would have appealed to a bright, ambitious woman like Sarah Jane when she struggled to find purpose as a housewife. The energy of these young, forward thinking activists was seductive. They had purpose. They were doing something that mattered. Or at least it seemed that way to Sarah Jane. She decided she wanted to be one of them. So she began to try on her most compelling and influential Persona to date. Political activist. Once she arrived in San Francisco, Sarah Jane began to transform from an isolated, conservative military wife who was uninterested and uninvolved in politics into something very different. She started reading, hanging out on college campuses, and informing herself about the political issues of the day. She found easy retail work during the day at a linoleum flooring shop where she earned enough to pay for rent and food. And in the evenings, she started driving to the warehouse district where she'd heard some of the radical groups were holding their meetings. One of the groups Sarah Jane became involved with was called People in need, or Penn. Like many of the left wing groups of this era, Penn was all about social change through protests, strikes, and other forms of activism. They advocated for peace, an end to the Vietnam War, civil rights, women's rights, LGBTQ rights, and workers rights. Sarah Jane was immediately captivated by the way PEN members were actually doing something about the issues she thought were plaguing society. Life here seemed to have a purpose in a way that none of her previous lives ever did. Maybe she could do something important here. Maybe this could be her opportunity to finally live her big life. At her first meeting, Sarah Jane introduced herself to the people in charge as a passionate activist with extensive experience in accounting and asked if they needed help with their books. She didn't look like an activist with her preppy suburban mom blouses and cardigans, but they did need help. Within just a few weeks, Sarah Jane had found her way into one of the group's messy offices and asserted herself as the lead accountant. But even though she had managed to make herself at least a little bit useful, she had trouble making friends the same way her girl scouts and classmates sensed that something was off about her. The other volunteers at Penn found Sarah Jane's personality off putting. Her attitude was volatile, and she seemed to be more concerned with her status as a member of the organization than with its mission. But even though she wasn't very well liked, it wasn't a reason to kick her out. At least not yet. So Sarah Jane settled into a routine, spending her days at the flooring shop and her nights at PEN meetings and events. The activism work consumed her free time and eventually, her identity. And she loved every minute of it. On a Saturday morning in September 1975, a few years into her work with Penn, Sarah Jane opened up the San Francisco Chronicle to find a report that President Gerald Ford would be visiting the Bay Area. He would be in downtown San Francisco at the St Francis Hotel on September 22 for a luncheon with the World Affairs Council. He wouldn't be making any public appearances, it said, but he'd be traveling in his motorcade to the airport sometime that afternoon. And that's when an idea popped into Sarah Jane's mind. She may not fit in with the young bleeding heart hippies in the activist community. She knew a few things that they didn't know about the way the world worked. She knew that sometimes small actions weren't enough. Sometimes, in order to make big changes, you had to make a statement. Sometimes, if people didn't see things the way you did, you had to make them pay attention. Sarah Jane knew how to make people pay attention. This would be her moment, her chance to be the main character she always wanted to be. It was with this conviction that Sarah Jane drove herself to the St. Francis Hotel on September 22, 1975, with a.38 revolver in her purse and aimed it at the President. A single gunshot rings out. Screams pierce the air. The crowd scrambles, but President Ford does not fall. The bullet flies five inches to the right of his head and chips the wall behind him. Sarah Jane is standing with her hand still holding the gun in the air. But before she can take another shot, a burly man behind her lunges, grabs her arm and pulls it down just long enough for a police officer nearby to take her gun and pin her to the ground. Sarah Jane has missed her chance, and she won't get another one. Newspapers the next morning would scramble to find information about this woman who seemed to have come out of nowhere to assassinate the President. What the reporters didn't know was that Sarah Jane hadn't actually come out of nowhere. In fact, law enforcement knew all about her, but not because of her nefarious past. Actually, law enforcement knew about Sarah Jane because she'd been working with the FBI for months. Join me next week on the greatest true crime stories ever told to find out how Sarah Jane got mixed up with the FBI and how she went from working for the government to trying to take it down. That's in part two of our two part series about Sarah Jane Moore, the woman who tried to kill the President. I'd like to shout out Jerry Spieler's book Housewife, the woman who tried to Kill President Ford, which was our biggest source for today's episode. It's really the only place you'll find detailed information about Sarah Jane's life, and I highly recommend getting a copy. All other sources we used are cited in the show notes. Plus, at the end of next week's episode, I get to interview Jerry Spieler about Sarah Jane, so I hope you'll come back for that too. For more information about this case and others we cover on the show, visit diversionaudio.com the greatest true Crime Stories Ever Told is a production of Diversion Audio. I'm Mary Kay McBrayer and I hosted this episode. This episode was written by Grace Heuerman. Our show is Produced by Emma DeMuth, edited by Antonio Enriquez Theme music by Tyler Cash Executive produced by Scott Waxman.
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Leah
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