9 Horrific Tragedies That Seemingly Prove the Kennedy Curse Is Real

Jan 27, 2018 10:30 am

By Nicole Fabian-Weber

Sure, there are people who say the Kennedy Curse is merely coincidence (or what happens when you mix extreme wealth and privilege with drugs and alcohol), but when you look at the family’s history and the amount of tragedies they endured in a span of just 50 years, it’s hard to shake the idea that, from a cosmic standpoint, they’re…well…cursed. From JFK’s assassination to JFK Jr.’s devastating plane crash, scroll down for a look at nine Kennedy catastrophes that make us believe something supernatural is at play.

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The assassination of John F. Kennedy wasn’t the first calamity for Camelot, but without a doubt, it’s the most notable. On Nov. 22, 1963, Lee Harvey Oswald shot the president in Dallas while he was riding in a convertible with his wife, Jackie Kennedy. The 46-year-old later died from his injuries.

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Seven months after his brother's assassination, Senator Ted Kennedy was involved in a plane crash. Fortunately, he lived, but one of his aides and the pilot were killed. The crash left Ted in the hospital with a broken back for five months.

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Though his assassination isn’t quite as talked about as his brother’s, in 1968, Robert F. Kennedy was shot by 24-year-old Palestinian Sirhan Bishara Sirhan. The senator, who was running for president, had just won the California primary. As is the case with his sibling, there are many conspiracy theories surrounding his death.

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Ted, who died of brain cancer in 2009, had another close brush with death in 1969, five years after his plane crash. He accidentally drove his car off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island, MA, killing 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne. He was hoping to run for president before the incident, but the controversy surrounding the accident squashed his dreams.

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Years after Robert F. Kennedy was shot, his son, 28-year-old David (left), died of a cocaine, Demarol, and Mellaril overdose in Palm Beach, FL. In 1984, David was found unconscious in a hotel room shortly after he completed a month-long stay at a rehab center in Minneapolis.

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Robert’s other son Michael died at a young age, as well. During a 1997 trip to Aspen, the 39-year-old was apparently playing football on skis when he hit a tree. He was pronounced dead within two hours. Sounds suspicious to us…

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Like his father, John F. Kennedy Jr. died at an incredibly young age. On July 16, 1999, the 38-year-old crashed the small plane he was piloting along the coast of Martha’s Vineyard, killing himself, his wife Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and Carolyn’s older sister, Lauren.

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In 2011, two years after her father Ted Kennedy died of brain cancer, Kara Kennedy had a fatal heart attack after working out at a Washington D.C. health club. She was 51 at the time and left behind two children.

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Less than a year after Kara’s death, Mary Richardson Kennedy — the ex-wife of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. — committed suicide at her home in Bedford, NY. The couple got married in 1994 and split in 2010. Three days after Robert filed for divorce, Mary was charged with drunk driving, and killed herself almost exactly two years later. It was ruled by the Westchester County medical examiner that the mom-of-four died due to asphyxiation by hanging.