I wonder if any of the surviving party-goers will EVER reveal what really happened that night, after Ted and maybe even Joe Gargan passes on. Those guys seem like they will live forever no matter what, just out of spite.
Old TIME article:
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/ar...1341-1,00.html
Here is a detailed analysis of the event, though one might detect a pro-Ted slant. However it does give a little info about Mary Jo's life, including the fact that she was engaged or about to become engaged.
http://www.crimemagazine.com/05/tedkennedy,1017-5.htm
But the late-evening party, with all the wives and other family members of the males conspicuously absent, and everyone drinking hearty, is just too much to excuse as an innocent reunion--- even innocent parties can get out of hand when there's too much drinking and no restraining influence.
I will concede that the drunken and dazed Ted should not have been given the sole responsibility for reporting the accident. There were plenty of people on hand who could have done so, and yet they did nothing except try to cover their collective asses. This was a royal, self-serving screw-up, even if Mary Jo could not have survived as long as it has been claimed.
You know it's bad when even Rose Kennedy questioned why the body was left underwater overnight and for some hours afterward.