Astronaut charged with kidnap attempt

Feb 10, 2000
30,029
66
91
From Yahoo!:

ORLANDO, Fla. - An astronaut drove from Houston to Florida, donned a disguise and confronted a woman she believed was romantically involved with a space shuttle pilot she was in love with, police said. She was charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport ? wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate ? to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Weird wild stuff! She actually doesn't look TOO bad, and certainly not crazy enough to flush an enormously successful Navy and NASA career for a guy.
 

SmoochyTX

Lifer
Apr 19, 2003
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She's even married with three kids. I think she's overdue for another psych test.
 

SmoochyTX

Lifer
Apr 19, 2003
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Local sites are going crazy here. This will be the big lead-in on tonight's news.
 

Jeff7

Lifer
Jan 4, 2001
41,599
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"wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate"

I am SO glad they added that to the story.

So many questions unanswered though. How many times did she use it? Was it only for urine? Did she restrict her fluid intake before leaving, indicating that this was really premeditated? Damn messy journalism. If only it had a diaper...


Originally posted by: SmoochyTX
Local sites are going crazy here. This will be the big lead-in on tonight's news.
Yay, some publicity for NASA.
 

doze

Platinum Member
Jul 26, 2005
2,786
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Here is the whole story

By MIKE SCHNEIDER
Associated Press Writer

ORLANDO, Fla. ? An astronaut drove 900 miles and donned a disguise to confront a woman she believed was her rival for the affections of a space shuttle pilot, police said. She was arrested Monday and charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Nowak told police that her relationship with Oefelein was "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship," according to an arrest affidavit. Police officers recovered a love letter to Oefelein in her car.

NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.

Hartsfield said he couldn't recall the last time an astronaut was arrested and said there were no rules against fraternizing among astronauts.

When she found out that Shipman was flying to Orlando from Houston, Nowak decided to confront her, according to the arrest affidavit. Nowak raced from Houston to Orlando wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate, authorities said.

Astronauts wear diapers during launch and re-entry.

Dressed in a wig and a trench coat, Nowak boarded an airport bus that Shipman took to her car in an airport parking lot. Shipman told police she noticed someone following her, hurried inside the car and locked the doors, according to the arrest affidavit.

Nowak rapped on the window, tried to open the car door and asked for a ride. Shipman refused but rolled down the car window a few inches when Nowak started crying. Nowak then sprayed a chemical into Shipman's car, the affidavit said.

Shipman drove to the parking lot booth, and the police were called.

During a check of the parking lot, an officer followed Nowak and watched her throw away a bag containing the wig and BB gun. They also found a steel mallet, a 4-inch folding knife, rubber tubing, $600 and garbage bags inside a bag Nowak was carrying when she was arrested, authorities said.

Inside Nowak's vehicle, which was parked at a nearby motel, authorities uncovered a pepper spray package, an unused BB-gun cartridge, latex gloves and e-mails between Shipman and Oefelein. They also found a letter "that indicated how much Mrs. Nowak loved Mr. Oefelein," an opened package for a buck knife, Shipman's home address and hand written directions to the address, the arrest affidavit said.

Police said Nowak told them that she only wanted to scare Shipman into talking to her about her relationship with Oefelein and didn't want to harm her physically.

"If you were just going to talk to someone, I don't know that you would need a wig, a trench coat, an air cartridge BB gun and pepper spray," said Sgt. Barbara Jones, a spokeswoman for the Orlando Police Department. "It's just really a very sad case. ... Now she ends up finding herself on the other side of the law with some very serious charges."

If convicted of attempted kidnapping, Nowak could face a maximum of life in prison.

It was not immediately known whether Nowak had an attorney.

Oefelein and Shipman did not immediately return phone messages Monday night.

According to NASA's official biography, Nowak is married with three children. During her 13-day mission in July she operated the robotic arm during three spacewalks.

Oefelein is unmarried. He piloted the space shuttle Discovery in December. He has two children, according to a NASA biography.

Nowak and Oefelein were both first-time fliers during their shuttle missions last year. They trained together but never flew together.
 

novasatori

Diamond Member
Feb 27, 2003
3,851
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wow dude

if that's what happen when you spend 13 days in space, I take back wanting to be an astronaut when I was a little kid.
 

eits

Lifer
Jun 4, 2005
25,206
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www.integratedssr.com
she was definitely a looker... i mean, for 43 she looks pretty damn hot... you wouldn't be able to tell that she was a frigging psychotic.

she wore a damn diaper on her 900 mile trip so she wouldn't have to make bathroom stops... pure crazy.
 

aidanjm

Lifer
Aug 9, 2004
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seems like a fuss over nothing. how exactly was the other woman "kidnapped"? you can't confront someone who is having an affair with your lover without being accused of kidnapping? :roll: at worst, she should be charged with assault for spraying pepper spray into the woman's car. end of story. The police widely publicizing the fact this woman uses diapers is pretty outrageous - she can't get a fair trial because the entire world now thinks she is crazy.
 

UberNeuman

Lifer
Nov 4, 1999
16,937
3,087
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If only she could have gotten her victim to the space station before you meddling kids stepped in, no one would be the wiser!
 

Rogodin2

Banned
Jul 2, 2003
3,224
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Her mug shot is horrible-she looks to have more than mental problems.

Her astro-shot in the bio is a different woman.


Rogo
 

MmmSkyscraper

Diamond Member
Jul 6, 2004
9,475
1
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NASA spokesman James Hartsfield in Houston said that, as of Monday, Nowak's status with the astronaut corps remained unchanged.

"What will happen beyond that, I will not speculate," he said.

Magic 8 ball says "ROFLSKATES!!1!1!!".

Somehow I don't think Captain Nutjob is gonna pass the psych test.
 

JEDI

Lifer
Sep 25, 2001
30,160
3,300
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Originally posted by: DonVito
From Yahoo!:

ORLANDO, Fla. - An astronaut drove from Houston to Florida, donned a disguise and confronted a woman she believed was romantically involved with a space shuttle pilot she was in love with, police said. She was charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport ? wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate ? to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Weird wild stuff! She actually doesn't look TOO bad, and certainly not crazy enough to flush an enormously successful Navy and NASA career for a guy.

she's a Navy capt at age 43?! that's like being a full bird colnal in the army!

WOW.. Admiral would have been in her reach.

flushing career away is right.

btw- dont they do psych reviews for astronaughts?!
 

preslove

Lifer
Sep 10, 2003
16,755
63
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Originally posted by: JEDI
Originally posted by: DonVito
From Yahoo!:

ORLANDO, Fla. - An astronaut drove from Houston to Florida, donned a disguise and confronted a woman she believed was romantically involved with a space shuttle pilot she was in love with, police said. She was charged with attempted kidnapping and other counts.

U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, 43, who flew last July on a shuttle mission to the international space station, was also charged with attempted vehicle burglary with battery, destruction of evidence and battery. She was denied bail.

Police said Nowak drove from her home in Houston to the Orlando International Airport ? wearing diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate ? to confront Colleen Shipman.

Nowak believed Shipman was romantically involved with Navy Cmdr. William Oefelein, a pilot during space shuttle Discovery's trip to the space station last December, police said.

Weird wild stuff! She actually doesn't look TOO bad, and certainly not crazy enough to flush an enormously successful Navy and NASA career for a guy.

she's a Navy capt at age 43?! that's like being a full bird colnal in the army!

WOW.. Admiral would have been in her reach.

flushing career away is right.

btw- dont they do psych reviews for astronaughts?!

I'm sure she had some significant chemical imbalance.