The Last Clue

Karen Silkwood's Murder Solved... But FBI, OSBI and OKCPD Sit In Deafening Silence

Beth

Yesterday would have been Karen Silkwood's 79th birthday.  Her murder is still unsolved. 

People close to the case are tightlipped when it comes to the tragedy that ensued on Highway 74 outside of Crescent, Oklahoma.  Even though the story is told all over the town of well less than 2,000 residents, when questions are asked about the murder, they claim to be keeping a promise.  But who is that promise to:  Karen Silkwood, themselves or Kerr McGee's checkbook that paid for their silence? 

One person says he knows who did it.  And says he's not only handed over the findings but names of those involved in the murder as well.

The FBI, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation (OSBI) and the Oklahoma City Police Department all have this information.  So, why isn't this case closed?  We do not know.

But the disgraced, outgoing Director of the OSBI has the opportunity to finally give Silkwood's family, friends and loved ones something they have waited a half century for and that is closure.  Does Aungela Spurlock have the guts to do what's right in the face of all of the wrongdoing in her soon-to-be former office?

Karen Gay Silkwood (February 19, 1946 – November 13, 1974) was a laboratory technician and labor union activist whose efforts to expose unsafe working conditions in a nuclear facility made her a symbol of corporate accountability.

Silkwood worked at the Kerr-McGee Cimarron Fuel Fabrication Site in Crescent, Oklahoma, where she was involved in producing plutonium pellets. A pioneer in labor advocacy, she became the first woman elected to her union's negotiating team at Kerr-McGee. Her concerns about the plant’s health and safety practices led her to testify before the Atomic Energy Commission, revealing serious issues, including plutonium contamination in her body and home.

Silkwood’s quest for justice ended tragically when she died in a car accident while en route to meet with a New York Times journalist and a representative from her union's national office. The circumstances surrounding her death remain shrouded in mystery.

Her family later filed a lawsuit against Kerr-McGee for the contamination, resulting in a $1.38 million settlement. However, the company did not admit liability. Silkwood's story was later immortalized in the 1983 Academy Award-nominated film Silkwood, where she was portrayed by Meryl Streep.