Catherine Kerkow

AKA: Cathy Kerkow; Janice Ann Forte; Odile Ann Pesse; Odile Pesse; Katherine Marie Kerkow
Released In Exile
Full name:Catherine Marie Kerkow
Date of birth:06. 10. 1951
Age:75
Gender:Female
Race:White
Era:1970s
State:Oregon
Time Imprisoned:
4 Months 8 Days
Support
Black Liberation Black Panther Party
Catherine Kerkow

Biography

Catherine Marie “Cathy” Kerkow and Vietnam veteran Willie Roger Holder hijacked Western Airlines Flight 701 on June 3, 1972, demanding $500,000 and the release of Angela Davis. They released the passengers, flew to Algeria and received political asylum. Algeria returned most of the ransom to the United States, and the pair later moved to France. French authorities arrested them on illegal-entry charges in January 1975 and rejected the U.S. extradition request. Kerkow was released and disappeared from public view. The FBI continues to list her on an air-piracy warrant, but her location and present status are unknown.

The FAA records a separate French trial in absentia and life sentence on October 1, 1980. This is distinct from her 1975 passport prosecution and does not establish imprisonment under the 1980 sentence. Her U.S. prosecution and exile row is retained separately. FAA chronology, PDF page 96.

Cases

Charges: Air piracy
In exile since: Jun 2, 1972
Convicted: No
Fleury-Mérogis Prison
Charges: Presenting a falsified passport
Arrested: Jan 25, 1975
Sentenced: Jun 2, 1975
Incarcerated: Jan 25, 1975
Released: Jun 2, 1975
Sentence: Three months and one day in prison and a 1,000-franc fine, imposed by a Paris court on June 2, 1975, for presenting a falsified passport. By then her detention — about 128 days since the January 25, 1975 arrest alongside Willie Roger Holder — had already exceeded the sentence, and Le Monde reported that she was to be released. France had refused the American extradition request on April 7, 1975, treating the hijacking as politically motivated; French authorities then opened their own hijacking prosecution, but the investigating judge did not keep her incarcerated — she was placed under judicial supervision after release.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: France
Charges: Air piracy — French in-absentia prosecution of the June 2, 1972 Western Airlines Flight 701 hijacking
Sentenced: Oct 1, 1980
Sentence: Life imprisonment, imposed in absentia by a French court on October 1, 1980 for the Western Airlines Flight 701 hijacking. The FAA reported her location unknown; this sentence does not establish actual admission to prison. Source: https://ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/91941NCJRS.pdf (PDF p. 96, printed p. 26).
Convicted: Yes

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George Brown George Brown Joyce Tillerson Joyce Tillerson Jean McNair Jean McNair Melvin McNair Melvin McNair Willie Roger Holder Willie Roger Holder