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Martin J. McNally – Prison Escape

Convicted skyjacker Martin J. McNally, told me the story of his attempted prison break. He said that a young woman named Robin Oswald attempted to hijack a plane and force the release of McNally and Gordon Trapnell. Mac had nothing to do with this attempt, except he was invited to go along by Trapnell.

In 1978, Robin Oswald, a 17-year-old high school dropout from suburban St. Louis, commandeered a flight en route to Kansas City from Louisville, KY. She sat in one of the back rows and communicated through notes handed to flight attendants. Oswald told the flight attendant that she had dynamite taped underneath her bulky sweater. Witnesses said wires ran from a row of sticks to a triggering device, which resembled a doorbell. Trapnell, who was serving a life sentence for skyjacking himself at the federal penitentiary in Marion, Ill. was in an Illinois courtroom facing charges of a previously attempted escape when Ms. Oswald was in the air threatening to blow up the plane.

Oswald delivered her hijack note when the plane was only eight miles from touching down in Kansas City. Oswald, ordered the seats near her cleared, stayed in the back. Without an explanation from the attendants, the passengers were crowded into the front rows and aisle. They learned they had been hijacked when Oswald insisted the pilots pipe their radio transmissions through the passenger cabin so she could hear the conversations. Unknown to her, the pilots still talked discreetly with TWA officials on a second radio.

“I figured she was going to suffocate everybody,” said Barnett Helzberg, who was returning to Kansas City from Cincinnati and sat not too far from Oswald. Mr. Helzberg, a Kansas City jewelry store owner, and the other passengers would soon escape leaving Ms. Oswald alone with the flight crew. Once she lost her hostages, an FBI agent talked her into giving up.

 

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6 thoughts on “Martin J. McNally – Prison Escape”

  1. MARTIN MCNALLY

    MARTIN MCNALLY HERE.. MAY 1, 2017.. FOLLOW-UP.. IT’S OKAY TO MENTION THAT I’M LIVING IN ST. LOUIS. AFTER 44 YEARS UNDER GOVERNMENT CONTROL I WAS RELEASED FROM LIFE PAROLE IN OCTOBER 2016. I CAN NOW TRAVEL ANYWHERE.. RIVERFRONT TIMES DID A LONG ARTICLE ABOUT ME IN JANUARY. GOOGLE: “THE FINAL FLIGHT OF MARTIN MCNALLY” TO READ THE LONGEST ARTICLE THAT PAPER HAS EVER PUBLISHED. A MAJOR MEDIA COMPANY IN LONDON, ENGLAND, IS WORKING ON A 90 MINUTE DOCUMENTARY ABOUT THE SKYJACKING IN 1972 and THE ESCAPE ATTEMPT IN 1978. FILMING IN ST. LOUIS THIS JUNE OR JULY FOR 3-4 DAYS. THE DOCUMENTARY WILL BE SHOPPED WORLDWIDE.. I MAY TRAVEL TO PROMOTE IT. LAST I HEARD ROBYN OSWALD IS LIVING IN LAS VEGAS.. I MADE THE DECISION THAT SHE COULD — NOT — HAVE A REAL BOMB.. I FELT THE — THREAT — WAS SUFFICIENT TO HAVE US BROUGHT TO THE PLANE.. AT 12 NOON, U.S. MARSHALS SAID: “IF TRAPNELL GOES, I GO TOO.” WE WERE TOGETHER ON TRIAL IN BENTON, ILLINOIS. WHILE IN CUSTODY ROBYN WAS SCREWED BY A GUARD and HAD A BABY !!! WHEN FEDERAL JUDGE HAROLD BAKER LEARNED ABOUT THAT HE REFUSED TO TRY HER AS AN ADULT IN FEDERAL COURT. I DIDN’T KNOW SHE WAS HELD FOR 22 MONTHS IN A TREATMENT PROGRAM. MANY PEOPLE ARE TRYING TO CONTACT HER.. YOU DO GOOD WORK. HAVE A NICE DAY !!!

    1. Thanks Martin, my friend at the National Archives found a letter you sent to the prison making a FOIA request about a Charles Stewart. Is there a story there?

      1. MARTIN MCNALLY

        MARTIN MCNALLY.. JUNE 1, 2017. AMAZING THAT THE LETTER STILL EXISTS.. STORY ABOUT THAT ?? YES. AS I RECALL, THAT WAS WRITTEN ABOUT NOVEMBER 5, 1979.. A FEW DAYS AFTER 2 GOOD FRIENDS STABBED HIM 80+/- TIMES ON A-RANGE IN THE USP MARION CONTROL UNIT.. HE WAS A VERY STRONG BLACK DUDE AGE 33, AND WAS HARD TO KILL.. 15-20 GUARDS WERE AT THE FRONT OF THE RANGE AND CLAY FOUNTAIN TOLD ALL OF THEM THAT IF THEY OPENED THE DOOR HE WOULD KILL SOME OF THEM TOO. THEN HE AND LARRY COLOMB WENT BACK TO STABBING HIM AGAIN UNTIL HE DROPPED TO HIS HANDS ANS KNEES 10 FEET IN FRONT OF MY CELL. THE REPLY I GOT FROM THE U.S. ATTORNEYS OFFICE SAID HE WAS CONVICTED IN KANSAS FOR RAPING 2 INMATES WHILE AT USP LEAVENWORTH IN A SEGREGATION CELL. THE WEAPONS THAT THEY USED CAME OFF A COMMODE THAT WAS FOR HANGING TOWELS. AFTER THAT, BOP STAFF TOOK ALL OF THOSE OFF THE COMMODES.. SETTING UP THAT HIT TOOK OVER 1 MONTH.. THE DUDE WAS KILLED AT 8:10 A.M. … I THINK IT WAS MONDAY OCTOBER 1, 1979. CLAY FOUNTAIN KILLED SEVERAL DUDES AND A GUARD IN THE CONTROL UNIT.. HE WAS HELD ON — NO HUMAN CONTACT — UNTIL HE DIED AT MEDICAL CENTER, SPRINGFIELD, MO. AT AGE 50. HE WAS HELD THERE IN A SPECIAL BUILT — MILLION DOLLAR CELL. I TESTIFIED AS A DEFENSE WITNESS, OF COURSE, AND HE WAS CONVICTED OF VOLUNTARY MANSLAUGHTER AND GOT 10 YEARS PLUS 5 YEARS FOR THE WEAPON. DID I KNOW ABOUT ANY OF IT BEFORE THE HIT ?? OF COURSE NOT !! DID I ASSIST THEM TO KILL THE DUDE ?? OF COURSE NOT !! HOWEVER, IF I DID, I WILL NEVER ADMIT THAT.. THERE’S NO STATUTE OF LIMITATION ON MURDER, OKAY ?? MY FRIENDS DID WELL TAKING OFF THE COUNT OF A MAGGOT PRISON RAPIST THAT COULD NEVER AGAIN RAPE ANYBODY.. YEARS LATER AT USP TERRE HAUTE A MAGGOT BLACK DUDE TRIED TO HAVE ME ATTACKED… SHOT-CALLERS APPROACHED ME AND I EXPLAINED WHAT HAPPENED. IT WAS CHECKED OUT AND SOMEBODY KNEW ABOUT THE CASE.. MY REPUTATION WAS SOLID AS A CONVICT AND I NEVER HAD PROBLEMS AFTER THAT.. THAT’S JUST ONE OF MANY KILLINGS THAT HAPPENED DURING MY FIRST 10 YEARS IN PRISON.. I HOPE THIS ANSWERS ANY QUESTIONS ABOUT THE DUDE WHO WAS JUSTIFIABLY KILLED.

        1. August 17, 2022. Time to admit that I did know about the HIT to kill Charles Steward. Took 8 months to get it done and I wanted to do it with Clay Fountain but Larry said he wanted it. So, yeah, I was not truthful above when I said I didn’t have anything to do with it. It was good to see him stabbed to death 15′ in front of my cell. So NOW you know. Listen to: “AMERICAN SKYJACKER podcast.”

  2. MARTIN MCNALLY

    MARTIN MCNALLY HERE. AUGUST 6, 2017. I WAS RELEASED FROM LIFE PAROLE LAST SEPTEMBER.. I’M NOW FREE TO GO ANYWHERE IN THE WORLD.. DON’T KNOW IF I’M ON THE HOMELAND SECURITY NO FLY LIST. PROBABLY. WHILE IN CUSTODY ROBYN OSWALD WAS FUCKED BY A BLACK EMPLOYEE and HAS A MIXED RACE BABY.. WHEN FEDERAL JUDGE HAROLD BAKER HEARD ABOUT THAT, HE REFUSED TO TRY HER IN FEDERAL COURT.. I THINK SHE LIVES IN LAS VEGAS. MANY PEOPLE WANT TO TALK TO HER. Z-MAN MAGAZINE, JULY 2017 ISSUE DID AN ARTICLE ABOUT ME, WITH ARTWORK TOO. SHORT STORY. I THINK THEY GOT SOME FACTS FROM YOUR INTERVIEWS WITH ME.. HOPE THIS UPDATE CLARIFIES A FEW FACTS..

    1. Thanks for your input. I will take a look at that magazine. I hope that Robyn had been able to live a good life. She had a bad role model. Glad to hear you are off parole.

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