Nelson Rockefeller’s death had it all. Mystery. A cover-up. A secretive woman.
How did one of the world’s most powerful men actually die?
The death of Nelson Rockefeller was the Monica Lewinsky scandal of the 1970s…only it was arguably more controversial and scandalous. The bizarre events surrounding his death, the investigation, and the aftermath are filled with questions still unanswered to this day.
Everyone undoubtedly knows the name Rockefeller but many today probably have no idea who Nelson was, even though he was a very big deal throughout the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. One of the world’s most powerful and richest men, he served as Governor of New York from 1959-1973 and was involved in presidential administrations from Truman to Carter.
Rockefeller with Kennedy, Nixon, Truman, et al.
He also ran for President of the USA three times, pouring millions of dollars into campaigns in 1960, 1964, and 1968. Time and other magazines LOVED his ass during his presidential runs.
Despite this adoration, each of Rockefeller’s presidential bids failed miserably. After 3 disastrous runs, Rockefeller was considered unelectable on a national scale. But when Richard Nixon resigned in 1971 due to Watergate, his VP Gerald Ford became President and Ford named Rockefeller his Vice President.
Within a year, there were 2 assassination attempts on Ford’s life: one on September 5, 1975, and another 17 days later on Sept 22. Then his presidential limo was in a suspicious car crash a month after that. Had Ford lost his life in any of the 3 events, Rockefeller would’ve become President of The United States without having ever won a national election.
A sitting US President almost losing his life 3 times in the span of a month is without question highly suspicious. There have always been rumors that Rockefeller, in his dogged pursuit of the presidency, was behind the assassination attempts.
So that’s Nelson Rockefeller’s official story. Of course, there’s most likely far, far more to him than the official story (more on that later).
His Death
Rockefeller died on Friday, January 26, 1979. From the start, the story of his death was filled with contradictions, confusion, and outright lies.
The first story that came out was from family spokesperson Hugh Morrow, who called a press conference a few hours after the death: Rockefeller, he said, was working late in his Rockefeller Center office and died of a heart attack. A security aide found him at 10:15 pm and called 911.
The scene of the death. For about 12 hours.
Later that same day, Morrow called another press conference and corrected himself: Rockefeller was actually at a condo he owned on 54th Street, not his office at Rockefeller Center, when he suffered the heart attack.
Many found it odd that a major detail like the scene of the death would be reported incorrectly. The two locations were nowhere near one another. Questions started popping up about Rockefeller’s death, and those questions became even louder a day later when the official story changed again.
Rockefeller, the 3rd official story in 3 days claimed, was actually with a 25 year old aide named Megan Marshack when he suffered the heart attack at his condo late Friday night. They were working on an art book together, and she was the one who called 911 to summon authorities.
A late Friday night at his condo, away from his family, with a pretty girl 1/3 his age? Literally zero people believed they were “working on an art book” together.
Overnight, Megan Marshack became the talk of the nation. Her picture was everywhere. Jokes about her flew freely on Carson and on Saturday Night Live’s Weekend Update.
Megan Marshack’s frantic call to 911 was played at a press conference, but this raised even more questions. Rockefeller’s heart attack had occurred at 10:15, but the 911 call was placed at 11:16. Every second matters after a heart attack — perhaps calling an ambulance immediately could have saved Rockefeller’s life. So what happened in the hour that passed between the heart attack and the call?
Megan Marshack: Overnight Celebrity
No one could answer that question, and Marshack certainly wasn’t telling. She had completely vanished off the face of the earth. Gone. Poof. Her sudden disappearance raised even more suspicion. Who was this mystery woman? Where had she disappeared to? People dug into her past and tried to uncover her current whereabouts, but it was no use. No one could find her.
Detroit Free Press, February 27, 1979
The Second Woman
Next, the odd story got even odder. That whole frantic 911 call that was played for the press? Turns out Marshack wasn’t even the one who placed the call. Ponchitta Pierce, a local NYC television anchor, had placed it.
The scene of the death. For about 12 hours.
Time for an all-new official story (the 4th in a week, for those counting). The latest and greatest explanation of the events was as follows…
Rockefeller and Marshack were “working on an art book” when Rockefeller suffered a heart attack at 10:15 pm.
Marshack, instead of, you know, calling 911, did something for about an hour (perhaps baked a cake?) She then called up her friend Ponchitta Pierce – who, coincidentally, also used to work for Rockefeller.
Pierce arrived at the condo. More time passed (perhaps they ate some of the cake?). Pierce then called 911…and promptly left the condo and returned to her apartment before police arrived at the scene.
This new official story, of course, raised a million questions. Why did Marshack call Pierce instead of 911? Why did Pierce leave the condo immediately after placing the 911 call, instead of waiting for police to arrive or trying to revive Rockefeller? And still, there was that pesky issue of the hour that passed between Rockefeller’s heart attack and 911 being called.
With Marshack still missing, Pierce became the target of questions about that night. She was asked about the mysterious hour that passed, and her responses did little to clear anything up.
The constantly-changing story and odd details that kept emerging ensured the story stayed on newspaper front pages in the weeks that followed. The mystery of Megan Marshack continued on, too — she was still gone, vanished somewhere, and hadn’t even released a statement about her role the night of Rockefeller’s death.
Many were questioning everything about Rockefeller’s death, including whether or not he’d even died of a heart attack. Literally Every. Single. Detail. of the case had changed since it was first reported, so maybe the heart attack story was BS, too.
There were even whispers that his death had been an assassination, possibly by one of Rockefeller’s business or political rivals, and the whole thing was now being covered up.
An autopsy would’ve cleared up the cause of death…and that brings us to the next odd detail in this case.
Detroit Free Press, February 27, 1979
Michael Baden Enters the Chat
One of the oddest details about Rockefeller’s death, something that added to the speculation that a cover-up was going on, is that Rockefeller’s body was cremated very shortly after his death, before an autopsy could be performed.
An autopsy could’ve established both a cause of death and a time of death, thereby clearing up much of the confusion surrounding the case. Instead, the body was quickly cremated barely 24 hours after his death.
Even odder, the coroner who oversaw the cremation was Michael Baden.
The scene of the death. For about 12 hours.
We’ve covered Baden here. He’s a pathologist who has been involved in practically every high profile death case from the past 50 years, including cases like JFK, MLK, John Belushi, OJ Simpson, Jeffrey Epstein, and more. Far, far more.
Most likely, Baden is what’s known as a fixer, a hired gun who will say or do whatever he’s paid to say. A pathologist has a tremendous amount of influence during the investigation of a death — everything from determining a cause of death to performing autopsies. A case can be totally transformed by a pathologist’s actions and opinions. An innocent person can look guilty, a guilty person can look innocent, a murder case can be written off as a death from natural causes.
“Control the coroner, control the city.” So goes an old saying in underground crime circles. Meaning: covering up a murder or two is simple if you have the coroner in your pocket.
At best, Baden’s involvement in Rockefeller’s rushed cremation should raise a few eyebrows. At worst, his involvement supports the idea of a cover-up.
Council on Foreign Relations
To understand the true impact of Rockefeller’s death, one must first understand just how powerful the Rockefellers were during this era.
Exposes from that era like The Rockefeller File, None Dare Call it a Conspiracy, and The Naked Capitalist outlined the almost incomprehensible power Rockefeller and his 3 brothers held in the world. There was the utterly massive family wealth they inherited, but the true power of the Rockefeller family came from their control over the Council on Foreign Relations, which Nelson’s brother David served as Chairman of for nearly two decades.
The scene of the death. For about 12 hours.
If you’re not familiar with The Council on Foreign Relations…well, welcome to the ultimate rabbit hole, buddy.
The CFR is 100-year-old organization that’s comprised of billionaires, political leaders, and business CEOs; among the 5,000+ CFR members are US Presidents (Biden, Bush, Clinton, Nixon, and others), CEOs of every major bank and investment firm, and policy makers who have dominated every political administration in recent history.
Just take a look at the list of CFR members; it’s basically everyone who’s anyone.
President Carter’s cabinet was filled with CFR members
In fact, the CFR is so embedded in US politics and business that some have described it as an unelected super government whose power is far greater than that of the elected government.
The CFR’s true power lies in their control over the media. Practically every well-known journalist is a member of the CFR (Katie Couric, Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Diane Sawyer, MANY more) and every major mainstream publication has executives on the CFR.
It also should be noted that the Rockefellers founded and oversaw another secretive powerful group, The Trilateral Commission, and were involved in a 3rd, The Bilderberg Meetings. Their control over these groups gave them tremendous power in politics, media, and business.
Nelson Rockefeller’s death was far more than some aging ex-politician meeting an early demise; instead, it dealt a serious blow to a family dynasty that wielded control over the most powerful groups in the country.
This probably explains why the press coverage for Rockefeller’s presidency runs was so glowing…and why you never hear much about the CFR on your nightly news.
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