This Texas Criminal Blew Up a Plane in an Act of Revenge

While it doesn't happen very often, Texas does see its share of plane crashes in history; some even carried famous musicians too. But in this case, Texas was actually the starting point for one particular criminal that became wanted by the FBI. A man who went from transporting illegal goods to straight up BLOWING UP A PLANE.

This is the case of Jack Gilbert Graham

Jack was born in Denver, Colorado on January 23, 1932. His mother, Daisie King, originally had a daughter from a previous marriage and because of the hard financial times, she had to give away Jack to a local orphanage. When Jack grew older, he started a life of crime; he was busted in Lubbock, Texas on September 11, 1951 on the basis of transporting "whiskey in violation of Texas laws".

He ran from the cops and broke through a roadblock of cops. (Also having a loaded gun didn't help!). He was arrested and served 60 days in a county jail before being transported back to Colorado to face additional charges of forgery. And this is where the story gets interesting...

Here's where and why Jack would blow up an airplane...

After going back to Colorado, Jack would reunite with his mom in 1954 (albeit it was a rough relationship). On November 1, 1955, Jack's mother, Daisie, would board United Air Lines Flight 629 to visit her first daughter in Alaska.

Unbeknownst to her, Jack had hid a bomb in her suitcase. Less than an hour later, the bomb exploded, killing all 44 people on board. His mother, Daisie King, was also killed, the person that many people, including the FBI, were convinced was the target of the attack.

Jack would be arrested & sentenced to death on August 26, 1956. He would be executed in the gas chamber on January 11, 1957 at the age of 24.

It's insane to think what could've happened if Jack stayed in prison longer when he was arrest in Lubbock back in 1951, or if he STAYED in Texas. It's impossible to know if this would've happened or not. But we do know that 44 lives were taken because of his actions. R.I.P. to all of the victims of United Airlines Flight 629.

If you want to see an even more detailed telling of the accident and of Jack's crimes, you can see an in-depth look in this video by Disaster Breakdown.

If you want to hear of another crazy story involving a Texas plane crash, you can read about the one that was solved thanks to the help of a Texas recording studio here.

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