Lisa Nowak

Astronaut Attempted Kidnapping

Lisa Nowak (former astronaut) was arrested and charged with attempted kidnapping, attempted vehicle burglary with battery, and destruction of evidence on February 5, 2007. She is also at risk of court-martial for conduct unbecoming an officer and a gentleman and adultery, due to her marital infidelity.

It appears Nowak was overcome by the “Green eyed Monster” of jealousy when her affair with astronaut William Oefelein was ending and, Air Force Captain, Colleen Shipman entered the picture.

It was reported that Nowak and Oefelein met in 1996. They became friends about two years later as they were training as astronauts. Oefelein reported he had broken off the relationship with Nowak. Further reports indicate that the relationship may not have ended cleanly. Oefelein had given Nowak a cell phone, so she could call him. The phone records show she had called him at least 12 times and sent 7 text messages the day after he return from a shuttle flight, on December 22, 2006. However, he did not answer her call until the 24th when there was a seven minute conversation. Over 100 calls were recorded from December and January, although they don’t know who called whom. Oefelein said he had taken Nowak to lunch during that time, and they were still doing bicycle race training and going to the gym together.

It was reported that Nowak drove 900 miles from Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida on February 5th, 2007. In her car were latex gloves, a BB pistol and ammunition, a black wig, Pepper spray, black gloves, a hooded trench coat, a 2 lb drilling hammer, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, her computer, an eight inch folding knife, $585.00 in cash, and various other items.

It was reported that she used diapers during the trip. She had soiled diapers rolled up in her car along with several unused in a package. The attending officer asked her where the child was and she said there was no child.

Nowak arrived at the Orlando International Airport and waited about an hour in the baggage claim. She then proceeded to the airport parking lot. She found and confronted Colleen Shipman, who had just arrived from Houston. (On May 11, 2007, a surveillance video from the airport terminal was released showing Nowak waiting by the baggage claim then putting on a tan trench coat and following Shipman after she retrieved her bags.)

Shipman said she was aware of someone following her to a satellite parking lot. She heard someone running towards her so she quickly locked her car door. Nowak started slapping the window and attempted to open the locked door. Nowak was crying as she asked Shipman for a ride. Shipman rolled down the window a couple of inches and was quickly pepper sprayed by Nowak. Shipman drove off and summoned the police at the parking lot booth.

Nowak was arrested and detained. Shipman requested a protective order against Nowak after her arrest. Shipman said she knew Nowak as an acquaintance of her boyfriend. She did not identify Oefelein at that time. She also claimed that Nowak had been stalking her for two months. Nowak described her relationship with Oefelein as “more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship.”

The police recommended she be held without bail citing evidence of intricate planning, weapons, and disguises. Two fellow astronauts, Christopher Ferguson, the senior Naval Officer in the NASA Astronaut Corps, and retired Air Force Colonel, Steve Lindsey, appeared before a judge on her behalf. The attorney argued that the facts showed a well thought out plan to kidnap and possibly injure Shipman. Nowak’s attorney argued that “one’s good works must count for something.” She was released on $15,500 bail. She was also ordered to wear a GPS tracking device on her ankle and to not contact Shipman in any way.

Before her release Nowak was charged with attempted first-degree murder. Orlando police announced she would not be released on bail. Her attorney was stating that the police and prosecutors increased the charges solely to keep her confined to jail. Nowak was released on bail after the 2nd arraignment with an additional $10,000 added to her bail. The bail was posted and she was released.

Shipman dropped her request for a protection order on February 15, 2007.

In April, the trial judge unsealed some of the documents that described items found in Nowak’s car. Among the items was a handwritten note on USS Nimitz stationery. On it was Shipman’s flight information. There was also a “Flight Controller’s Log” paper with a handwritten list of more than 24 items including sneakers, plastic gloves, contacts, cash, an umbrella and black sweats. Found was a floppy disk with two photographs of Nowak riding in a bicycle race and fifteen images depicting an unidentified woman in various stages of undress. A March 15th evidence report indicated that most of the photos and drawings portrayed bondage scenes.

Nowak entered a plea of “not guilty” to the charges of attempted murder and attempted kidnapping on February 13, 2007.On March 2nd, 2007 Nowak was formally charged with attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm or terrorize, burglary of a conveyance with a weapon, and battery. No charges for murder were made. On March 22, Nowak formally entered a plea of not guilty to the kidnapping charges.

Nowak’s original trial was to start on July 30, 2007 but was postponed until April 7, 2008 to allow the prosecution time to prepare for the anticipated insanity defense.

In a pretrial hearing on August 12th, 2007, Nowak asked to have her GPS monitoring bracelet removed. She stated that it cuts her ankle and gets in the way of her military boot lace. She also felt it was dangerous to others as she sometimes had to pull to the shoulder to change the battery on a, long and dark, two lane road.

On August 28th, 2007 the court read documents than Nowak intends to pursue an insanity defense. Her lawyer claimed that Nowak suffered from major depression, obsessive-compulsive disorder, Asperger’s syndrome insomnia and "brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors," It was also stated she struggled with "marital separation."

PERSONAL INFORMATION

Nowak was married to Richard T. Nowak in 1988. They have three children, a son born in 1992 and twin daughters born in 2001. They separated in January of 2007, but are still married. It’s reported that after Oefelein’s porce he and Nowak became involved with each other. They had a 2 year affair. Oefelein began to break off the relationship gradually near the end of 2006 while starting up a new relationship with Shipman.

Updates

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08-16-09

Motion To Drop Charges

(Colleen Shipman, left) The defense for former astronaut Lisa Nowak said Friday that it has filed a motion asking a judge to drop all charges, arguing that investigators withheld a report that suggests the woman Nowak is accused of attacking initially said she was not sprayed with Mace.

Recently released transcripts in the assault case against former astronaut Lisa Nowak raises questions about whether the victim -- her rival in a love triangle -- actually was pepper sprayed.

According to May 29 testimony by William R. Hagedorn and Gregory E. Loebl, emergency personnel for the Greater Orlando Aviation Authority's fire department, Colleen Shipman said she wasn't hit with pepper spray during the February 2009 incident, and she wanted to wash her hands.

Shipman was neither transported or treated for pepper spray exposure, Hagedorn and Loebl testified.

"She [Shipman] thought she may have been pepper sprayed, but did not believe she got anything on her and just wanted to wash her hands, which we recommended as a precaution," Loebl said.

The transcripts were filed in Orange County Circuit Court this week.

Nowak is accused of trying to attack Shipman, a former U.S. Air Force officer who was dating Bill Oefelein, then an astronaut. Oefelein was Nowak's former love. Shipman and Oefelein announced their engagement in July.

In interviews and a written statement, Shipman said she was hit by pepper spray and her eyes started to burn.

Nowak is charged with attempted kidnapping and burglary with assault, and misdemeanor battery charge. A trial is set for Dec. 7.

Read resource details...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-lisa-nowak-update-081409,0,3405693.story

http://www.examiner.com/x-504-Space-News-Examiner~y2009m8d14-Astronaut-love-triangle-shocker-did-accuser-Colleen-Shipman-lie

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/08/14/Kidnapping-charge-for-Nowak-questioned/UPI-33691250275911/

06-25-09

Trial Date Set

A trial date has finally been set for the former astronaut accused of attempted kidnapping with intent to inflict bodily harm.

Lisa Nowak will be facing a jury on December 7, 2009, Orange County Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubet ruled, with a pretrial hearing scheduled for November 10.

Investigators say Nowak drove 1,000 miles from Houston to Orlando International Airport to allegedly stalk and attack love rival Colleen Shipman in the airport's blue parking lot in the early-morning hours of Feb. 5, 2007. Nowak is charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and attempted burglary with assault.

Shipman's attorney, Kepler Funk, said he is glad the case is finally going to be heard -- nearly three years after the incident.

The trial has been delayed over court rulings that statements and evidence Nowak gave at the time of her arrest were inadmissible at trial because both were unlawfully obtained. The prosecution appealed and in July of 2008, the Fifth District Court of Appeals ruled that the evidence found in the car was admissible but agreed that the statements to police were not.

Read full resource details...

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090625/NEWS02/906250324/1006/NEWS01/December+trial+set+for+Nowak

http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/06/24/astronaut.trial/index.html

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/06/24/Ex-astronauts-trial-set-for-Dec-7/UPI-36071245894905/

05-17-09

Nowak Withdraws Insanity Defense Possibility

Former astronaut, Lisa Nowak, has filed a motion in an Orland court last Thursday, to withdraw a previous motion in 2007 which gave her the opportunity to use an insanity defense in the case.

"This was never a strategy the defense discussed," said Lykkebak's spokesperson, Marti MacKenzie. "You had to file a motion for that as an option by a certain time."

Lykkebak claimed in the 2007 court filing that Nowak was suffering from a laundry list of issues, including: partner relational problem, major depressive disorder, insomnia, brief psychotic disorder with marked stressors, Asperger's disorder, obsessive-compulsive personality disorder, loss of body mass, problems with primary support group, marital separation, problems related to social environment, inadequate social support system and inability to confide in social contacts.

In April, Orlando Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubet ordered Nowak to undergo two psychiatric evaluations by state-appointed psychiatrists by June 12, in anticipation of her trial on attempted kidnapping, battery and attempted burglary with assault charges.

Following the alleged attack on Colleen Shipman, NASA conducted its own psychiatric evaluation of Nowak, but those records are not public and are protected under privacy laws.

Read resource details...

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/may/15/ex-astronaut-nowak-jettisons-insanity-defense/

Players In Nowak Case Start Adventure Web Site

http://www.wesh.com/news/19474906/detail.html

04-17-09

Nowak Wants Charges Dropped

A motion was filed, Monday, in Orange-Osceola Circuit Court, by the lawyers defending Lisa Nowak, seeking sanctions against prosecutors and police officers, alleging they failed to turn over a report that raises questions about whether Colleen Shipman was pepper-sprayed or not.

In that report, Shipman, the victim in the Feb. 5, 2007 attack, told personnel that she didn't have direct contact with pepper spray, and didn't need to go to the hospital.

Shipman told police a woman who had been following her rushed her and said she needed help. When Shipman rolled down her car window, the woman shot her with a blast of pepper spray.

"The police made a mountain out of a molehill in this case and now we have learned there was never a molehill to start with," Nowak's attorney, Don Lykkebak, said in a written statement.

Read Resource Details...

http://www.wctv.tv/home/headlines/42949282.html

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/breakingnews/orl-bk-nowak-discovery-motion-041309,0,7894356.story

04-02-09

Sanity Evaluation Ordered For Liza Nowak

Orlando Circuit Court Judge Marc Lubet issued an order for Lisa Nowak to undergo a psychiatric evaluation by June 12.

Nowak must be evaluated by Dr. Wade Myers of Tampa and Dr. Gregory Prichard of Bristol, in the Panhandle. The doctors must submit their written reports to the judge, the state attorney and the defendant’s attorney by July 6 — three years after Nowak worked in space aboard shuttle Discovery, helping to repair the International Space Station and try out a new boom extension on the shuttle.

Judge Lubet also modified Nowak’s pretrial release order and is allowing her to travel to any state except Pennsylvania, California and Alaska.

Read resource details and more...

http://www.floridatoday.com/article/20090401/BREAKINGNEWS/90401012/1086/rss07

http://www.myfoxorlando.com/dpp/news/040109nowak_sanity_evaluation

http://www.news-press.com/article/20090401/NEWS01/90401050/1075

12/09/08

Court re-admits evidence in NASA astronaut case

The trial of former NASA astronaut Lisa Nowak for an attack on a romantic rival has been cleared to resume after an appeals court readmitted suppressed evidence from a police search of her car.

Nowak, who once flew on the space shuttle, was charged with attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary after authorities say she armed herself with a knife, pepper spray and a steel mallet to assault Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman at Orlando International Airport in Florida on February 5, 2007.

The Florida 5th District Court of Appeal on Friday overturned a November 2007 decision by the trial court judge, Marc Lubet, that tossed out evidence seized by police from Nowak's car.

The appeals court ruled that Nowak's statements can't be used because Orlando police failed to properly inform her of her rights before she discussed the case with them.

Read full resource details

http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE4B76KM20081208

http://www.wesh.com/news/18210808/detail.html

10/25/08

No Decision Made On Nowak Evidence

Last year a lower court judge made a decision to throw out comments made by Lisa Nowak during a 6 hour interview after her arrest for pepper spraying a romantic rival of hers, Colleen Shipman, with the intent of kidnapping her.

The judge determined that the investigators took advantage of her lack of sleep and coerced her into giving information. In this information was the location of her car, so he decided that the contents they found in the car shouldn't come into the trial, either.

The contents included latex gloves, a BB pistol and ammunition, a black wig, Pepper spray, black gloves, a hooded trench coat, a 2 lb drilling hammer, rubber tubing, plastic garbage bags, her computer, an eight inch folding knife, $585.00 in cash, and various other items.

It was reported that she used diapers during the trip. She had soiled diapers rolled up in her car along with several unused in a package.

Last Tuesday a Florida appeals court took another look at whether or not the evidence will be used at trial or not. They will decide whether Nowak waived her rights before the interview.

Assistant Attorney General Kellie Nielan argued that Nowak voluntarily waived her Miranda rights by continuing to talk to detectives during the interview.

But Judge Richard Orfinger told Nielan that the state needed to prove that Nowak had waived her rights. Orfinger also questioned whether there was probable cause to search the car.

Nielan told the judges that detectives were allowed to search the car because Nowak stalked Shipman to the airport parking lot and tried to get into her car, then attacked her with pepper spray. Shipman, the girlfriend of former space shuttle pilot Bill Oefelein, was able to drive away.

Detectives were wondering, “was she going to talk to her or was she going to kill her?” Nielan said.

The panel of judges did not say when they would issue a decision.

Read resource details....

floridae.com

09/11/08

Lisa Nowak Back In The News

Lisa Nowak--Hearing Date Set

The Fifth District Court of Appeal set a hearing date next month on the state's appeal of a circuit court judge's decision to toss out Lisa Nowak's statements to police and evidence found in her car.

Legal arguments will be held on Oct. 21 in Daytona Beach.

Nowak drove from Houston to Orlando International Airport the weekend of Feb. 5, 2007, to confront Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman about their mutual love interest, former astronaut Bill Oefelein, records show.

In the disputed statement, Nowak admitted to police that she pepper-sprayed Shipman in the Blue Lot because she "just wanted to talk to her." She was wearing a trench coat, short-hair wig and glasses, and carried a duffel bag filled with a mallet, latex gloves, BB pistol, hunting knife and rubber surgical tubing, according to statements made to police.

Nowak, who is free on bond, is charged with attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery.

Read resources...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/orl-lisa-nowak-hearing-090908,0,2006179.story?track=rss

http://www.space.com/news/ft-080910-nowak-update.html

http://www.valleymorningstar.com/news/orlando_34321___article.html/astronaut_set.html

03/12/08

Trial postponed

Former astronaut Lisa Nowak's trial won't begin next month, as previously scheduled.

Prosecutors on Monday filed their initial brief appealing the exclusion of some evidence in the case. A circuit court judge determined Nowak was coerced into talking with police and allowing the search of her car after her February 2007 arrest.

The former astronaut had been scheduled to go on trial starting April 7. Now, nothing can move forward until the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in Daytona Beach acts on the appeal.

Read resources...

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/headline/nation/5611023.html

http://www.tampabays10.com/news/local/article.aspx?s=rss&storyid=75908 No longer available

http://lisa-nowak-news.newslib.com/story/9794-376/

01/17/08

Appeal freezes trial for ex-astronaut Lisa Nowak

The trial for former astronaut Lisa Nowak has been postponed until the state's appeal on an earlier court decision is resolved, the Orlando judge presiding over the case has ruled.

Prosecutors hope the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach reverses a lower court's order to bar use of Nowak's statements to police and evidence from her car if the case ever goes before a jury.

It's unclear when the appeals court will rule. On Jan. 2, the clerk received volumes of documents and a box of exhibits, according to the online docket.

Resource...

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/local/volusia/orl-nowak1708jan17,0,7794393.story

12/14/07

NASA Releases Documents, E-mails in Nowak Case

Arrested Ex-Astronaut Was on Good Terms With Boyfriend Days Before Her Arrest

Newly released e-mails between former NASA astronauts Lisa Nowak and Bill Oefelein indicate Nowak may have been unaware that she had competition for Oefelein's affections until a few days before she confronted the other women in a Florida airport parking lot. Following the encounter Nowak was arrested and later dismissed by NASA.

The documents, which NASA posted online quietly overnight, were released 10 months after ABC News requested them under the Freedom of Information Act. NASA released e-mails between Nowak and Oefelein since 2004 and e-mails written by Oefelein to his girlfriend, Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman. Messages that NASA deemed to be of a personal nature were excluded. Read more...

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology/Story?id=3994293&page=1

11/11/07

ORLANDO - -Prosecutors in the case of former astronaut Lisa Nowak will try to reverse a judge's order barring use of her statements to police and evidence from her car at her upcoming trial.

Assistant State Attorney Pamela Davis filed notice Thursday that she is appealing Circuit Judge Marc Lubet's decision to the Fifth District Court of Appeal in Daytona Beach.

Nowak's trial on charges of attempted kidnapping, burglary with assault and battery is scheduled for April. The appeal is not likely to delay the trial.

As reported by OrlandoSentinel.com

ORLANDO, FLA. — A judge on Friday threw out a statement and much of the evidence against former astronaut Lisa Nowak, who allegedly confronted a rival for the affections of another astronaut.

The judge, Marc Lubet of Orange County Circuit Court, granted a defense motion to throw out the comments she made during a six-hour interview and items seized during a search of her BMW, including maps to alleged victim Colleen Shipman's home, large garbage bags, latex gloves and some soiled toddler-size diapers.

As reported by Chron.com

Researched by Cloey 10-01-07

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