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Astronaut may go free after weird kidnap plot
2007-02-06
A married U.S. astronaut accused of trying to kidnap a rival for another astronaut's affections was told she could go free on Tuesday but was ordered to wear a satellite tracking device. U.S. Navy Capt. Lisa Nowak, who flew on the space shuttle Discovery in July 2006, is accused of driving 950 miles (1,529 km) from Houston to Orlando and then assaulting her rival, a U.S. Air Force captain. Nowak told police she wore adult diapers so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate while racing to confront the Air Force captain, whom she said she "only wanted to scare." Nowak, 43, a flight engineer with three children, disguised herself in a dark wig, glasses and trench coat to confront Colleen Shipman, who she considered competition for the attentions of fellow astronaut Bill Oefelein, at Orlando International Airport, police said. Nowak, wearing a jail uniform, shackled at the waist and head bowed, said little during her first court appearance on a video link from the Orange County jail, where she was held on charges of attempted kidnapping, attempted burglary of a vehicle and battery. "We are here for Lisa's health and well being and safety and taking care of her like we would any NASA employee in her situation," astronaut Steve Lindsey, Nowak's commander on the July shuttle mission, said outside the courtroom. Orange County Circuit Judge Mike Murphy found probable cause for three charges including attempted kidnapping, and ordered her to wear a satellite-tracking device so authorities could monitor her whereabouts. She was granted $15,500 bond, which if she posts with the court could lead to her release later in the day. Murphy ordered Nowak to have no contact with Shipman. "No contact means no good contact or bad contact," he said. "You wouldn't even be allowed, not that you would ever do this, but you wouldn't even be allowed to send flowers to say 'I'm sorry."' WANTED TO TALK WITH RIVAL Nowak went to Orlando airport around midnight on Sunday night, waited for Shipman's flight from Houston to arrive and then followed Shipman to the parking garage armed with pepper spray, a steel mallet and a BB gun, police said. Nowak also carried black gloves, a folding knife with a 4-inch (10-cm) blade, rubber tubing and trash bags, police said. In her statement to police, Nowak said she did not intend to physically harm Shipman but "only wanted to scare Ms. Shipman into talking with her." In the statement, Nowak described her connection to Oefelein as "more than a working relationship but less than a romantic relationship." According to the affidavit, police were called at 3:50 a.m. (0850 GMT) by Shipman, who told them she had been followed from the airport to a parking lot by a dark-haired woman in glasses, wearing a trench coat with a hood pulled over her head. Shipman told police she could hear the woman's footsteps running after her, so she jumped into her car and locked the doors quickly. The woman then pounded on Shipman's window, asked for a ride and then asked to use her cell phone. Shipman refused but rolled down her window just enough to be heard. She was then sprayed in the face by some sort of chemical that burned her eyes, according to the affidavit. In a search of Nowak's car, police later found diapers that Nowak told them she wore so she wouldn't have to stop to urinate during her drive. Astronauts wear such diapers during shuttle launches and landings. They also discovered a letter describing how much Nowak loved Oefelein, e-mails from Shipman to Oefelein, directions to Shipman's house and receipts indicating Nowak paid only in cash during her trip from Houston, including for her hotel stay. Nowak, who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, and attended the U.S. Naval Academy, became an astronaut in 1996 and waited 10 years for her first space flight. She was scheduled to be a lead commentator on the next shuttle flight, a key role for an astronaut on the ground.
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