HERRIN -- The Herrin Area Historical Society will host an unusual program at 2 p.m. Friday, Oct. 19, at the Herrin City Library on the several escape attempts from Marion penitentiary by the infamous hijacker Garrett Brock Trapnell.
Herrin broadcasters Joey Helleny and Mike Murphy were eyewitnesses to the bizarre events of Dec. 21, 1978, when Robin Oswald, the 17-year-old daughter of Trapnell's girlfriend, hijacked TWA flight 541 with the plane landing at Williamson County airport. Helleny and Murphy have vivid memories of when the nation's attention was focused on Williamson County, and they will recount the surreal activities of that fateful day.
Trapnell was a con man, bank robber, and aircraft hijacker of the '60s and '70s. He masterminded a jewelry store heist in the Bahamas, he robbed a string of banks in Canada, and he frequently impersonated a CIA agent. While serving a life sentence for armed robbery, kidnapping and hijacking, he died in a prison in Springfield, Missouri, in 1993 at the age of 55.
Helleny has been a reporter and news anchor for some of the area's leading radio stations, and he is currently senior lecturer in broadcast journalism at SIUC. A Herrin native, he is vice president of HerrinFesta Italiana and vice president of VisitSI.
Murphy is the gold standard for Southern Illinois sports broadcasters, as he is in his 38th year of play-by-play for the Herrin Tigers. And he is general manager of Custom Tours and Travel, ground transportation for the NBA, WNBA and the NHL. He is also sports director for River Radio.
This event is part of the Herrin Area Historical Society's guest lecture series. It is free and open to the public. Gordon Pruett is Program Chair for the event. Details at 618-727-0432.
