Another location I accompanied my rental car to while visiting Denver was the Golden Hours Motel. A quick google search informed me that John Warnock Hinckley Jr. spent sixteen days here right before driving to Washington D.C. to fire six bullets at, then president, Ronald Reagan.
The Golden Hours Motel is located on West Colfax Avenue in Lakewood, Colorado. While driving there, I had the slightest idea of who Hinckley was, but I believe there's always the possibility of capturing energy in the form of orbs in photographs. Sometimes I think you can even feel the leftover negativity in places where such gloomy and psychotic ideas were formed years ago. The crisp and polluted air has a way of tickling your stomach, much in the way how panic caresses your inner lining. My research also suggested that, "If you listen closely you can hear the wind cry Jodie Foster."
The only things my ears heard there was heavy traffic and the sounds of poverty escaping each dilapidated, motel door. I did not spend much time in the small complex, which I do regret now that I know the intense truth of exactly who stayed in room 29 from March 8th to March 23rd in the year 1981.
Hinckley Jr. was born on May 29, 1955 in Oklahoma. His prosperous family moved to Texas, and then to Evergreen, Colorado in 1974. He spent most of his time outside the Hinckley nest, attending school in Texas, and eventually moving to New Haven, Connecticut. Although he enrolled at Yale University, this was neither his focus, nor his influence behind the move. He was dedicated to stalking Jodie Foster, who was also a student at Yale. Jodie Foster also starred in Taxi Driver, which dangerously attracted Hinckley Jr. His fascination rapidly escalated into a perilous obsession, which influenced him to slide poems and letters under her door and frequently call her.
Apparently, he was devoted to gaining her attention in the hopes of impressing her. He went as far as shadowing Jimmy Carter during his presidential run, but got busted in Nashville, Tennessee. After failing, he shifted gears and put his target on the newly elected president's chest, which belonged to Ronald Reagan.
Hinckley spent over two weeks at the Golden Hours Motel plotting the president's assassination. He rented the room next to one of the hotel's maids, Ginger Aucourt. Ginger and her daughter, Stacy, both described the criminal as a quiet and friendly man who kept to himself. They recalled him having no visitors, nor did they see any signs of drugs or alcohol abuse. On March 23, 1981, Hinckley Jr. left a $55.40 unpaid bill and continued his dysfunctional road trip to Washington D.C. He checked into the Park Central Hotel which is a couple of blocks away from the White House. At 2:25pm on March 30, 1981, Hinckley Jr. pulled the trigger of a .22 caliber revolver six times. Although he directly missed the president with all six shots, one bullet backfired off the limousine and flew into Reagan's chest.
Ultimately, Hinckley Jr. was found not guilty due to reason of insanity. Instead of decomposing in prison, he has been mentally institutionalized ever since. The public was so unsettled with his final verdict that as a result, the Insanity Defense Reform Act was created in 1984.
There's no doubt in my mind that this man is damaged to the extreme, but if this man really is insane to the point where he can practically be excused from attempting to murder the president, how in the world did he drive from Colorado to Washington D.C. alone? Yes, I recently took a three day road trip from New Jersey to Colorado, but I completely relied on a GPS system. I just can't fathom a "crazy" man possessing the wisdom required to follow a map across the United States of America, yet somehow cannot be held responsible for his horrific actions. I wonder if his money infested parents hired Johnny Cochran to defend him.
During Hinckley's investigation, police did recover a letter written to Jodie Foster in his Park Central Hotel room.
"Over the past seven months, I've left you dozens of poems, letters, and love messages in the faint hope that you could develop an interest in me. Although we talked on the phone a couple of times I never had the nerve to simply approach you and introduce myself....The reason I'm going ahead with this attempt now is because I cannot wait any longer to impress you."
-John Hinckley, Jr.
No comments:
Post a Comment