“Mr. Data, set course for… romance!”
YMMV indeed. having a hatchet in your trunk isn’t so bad. Having a hatchet in the trunk and a bound and gagged victim in there too looks bad. Nothing to shudder about. That really would look rightly bad, don’t you think?
4" knife doesn’t mean anything to me. She attempted to kidnap this woman. What if she had? You’ve kidnapped this woman after assaulting her with pepper spray and who knows what else. You have a moment of lucidity and realize there’s simply no way out of this. You’re astronaut career is over. Your imaginary boyfriend is certainly going to leave you and you’re certainly going to jail for all this. Your family will be humiliated. There’s no way you can let this woman free now. How hard would it be to stop by a kitchen supply store and pick up some more tools at this point?
Do you have them all newly purchased and just out of the package, with a shopping list thereof, in your trunk, after driving halfway across the country to confront your romantic rival in a surprise attack?
I’ve cleaned rabbit, grouse, and once, a deer with nothing more than a 4-5" knife. (The last was a nasty job which convinced me that (a) I really need the right tools for the job, (b) there’s a lot of cutting on a deer for a surprisingly small amount of meat, and © deer hunting isn’t actually all that fun, and maybe I shouldn’t do it any more.) It’s not really clear at this point what she intended to do (murder and disposal? kidnap and torture? take her for a frozen custard?) but it was clearly more than an impulsive assault, and the stuff in her car wasn’t just for show.
That she went so far as to disguise herself and (after the attack) attempt to dispose of evidence indicates that she knew what she was doing, how it would be viewed legally, and displayed no outward signs of remorse immediately following the attack. I suspect she’ll plea out the attempted murder charge, but it’s not at all clear that she didn’t, in fact, intend to do something on that scale.
Stranger
I think she just gathered up everything that would concieveably be usefull and drive like hell. It would certainly behove everyone involved to treat her as though she intended harm and didn’t have a spell checker.
But hell, Mrs. Plant has a damn cooler in her van, wish to help she’d get rid of it. Maybe this will be a good excuse…“Honey, the cops will think you are a murderously insane astronanut!” 
From the Orlando Police Charging Affidavit for Lisa Nowak:*On Feburary 05, 2007 Mrs. Nowak was placed under arrest for Attempted Kidnapping, Attempted Vehicle Burglary with a Battery[sic], Destruction of Evidence, and Battery.
As a result of this investigation, the following weapons were recovered from Mrs. Nowak’s posession. All of the weapons appear new and unused. Packages for several of the weapons were later found in Ms. Nowak’s vehicle.[ol]
[li]The first weapon recovered was a steal[sic] mallet. This weapon was inside the black duffle bag, which Mrs. Nowak was carrying at the time she approached the victim’s vehicle.[/li][li]The second weapon that was inside the black duffle bag was a buck[sic] knife. This knife has a blade that measured 4 inches in length. Half of the blade was solid and the other half of the blade was serrated.[/li][li]The next weapon recovered from the black duffle bag was a BB Gun. This BB gun resembled a real 9 mm semi-automatic handgun. The BB gun was loaded with BB pellets and was set to fire (safety off).[/ol][/li]During my interview with Mrs. Nowak, I asked her why she had the weapons with her at the time of the incident. Mrs. Nowak stated that she was only going to scare Ms. Shipman. When I mentioned to Mrs. Nowak that I figured she had come to Orlando to kill Ms. Shipman, Mrs. Nowak said that she was never goign to hurt Ms. Shipman, that she was just going to scare her. Mrs. Nowak said that if Ms. Shipman refused to talk with her, Mrs. Nowak was going to use the BB gun to force Ms. Shipman to talk to her. Out of all of the weapons that Mrs. Nowak had in her possession, she could not provide a reasonable explanation for possessing the weapons. Mrs. Nowak admited that she had obtained a copy of the victim’s flight plans to Orlando without authorization from the computer of the man, with whom she and the victim had a common interest.
Mrs. Nowak gave this investigator consent to search her vehicle, which was parked at a hotel, miles from the airport terminal and satellite parking lot. Inside Nowak’s vehicle, I found detailed directions from Houston, Texas to the Orlando International Airport, which had been downloaded from the internet[sic]. Mrs. Nowak also downloaded, from the Orlando International Airport website, detailed maps of the interior layout of the Airport terminal, the parking lots, and a detailed schedule showing the shuttle bus service for the bus that would transport Mrs. Nowak from the terminal to the satellite parking lot. I recovered from the front seat of Mrs. Nowak’s car a handwritten map, which showed how to get to Ms. Shipman’s house. I also found a list of items that Mrs. Nowak wrote. This list had the wig, trench coat, make-up, trash bags, knife, and what appeared to be “ammo 9”. The list also contained items, such as food, water, and cooler for her car. In looking through the evidence, I noticed that the maps, whihc Mrs. Nowak used to drive toOrlando, were printed on January 23, 2007. In addition to the papers that I located, I discovered a black yard trash bag. Inside the bag I saw two used diapers. I asked Ms. Nowak if the diapers were used. She said that the diapers were used. I then asked Mrs. Nowak why she had the baby diapers. Mrs. Nowak said that she did not want to stop and use the restroom, so, she used the diapers to collect her urine.
The facts that Mrs. Nowak drove approximately 900 miles, urinated in diapers so that she did not need to stop, stayed at a hotel where she paid cash and used a false name and address to register, stealthily followed the victim, while in disguise, and possessed multiple deadly weapons at the time she confronted the victim, as well as spraying the victim with a substance meant to disable a person, create a well-founded fear and give this investigator probable cause to believe that Mrs. Nowak intended to murder Ms. Shipman.
As a result of this investigation, and after consulting with the State Attourney’s Office, Mrs. Nowak is charged with Attempted 1st Degree Murder with a Weapon (LIFE FELONY).*Clearly, more than an impulsive, spur-of-the moment act, all the more mind-boggling give an assumed lack of demonstrated criminal behavior. In short, what the hell was she thinking?
Stranger
I dunno, you reckon she just grabbed what was on hand and drive like hell to meet the plane?
Admitedly, a BB gun isn’t the sort of thing one has on hand, but it seems a strange weapon to threaten one with.
She made plans a couple weeks in advance, made a list and went out and purchased needed items, obtained flight plans from a third party’s computer, withdrew or otherwise collectd $600, registered under a false name, parked her car “miles from the airport terminal and satellite parking lot,”, et cetera. No, I don’t “reckon she just grabbed what was on hand,” but rather planned this out fairly extensively.
Whether she actually thought it out with any degree of rationality is another question entirely, but clearly she had time to cool off and get a grip, and did not. Somebody who is both violently irrational and capable of making extensive plans is pretty dangerous; if I were the police or the victim I’d want her held without bail, too.
Stranger
Now that, we can agree on.
Can someone refresh my memory? How did Shipman alert authorities despite having been pepper-sprayed? I mean, that shite is pretty overwhelming. Did she call 911, or just keep driving, or what?
I heard on NPR that she drove to the attendant’s booth at the parking lot, who then called 9-11.
Meh. I’ve been sprayed (as part of a demonstration; I wasn’t attacking anyone) and while it’ll blind you if it gets directly in the eyes, and make you gasp if it goes down the pipe, an incidental hit will not disable someone who is determined, pumped up on adrenaline, or both. I’ve heard a few cops refer to them with disdain as “ketchup bottles” because they can have about as much effect as said condiment on an aggressive, drugged up subject.
Stranger
from the news media is below
A Navy board of inquiry has recommended that former astronaut Lisa Nowak be separated from the Navy with a less-than-honorable discharge and be busted down in rank from captain to commander.
Wow, the Navy kicks you out faster if they find out you’re gay than if you drive 900 miles with a duffle bag full of torture implements (rubber tubing for restricting bloodflow so the victim lasts longer & suffers more) and pepper spray someone. Good to know. I guess.
I’m surprised after all the brouhaha that she only got a years probation:
“Nowak was sentenced to a year on probation in November after pleading guilty to third-degree felony burglary and misdemeanor battery.”
In another recent news story, the other two points in the triangle are getting married.
Oh snap!
Lisa Nowak has asked the court to seal her record because it is bad for her reputation.