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'I Need to Know Where She Stands'

New Transcript Sheds Light on Ex-Astronaut's Plan for Rival

By MIKE SCHNEIDER,
AP
Posted: 2007-07-10 05:41:00
Filed Under: Crime News, Nation News
ORLANDO, Fla. (July 9) - Former astronaut Lisa Nowak told a detective she came to Orlando to meet her rival for the affections of a fellow astronaut because she wanted to know where she stood in the bizarre love triangle, according to a police interview made public Monday.

Photo Gallery: An Astronaut's Fall

Red Huber, AP

Lisa Nowak testifies at an Aug. 24 hearing in her case in Orlando, Fla. The former astronaut is accused of assaulting a romantic rival in an airport parking garage in Orlando, Fla.

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A 72-page transcript of the interview conducted after her February arrest, with portions redacted, was released by the State Attorney's Office.

In it, Orlando Police Detective Chris Becton asks Nowak about why she wanted to meet Air Force Capt. Colleen Shipman in a parking lot at the Orlando International Airport.

"I need to know where she stands, if she even had any idea that I fit in or not," Nowak said. When asked whether she intended to kill Shipman if she didn't talk, Nowak said no.

Nowak, 44, is accused of attacking Shipman with pepper spray directed through the window of her car and trying to jump into the vehicle. In a duffel bag she was carrying, police officers found a steel mallet, a 4-inch knife and a BB gun. They also recovered a wig and a trench coat which they believe Nowak used as a disguise.

She has pleaded not guilty to charges of attempted kidnapping, battery and burglary with assault. She told the detective she only wanted to scare Shipman with the weapons.

During the interview, Nowak repeatedly asked to speak to Shipman and asked the detective whether Shipman, who was interviewed before Nowak, knew who she was.

Nowak told Becton she wanted to tell Shipman of her involvement with Bill Oefelein, a colleague who told detectives he had a two-year relationship with Nowak but ended it some time after he started a relationship with Shipman.

She acted surprised when the detective told her that Shipman knew her only as Oefelein's colleague, not as someone with whom he had had a relationship.

Nowak suggested that her relationship with Oefelein was romantic but platonic since she "wouldn't go beyond a certain point" while in the process of separating from her husband. She indicated that she was holding out for a possible future with Oefelein.

"I just needed to know if she was aware," Nowak said. "He picked me up from the airport two weeks ago. I mean, I mean, you just don't do that for anybody."

At another point, Nowak was asked by the detective whether it would have been acceptable for Oefelein to date both of them. She responded, "as long as everybody knows that that's the case."

She also said it was her husband, not Oefelein, who hurt her.

"My husband is the only person who broke my heart ... over the years, I guess," she said. "It happened over time."

An attorney for Nowak, Donald Lykkebak, asked a judge last month to seal the transcript, but the judge took no action. Lykkebak also asked that the interview not be introduced as evidence during Nowak's trial, claiming she wasn't properly advised of her constitutional rights.

A hearing on that motion and another to suppress evidence found in Nowak's car is scheduled for the end of the month.

"The prosecution's pattern of trickling out information in this case is nothing new," Lykkebak said in a statement released by his spokeswoman, Marti Mackenzie. "The expected result has been to keep Lisa Nowak's case in the headlines. We disapprove of this tactic."

The transcript indicates that Becton told her she had the right to remain silent, the right to an attorney and that what she said could be used against her in court.

A lawyer for Shipman called Nowak's claim that she didn't intend to harm Shipman "laughable."

"It shows her consciousness of guilt," said attorney Kepler Funk. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know what was in her head."

Nowak was dismissed from the astronaut corps a month after her arrest. Her trial is set for September. Oefelein was dismissed from the corps at the beginning of June.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
2007-07-09 17:05:37
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138 comments

Amandasmailbox 12:10:08 PM Jul 11 2007

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send her to a psychiatric hospital and keep her there....forever....she's obviously nuts

maxerniesam 11:17:00 AM Jul 11 2007

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OH SURE...SHE SAYS I WANT TO KNOW WHERE SHE (SHIPMAN) STANDS.

WHAT? SHE HAS NEVER HEARD OF A TELEPHONE OR EMAIL?

WHO TAKES THOSE ITEMS TO GO HAVE A TALK?!

maxerniesam 11:13:00 AM Jul 11 2007

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WHY IS SHE STILL IN A GOVERNMENT JOB?????

HOPEFULLY THE EX GOT THE KIDS !!!!!!

SHE CERTAINLY HAD EVIL INTENTIONS GOING THERE TO SEE SHIPMAN WITH THE ITEMS SHE HAD !!!!!!!!

maxerniesam 11:11:00 AM Jul 11 2007

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WHY DOES SHE STILL HAVE A GOVERNMENT JOB?

CERTAINLY HOPE HER EX GOT THE KIDS!!!!

YOU WOULD HAVE TO BE AN IDIOT TO THINK SHE WAS PLANNING SOMETHING HORRENDOUS.

jeffmarietta 04:09:21 AM Jul 11 2007

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Not a flattering pic for sure

hesleychicago 11:00:13 PM Jul 10 2007

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I UNDERSTAND
SHE HAVE MORE NERVOUS PAIN

wesmith1922 01:51:50 PM Jul 10 2007

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We should all feel sorry for Lisa Nowak who has yet to return from space, mentally, that is.

RTEJR73 01:11:05 PM Jul 10 2007

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It's pretty obvious that Lisa Nowak had a classic case of "Greener Grass Syndrome". It's unfortunate that when relationships are troubled, most adults look in all the wrong places for answers and relief. Nowak turned to a co-worker who was smart enough to know that she was vulnerable and easy prey. I don't in no way feel sorry for Nowak because I think she was totally selfish and foolish to put her family through this emotional pain and social shame.
Nowak was having an exit affair with Oefelein and that realty was all shook up when he decided that his affair with her had died it's natural death. Nowak basically had egg on her face and did not stop until she found out why she was dismissed by Oefelein. Nowak tuened her anger and embarrassment to Shipman instaed of Oefelein.
Had Nowak really been smart, she would have just accepted that her affair with Oefelein was a bad judgement and moved on. I guess it wasn't so easy for Nowak to move on because she probably treated her husband lik

tvalhere 01:09:27 PM Jul 10 2007

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I don't see anyone blaming "the man". Don't know what you are talking about. The woman is nuts and needs serious help. Everything she says confirms that not only was she planning to hurt Shipman, she is crazy. Get her a shrink fast.

shootin3pts 12:13:59 PM Jul 10 2007

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This was not a love triangle. This was an individual with an underlying mental illness which was not detected through the standard NASA battery of tests. The illness did not surface through the rigorous physical and mental challenges of the position, but through a perceived personal threat to an illicit dysfunctional relationship. Almost all of the required tools for a Space Cadet - wig (check), Mallet (check), knife (check), bb gun (check), diapers (check) ,horn (missing) Don't blame the news media for covering the circus - blame the clowns.

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