Catherine Kerkow

Released In Exile
Full name:Catherine Marie Kerkow
Date of birth:06. 10. 1951
Age:75
Gender:Female
Race:White
Era:1970s
State:Oregon
Time Imprisoned:
4 Months 8 Days
Time in Exile:
54 Years 5 Months 8 Days
Support
Black Liberation Black Panther Party
Catherine Kerkow

Biography

Catherine Kerkow was a Black Panther affiliate who in 1972, hijacked Western Airlines Flight 701 with accomplice Willie Roger Holder, demanding freedom for political prisoner Angela Davis and safe passage to North Vietnam in exchange for the release of the plane and its passengers. They ultimately received $500,000 in ransom and fled to Algeria where they were granted political asylum. In 1975, she and Holder were arrested attempting to enter France and held for several months while American authorities attempted to have her deported to stand trial in the U.S for the hijacking. France refused extradition on the grounds the crime was politically motivated. In 1977 she fled to Switzerland and has not been seen since. She is currently wanted by the FBI as a fugitive.

The FAA records a separate French trial in absentia and life sentence on October 1, 1980. This is distinct from her 1975 passport prosecution and does not establish imprisonment under the 1980 sentence. Her U.S. prosecution and exile row is retained separately. FAA chronology, PDF page 96.

Cases

Charges: Air piracy
In exile since: Jun 2, 1972
Convicted: No
Fleury-Mérogis Prison
Charges: Presenting a falsified passport
Arrested: Jan 25, 1975
Sentenced: Jun 2, 1975
Incarcerated: Jan 25, 1975
Released: Jun 2, 1975
Sentence: Three months and one day in prison and a 1,000-franc fine, imposed by a Paris court on June 2, 1975, for presenting a falsified passport. By then her detention — about 128 days since the January 25, 1975 arrest alongside Willie Roger Holder — had already exceeded the sentence, and Le Monde reported that she was to be released. France had refused the American extradition request on April 7, 1975, treating the hijacking as politically motivated; French authorities then opened their own hijacking prosecution, but the investigating judge did not keep her incarcerated — she was placed under judicial supervision after release.
Convicted: Yes
Institution State: France
Charges: Air piracy — French in-absentia prosecution of the June 2, 1972 Western Airlines Flight 701 hijacking
Sentenced: Oct 1, 1980
Sentence: Life imprisonment, imposed in absentia by a French court on October 1, 1980 for the Western Airlines Flight 701 hijacking. The FAA reported her location unknown; this sentence does not establish actual admission to prison. Source: https://ojp.gov/pdffiles1/Digitization/91941NCJRS.pdf (PDF p. 96, printed p. 26).
Convicted: Yes

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