Monday, December 31, 2007

Sara Jane Moore, would-be assassin of President Ford, released from prison in Dublin

Sara Jane Moore, would-be assassin of President Ford, released from prison in Dublin

Sara Jane Moore, the 1970s radical and FBI informant who attempted to assassinate President Ford outside a San Francisco hotel in 1975, was released from a federal prison facility in Dublin today after serving nearly 32 years in custody.

Moore, who is 77, was released sometime during the morning from the Federal Correctional Institution and it was not immediately known where she went, according to Mike Truman, a spokesman for the federal Bureau of Prisons.

On Sept. 22, 1975, Moore fired a shot at Ford from a .38-caliber handgun outside the St. Francis Hotel but her aim was deflected by Oliver Sipple, a bystander who instantly grabbed her arm. Sipple, an ex-Marine Vietnam veteran, was widely credited with saving Ford's life. He died in 1989. Moore was serving a life sentence at the Dublin prison.

Ford died Dec. 26, 2006 at age 93 after being in failing health for months.

Moore's assassination attempt came less than three weeks after Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme also tried to kill Ford when he made an appearance in Sacramento. Fromme, now 59, is serving a life sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Carswell, Texas.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/12/31/BA2UU7G0H.DTL&feed=rss.bayarea

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