Oliver Sipple

**Latif Nasser** (0:01)
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Hey, it's Latif. Today we have a story about someone attempting a crime so big and so brazen, that if they had pulled it off, it would no doubt have changed the world. But they didn't pull it off because one random guy stopped it. Instead of changing the whole world, it just changed the world for this one guy. The story took place in the 1970s. We originally reported it back in 2017 But people keep attempting this same crime as of this taping, literally twice in the last month. I'm being vague on purpose, just so I don't spoil the surprise, but it'll all make sense in a second. Here we go. Wait, wait, you're listening.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:45)
Okay.

**Latif Nasser** (1:46)
All right.

**SPEAKER_3** (1:53)
Radiolab, from WNYC.

**SPEAKER_5** (1:58)
Rewind.

**Jad Abumrad** (2:02)
Just a quick note, this story contains some profanities.

**Robert Krulwich** (2:05)
Here and there.

**Jad Abumrad** (2:06)
Here and there, a couple. So just know that before we get going.
Hey, I'm Jad Abumrad.

**Robert Krulwich** (2:11)
I'm Robert Krulwich.

**Jad Abumrad** (2:12)
This is Radiolab.

**Robert Krulwich** (2:13)
And today we are going to start.

**SPEAKER_7** (2:14)
Okay, so let's start.

**Jad Abumrad** (2:16)
With our producer, Latif Nasser. Yeah.

**Robert Krulwich** (2:17)
Well, let's just go back to San Francisco on a particular day at a particular time.

**Latif Nasser** (2:22)
And a particular woman.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (2:23)
Hello.

**Latif Nasser** (2:24)
Hi. Is this Sarah Jane?

**Sarah Jane Moore** (2:26)
Yes, it is.

**Latif Nasser** (2:27)
Woman named Sarah Jane Moore. Sarah Jane. Okay. So this is San Francisco. The particular day was September 22nd. The particular time.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (2:36)
1975

**Latif Nasser** (2:37)
It's a Monday morning. It was a nice day.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (2:39)
Oh, yeah. I don't remember anything different. So I assume it was a nice day.
I was kind of, you know, in my own head.

**Latif Nasser** (2:47)
So Sarah Jane, on this Monday morning, she wakes up early, drops her nine-year-old off at school, runs a few errands, then she drives downtown to this big fancy hotel. What was the name of the hotel?

**Sarah Jane Moore** (3:01)
I think it's the St. Francis, isn't it? I'm 87 years old. Don't expect me to remember little details like that. Okay.

**Latif Nasser** (3:07)
All right. Fair enough.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (3:09)
But at any rate, you know, I parked in the parking garage across, right across from the hotel as a park, but there's a parking garage underneath, walked over and walked across the street.
There were sidewalks on both sides of the street. There were people on both sidewalks.

**Latif Nasser** (3:25)
She joins the crowd across the street from the hotel.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (3:27)
It was very crowded.

**Latif Nasser** (3:28)
A couple of thousand people. It's like a big scene.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (3:30)
And there was a barrier, a rope barrier, right keeping us back on the sidewalk. And my plan had always been to be back in the crowd.
You know, and I was dressed like every other middle-aged woman that was there.

**Latif Nasser** (3:44)
What were you, do you remember what you were wearing? I mean, I'm sure there's.

**Sarah Jane Moore** (3:48)
Oh, there are pictures of it. Yes, I was wearing, I was wearing slacks. That was, that was at the beginning of when it was natural for women to wear slacks. I had a coat on and I was carrying a purse and I went back into the middle of the crowd, as I had planned to do.
Anyway, I thought a man come up against me and socialized as I was in that day and time, he spun around to slap his face.

**Latif Nasser** (4:09)
She sees this guy there, big strong guy, blonde hair.