Gian-Carlo Coppola - Fatal Boating Accident (1986)

That's A Crime
Episode 23: Gian-Carlo Coppola - Fatal Boating Accident (1986)

Jason Connell and Sal Rodriguez break down the true crime story of the Gian-Carlo Coppola - Fatal Boating Accident in 1986. On May 26, 1986, Gian-Carlo Coppola, son of legendary filmmaker Frances Ford Coppola, and his friend, Griffin O'Neal, son of actor Ryan O’Neal, rented a motorboat near Annapolis, MD. Soon after O’Neal attempted to pass between two slow-moving boats but was unaware they were connected by a towline that struck and killed Coppola.

Original Episode: S01E23

Recorded: 12-21-21
Studio: Just Curious Media
https://www.JustCuriousMedia.com/

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Transcript

Jason Connell: 6:41:03

Welcome to Just curious media. This is that's a crime. I'm Jason Connell.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:41:07

And I'm Sal Rodriguez.

Jason Connell: 6:41:08

All right, Sal, we are back for another crime.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:41:13

Yeah. And an interesting one, because it's, although it turns out to be a crime, it is, well, as a spoiler, it's an accident. It's an accident, that becomes a crime.

Jason Connell: 6:41:22

That's right. And I think I heard of this happening years ago, decades ago, and then was looking up a movie because we're gonna get into everything, and then stumbled on it and was just taken aback. And I've been such a big fan of the family. For all these years, I've been doing a deep dive on my own on some of his father's filmography, and I figured we had to cover it.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:41:45

Yeah, this is a Hollywood dynasties. We're talking about us. And today, we're

Jason Connell: 6:41:49

breaking down the True Crime Story of the John Carlo Coppola fatal boating accident in 1986.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:41:56

Yeah, and you put this on my radar. I do vaguely remember some sort of news clippings from years past? Yeah, vaguely. But yeah, this puts it all in perspective. But no, I did not know about this. This is pretty huge.

Jason Connell: 6:42:07

Huge. I mean, this is an earlier era, right? So there's not a lot out there. And I just stumbled on it. So essentially, I was looking to movie Up. And then it led me to like, Wait, who's this person in relation to because you see the Coppola name, you know, all over the place. And more often than not, they're related. Here we are. I stumbled on this, read through it, and just figured we had to cover it. And yes, it is an accident. We haven't done very many accidents. There was one recently on the Henry ruggs fatal accident in Vegas, which killed a woman and her dog, which is very tragic. And it's very recent, though. I mean, that's this year. This is 1986. And just before we get started, I just started looking up some data on boating accidents. And so since 2021, is still happening in the US and 2020. There were 3191 injuries 767 deaths related to boating accidents, it's like I had no idea those numbers are staggering. So

Sal Rodriguez: 6:43:11

yeah, and you know, when you think of boating, I know if I think of boating or anything related to the water, my main thought is drowning. I'm not the strongest swimmer. That's my main concern is there's the drowning, but there's a whole lot more to consider besides just drowning.

Jason Connell: 6:43:24

Now a lot of these boating accidents could be drowning, of course. But yeah, that's a lot. I mean, I guess it makes sense. There's so many bodies of water. There's Listen, when I was younger, and you're going out on boats with younger people Memorial Day, you know, holidays. It's like you'd look at a boat and think, oh, it's like six kids in there. And they're drinking and kids being just old enough to drink or just not old enough to drink. And there's cops out there on the water looking for that bad motorists driving. I mean, if you don't have life vest on or if you're drinking, you're in trouble and they're monitoring the best they can but big numbers and yeah, this is a very tragic episode, but again, it deals with a dynasty and there is a silver lining which we will save for the variant if there is a silver lining. I mean, there isn't there isn't

Sal Rodriguez: 6:44:09

some sort of light at the end of the tunnel. Right?

Jason Connell: 6:44:11

That's a better way to put it. Yes. So the backstory on John Carlo Coppola. He was born on September 17 1963, and was the oldest child of legendary director Francis Ford Coppola. Of course, you know the name South very well. The Godfather, the Godfather, part two, the conversation Apocalypse Now the Cotton Club, the outsiders, Rumble Fish, and many more. Sure.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:44:35

Yeah. Huge name.

Jason Connell: 6:44:36

What's your favorite the bunch there?

Sal Rodriguez: 6:44:38

Well, I'm proud to say the outsiders, a lot of good memories of the outsiders when I was young.

Jason Connell: 6:44:43

I go with the godfathers. But of course, the outsiders Rumble Fish are very dear to my heart because they were filmed in my hometown of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Oh, I

Sal Rodriguez: 6:44:50

don't know Rumble Fish was filmed there. Yeah. Oh,

Jason Connell: 6:44:53

yeah. They're written by se Hinton's. She was a Tolson and that's what brought the crew there. Moving on. And his mother was Eleanor Coppola, who is quite accomplished in her own right having directed several documentaries, including hearts of darkness, a filmmakers apocalypse, which is about Coppola and all he dealt with when making that film. As well as to live action movies. Paris can wait and love is love is love. And I've actually seen parents can wait and it's really good. I've recommended to many friends. So I need to see the other one. So she's kind of, you know, doing her thing. Very creative family. Sure, as you already know. Oh, yeah. Now his brother Roman Coppola has directed countless music videos for groups such as Paul McCartney Moby Fenix Green Day, the strokes Daft Punk Fatboy Slim, I'm sure many more. And he was also nominated for an Academy Award for CO writing the screenplay of Moonrise Kingdom with Wes Anderson. And if that's not enough, he also played a young Sonny Corleone and Godfather Part Two,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:45:55

oh, I didn't know that. Francis put some of his family in the movie.

Jason Connell: 6:45:58

Oh, yeah. He sprinkles them in here and there. Yeah, he played the young Seneca Leone I remember that but because they're just little kids but he's young, he's like a child, but you know, it's okay yeah, put Roman in here. And now to his sister Sophia Coppola. She's quite a prolific filmmaker and has made waves since her debut The Virgin Suicides which I saw on the theater. Then her second film lost in translation was nominated for three Academy Awards in 2003 Best Screenplay, Best Director, Best Picture, and she won for Best Screenplay. She would later make other such hits as Marie Antoinette and The Bling Ring among others. She also played a little girl in the outsiders. Remember that? She played Patty sister and Rumble Fish and Mary Corleone and the Godfather Part Three. And that was a bigger role. It was supposed to be Wynonna Ryder who dropped out. So, I mean, this is Sophia Coppola, his biggest acting gig, she plays a major pivotal role in that movie. Well,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:46:59

I don't know that I've seen lost in translation. But the rest of her work,

Jason Connell: 6:47:04

saw that the theater as well. So if that's not enough with the family, and the talent that be I'm going to mention two more, his cousins, Jason Schwartzman and Nicolas Cage whose credits go on and on and on and on. So you can tell that Francis paved the way for everyone else to be in the arts and be successful in the arts and, and no exception with John Carlo, because we'll get into his career as well. Yeah, but

Sal Rodriguez: 6:47:28

you know what, I think you're born into some pressure there. You know, there's some, well, there's that. Yeah, you better Oh, he's the

Jason Connell: 6:47:33

oldest. So these other two accomplish this after his passing. Okay. You know, he was definitely first one out of the gate leading the way because he was the oldest Yes, and has the tragic accident, and they carried on, you know, maybe they were also driven for him as well. That can happen. Yes. So John Carlo was working in the family business, like his siblings and appeared in some of his father's films, and the Godfather, he appeared with his brother Roman. As the two sons of Robert Duvall is Tom Hagen's character. I remember those kids aren't around as well didn't know it was John Carlo and Roman. He also played a boy in church in the conversation, and cousin James and Rumble Fish and I have not seen Rumble Fish in years. Now I've got to go see it again. And see exactly who cousin James is. I'm sure it's a small role. But still, in addition to that, he was an associate producer on Rumble Fish and the outsiders and the second unit director on the Cotton Club, which is also of course, his father's film. So you could tell that he was probably doing that producer path, you know, unlike Yeah, Roman and Sophia,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:48:38

and also want to give a shout out to second unit directors, because just in case, somebody out there listening doesn't know, you know, so you got the first unit, which is, you know, if the main star is going to do a scene, they're gonna film that. And then they want to take advantage of the schedule, take advantage of the daylight, the weather. So they'll send a second unit out maybe to film some car chases, right, or maybe some street scenes or whatever. So I have worked under the directorship of some second units. And it's very interesting, because there's oftentimes a lot of action going on in second units.

Jason Connell: 6:49:03

And many of them go on to become directors, very accomplished directors, because it's a heavy burden, especially on a bigger movie. That's a ton of pressure. Yeah. Hey, we need to pick up shots grabbed these guys or whatever. So yeah, he was doing that. And just prior to his death, sell director Penny Marshall, rest in peace, had hired him to work second unit on her film, jumpin Jack Flash with Whoopi Goldberg. So you could see he was definitely going this path. And maybe he would have been a director as well. But he's got some producer chops. He's done some acting. And he's doing lots of second unit. So obviously, you could just see the path that he was on, you know, what his family has gone on to do. John, Carla would have been in the midst. And there's probably many movies that we'll never get, because he's not with us. So now to the accident. There's not a ton on this accident. Fortunately, it's why we really wanted to paint a big picture of John Carlo and the legacy. Well, you

Sal Rodriguez: 6:49:58

mentioned the era if this were to happen today. There most likely would have been some video footage if this had

Jason Connell: 6:50:02

absolutely and his life would have been more documented online. Yes. Yeah. So on May 26 1986, John Carlo Coppola, who was 22 years old so well, so ridiculously Yeah. Oh, yeah. And his friend Griffin, Patrick O'Neill, who was 21 Now, the last name may sound familiar. His parents are Ryan O'Neal and Joanna Moore. His sister is Tatum O'Neal. Oh, yeah. And I believe he's got siblings as well. But that's the name that you would know from all her acting credits. So yeah, they took a break from filming. One of Francis Ford Coppola is movies gardens of stone in which John Carlo was working on and Griffin was acting in and let me just say this now was later replaced. We'll get to that but they rented a 14 foot motorboat to enjoy Memorial Day on the South River near Annapolis, Maryland. Sally ever been to Maryland or anywhere abouts

Sal Rodriguez: 6:50:59

up into Maryland nor have I ever rented a boat.

Jason Connell: 6:51:02

Okay, All right, yeah, I've definitely been in Maryland, not to this particular region. But I have learned about but I was in my 30s, or even my 40s. I never would even think to rent a boat in my 20s. And I'm shocked that you could do that. Of course, this is the 80s. Yeah,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:51:18

because I think they've also changed car rentals. I believe you have to be older now to even rent a car. Because I think I was renting cars, my early 20s. I don't think I could do that today, let alone a boat.

Jason Connell: 6:51:27

Yeah, exactly. So around 5:15pm, three hours into the rental, O'Neill was piloting the boat and attempted to pass between two slow moving boats. So already, this is a bad idea.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:51:42

Well as a landlubber, as they say, in the Navy, I think I didn't have any experience on lakes, rivers, or boating or jet skis, I had an old girlfriend or family whose family used to go out into the river. And when I arrived there, I'm just ready to have a good time. But I didn't realize there's a lot of rules we're gonna follow. There's a lot of safety protocol. There's sort of a code also, right? It's an interesting environment, it may not be just the fun and games you're thinking of, there are a lot of rules to follow. And namely, in the name of safety,

Jason Connell: 6:52:10

you need a responsible captain or someone piloting the ship, because you'll go into some areas, it's like they don't want you to bring awaken, they're gonna like throttle it down. I know when I rented a boat in Minnesota a few years ago, I had Nikko on the boat, but when you took off from the dock, they had one of their employees do that for you and then jump off the boat. And as you got close, they would come to a special Pier, jump on the boat and dock it because they just didn't want the responsibility if you bang in and other boats and things and you should say Nico when that guy jumped on the boat, though. He was like, he thought we were being attacked. Well, yeah, like

Sal Rodriguez: 6:52:46

a pirate eco being

Jason Connell: 6:52:47

a huge white German Shepherd. But he's all fun and games until someone chose to board our vessel. But yeah, so I was interesting to see if you're just having a, you know, your own boat and your dock at yourself. That's one thing, but you get around a lot of safety provisions. It's like whoa, that you know, they know better. Even just putting gasoline in a boat can be dangerous.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:53:07

So look out beware of danger. Again, going back to what I said earlier, not just drowning. Drowning is one of many concerns. Not the only one.

Jason Connell: 6:53:15

Yes. So as O'Neill tried to maneuver between these two boats, he was unaware that the boats were being connected or weren't connected by a tow line. until it was too late. O'Neill barely had time to duck. But Coppola was struck and thrown onto the deck of the boat by the force of the cable. Wow. I mean, it's just that fast. You know, you get close, like, wait a second, what is this thing? I'm saying? You duck, you hope that your buddy's looking as well? Or maybe you're screaming at him and it's too late. It was too late to veer. You can't throw it. There's no brakes. He know you got to throttle down and backup something already. This is just just like that. witness has testified that O'Neill was hysterical after the accident screaming Oh, God, please help me. He's dead. Wow. So this is just tragic.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:54:09

Yeah, terrible and lucky that O'Neal didn't die too. Right? I mean, he could have easily this could have been a double death, double treasury.

Jason Connell: 6:54:18

I don't really know how far apart these two boats were what he was trying to do. Maybe there was a pretty good distance, but they're both going the same direction. And it's something you just want to avoid. There's no point in going through that. There's just no upside.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:54:31

Yeah, I would imagine boating is similar to drive and you want to operate defensively. That's what you want to do. And obviously he was not operating defensively. I'm sure he broke some sort of rule or code by even doing what he did. So he was most likely in the wrong for even trying such a maneuver. And unfortunately, yeah, absolutely deadly in the end.

Jason Connell: 6:54:49

Let's assume that for a second. That wasn't being towed. It's two boats going the same direction with a space between them. But you can assume they know what you're up to. No. So don't put yourself in that position because they're not expecting somebody to come right in front of them. Even if it wasn't being towed. It could have been an accident. Yeah. So not a good decision. Again, 21 years old, 22 years old and the boat. Young people sometimes don't make the most cautious decision. And immediately My mind goes to alcohol has to be involved. Sure. Right. Young drinking on the boat.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:55:23

Yeah, too early 20 Somethings on a boat. You're gonna think that Sure.

Jason Connell: 6:55:27

But we'll get to that. Emergency medical teams took Coppola ashore and tried to revive him. He was taken to an R endale General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at

6: 6:55:38

20pm. The medical report stated that Coppola died of head injuries including a fractured skull and brain damage. He also had abrasions on his left arm, his left side of his face where he was hit by the toe line. Well, yeah, that's just incredibly sad.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:55:55

Was it the toe line that caused the fractured skull I wonder or maybe the he was what he wound up on the deck maybe hit the deck.

Jason Connell: 6:56:01

Could have been that? Yeah, cuz I was trying to get clarity if this you know, was it the cable? Was it a rope? I read both, you know, toe lines can be either sure that can be pulled with the rope. If it's a rope, you think Oh, well maybe there's a little more give. That thing is super tight. So that still gonna hit you very hard. A cable might have done more damage because it might have ripped. Yeah, it could be head somebody.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:56:24

Yeah, a death is a death. But yeah, could have been I guess what more gruesome could have been a decapitation? Yeah, it could have been. I guess if I had to choose death by rope or death by cable. I guess I would choose death by rope. Even though there's no evidence that it would be any better. I think it just I just imagined a rope is just a teeny tiny bit softer than a metal cable. But there you go. Regardless, rope or cable? Yeah, really bad.

Jason Connell: 6:56:47

So authority said that the boat was traveling about 15 to 20 knots. Now. I don't know my might not I don't know, which is 17 to 23 miles an hour. So it's not like crazy fast, right? It's another thing I thought these guys are just like, boom, you're cruising super fast having a Budweiser a cold one. But it's not very fast. And when the accident occurred, alcohol was not a factor. And I was relieved to read that. So honestly,

Sal Rodriguez: 6:57:18

on one hand, it's a relief. But on the other hand, it's just then poor judgment exact so it's like on one hand, would you rather have a tragedy from drunkenness, or a tragedy from poor judgment? Both bad

Jason Connell: 6:57:29

and may have been harder on O'Neill? Had he also been drunk? Yeah. And we'll get into that we'll save what happens but defense attorney T Joseph two he stated O'Neill was inexperienced and did not see the rope and made an error in judgment when he decided to cut between two slow moving power boats. KENNETH Wilkins was the person towing the disabled boat to port. He testified that he saw O'Neill's boats just seconds before the accident, because he's not assuming someone's going to come through this right. He may even had a flag on his boat. Who knows? Yes, the

Sal Rodriguez: 6:58:05

flags. I forgot about that. That is something right.

Jason Connell: 6:58:07

There's there's diver down flag that had to be something these guys are just oblivious. But he said that it appeared that the two young men are not aware they were about to hit the road, he probably looked up and said, Oh, no. And then it just happened.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:58:20

Yeah, you got to expect the unexpected. I've learned that in life. And by the way, I've learned the hard way. We all have expected the unexpected. I like to drive around sometimes. Sometimes I'll drive at night and with the lights off, like I'm through like a park or something. And it's not safe now, but it creates sort of a spooky factor. Okay, so guess what, the other night I'm driving to the park, the lights are off. All of a sudden I almost plowed into a gate because they had closed the park. A gate in the middle of the road that I did not see because my lights were off because I was being stupid. Yeah, that was pretty. Okay. So ranking. No, I was not tricky. But my point is an error in judgment. i My point is you're not expecting a gate to be in the middle of a road. But there it was almost plowed into it.

Jason Connell: 6:59:04

Had you hit it and been fined. You could have been on that's a crime. I probably would

Sal Rodriguez: 6:59:08

have been on that scrim because already I was I think at the park after hours. So officially trespassing. It would have been Yeah, it wasn't good. My point is, is that whether driving whether boating, expect the unexpected, and how you know what, you could do stupid things at 22 or at 48? Yeah, just be careful out there, please.

Jason Connell: 6:59:24

Yeah. So O'Neill was indicted on five misdemeanor counts, including both manslaughter and reckless and negligent operation of a boat. He was later charged with manslaughter. Well, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of negligent operation of a boat. He was fined $200 and sentenced to 18 months probation in 1987. Now, he would eventually receive an 18 day jail sins for not performing 400 hours of community service as ordered.

Sal Rodriguez: 6:59:59

Yeah. Okay. This is where it starts to get into well, yes. What's wrong here? Yeah, he did something he had a major screw up, there was a fatality, you would think you'd be on your best behavior, right at this point? Why is he not doing the community service?

Jason Connell: 7:00:13

Well, there's more to that story. And again, we mentioned at the beginning that his father was Ryan O'Neal. And there's a quote from Brian O'Neill from 1986. And so why don't you go ahead and read that for us?

Sal Rodriguez: 7:00:23

Yeah, Ryan O'Neal was asked if he thought charges should have been filed. And he replied, perhaps, but I'd like to see Griffin get off of something mild. I feel terrible about that day. The Copalis are friends of ours. They go back many years. I know Francis went to Cuba, rather than hear about the trial. He couldn't even stay in the US.

Jason Connell: 7:00:43

So apparently, Griffin has been estranged from his father due to their long time volatile relationship. Yeah. And now we're going to ping pong back and forth on things I found out about Griffin O'Neil through his life because it has been a series of issues with him a pattern

Sal Rodriguez: 7:01:03

yet 2007 Ryan O'Neill was arrested for assault after shooting at Griffin during a dispute. prosecutors decided not to file charges. And right there I'm having flashbacks of Marvin Gaye. Yeah. Marvin Gaye shot by his own father.

Jason Connell: 7:01:17

Now this one's more on Ryan. I would say then Griffin but yeah, Ryan O'Neal shooting at his own son. Yeah. So we're really focused on Griffin. Yes, one was an anomaly, but it probably shows you that they have not gotten along and you're shooting a weapon at your son. That's not a good thing. Yeah, this is not Leave It to Beaver. No. So in 2009 Griffin was even banned by his father from attending the funeral services for Farrah Fawcett. Now that's not his mother. No. She is the mother of his half brother, Redman O'Neill. Okay,

Sal Rodriguez: 7:01:50

I didn't know that. Well. Then in 1989, O'Neill pleaded no contest to a drunk driving charge.

Jason Connell: 7:01:57

In 1992. O'Neill pleaded no contest to charges that he shot at his ex girlfriend's unoccupied car. Strange.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:02:06

Yeah. I think what we're seeing here is what a downward spiral of a person, right?

Jason Connell: 7:02:11

Yeah. And it probably started prior to this voting acts.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:02:15

Okay. Yeah. The boating accident was a horrible example of

Jason Connell: 7:02:19

this probably changed things a bit quite a bit. He was fired from the movie he was on. Yeah, I'm sure in some respects, he was blacklisted. But it just seems like him and Ryan had problems all along. And then maybe this just added more fuel to the fire and it's been a slippery slope for him.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:02:35

Well, you have to think of all the factors. It's one thing if you accidentally kill some stranger, that's horrible enough, okay. But then you kill somebody who you know who your families or friends. I think it becomes even more complex, because you have to see these people. If you accidentally kill a stranger, you pay your penalty, you do your time, and then you can theoretically move on. You're not necessarily having to see these people. Friends and family. That's it. Yeah. You're seeing their faces the rest of your life. So yeah, you were seeing the acting out as they call it from pain. Yeah. All right, take the next one. There's two more. In 2011 O'Neill collided with another car while driving. He was sentenced to 16 months in prison for driving under the influence of drugs.

Jason Connell: 7:03:17

And 2012. O'Neill was arrested for domestic battery after he pushed his wife out of the way in an attempt to drink and drive. So she's trying to intervene, save him from himself. And he's committing battery against her.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:03:33

You know, the other night, I was outside checking on my car, I look and I see this guy, kind of drunkenly trying to get into his car. And this guy was wasted. And I was like, standing there going, I may have to do something here. It's like, Am I just gonna see some wasted guy just get in his car. My heels were lifting. I was ready to do something. I don't know what I was going to do, really. But I was like the need to do something. Luckily, he stumbled away from his car and then walked I guess, back home. But he just left but I was seconds away thinking I'm gonna have to intervene here. Yeah, on some sort of drunk driving. This is going to be crazy,

Jason Connell: 7:04:06

man, scary. So to bring it back to John Carlo. His parents would both make some touching dedications and his honor. Francis Ford Coppola subsequently dedicated Tucker, the man and his dream to John Carlo, which is a great movie, by the way. So I know we talked before we got to court if you haven't seen it, watch it. It's worth it. Love that He dedicated the movie to him very touching. And there's a scene in Francis Ford Coppola is film Twixt. And what your character dies in a very similar boating accident. So I hadn't seen this movie sell. But I looked it up. This particular scene found it. And it's exactly true. It's very similar sequence. So it's like an homage to this movie came out more recently, while 2011 more recently than Tucker. So yeah, maybe a couple of days felt the need to just put it on film and something pay more homage. I mean, he's older now. So that was really interesting.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:05:01

Well, let me ask you, though, did that scene of the boating accident in the movie Twixt. Was that part of the plot or just sort of a subplot or

Jason Connell: 7:05:08

something? Well, a character had died on the lake. And then he probably just said, well, it was always probably in his mind. Well, it'll be that honor. Wow, Carlos. Interesting. Yeah, I may have to film that what that would have been like how hard maybe it was very cathartic for

Sal Rodriguez: 7:05:23

Yes, I was thinking that, you know, toys. For example. You know, some people, I met a therapist who involves toys in her therapy office with adults, right? She has adults grab toys and kind of recreate scenes from their childhood and stuff like that. So things like toys or art, filmmaking, ways to achieve that catharsis. Yeah, so this was probably healing in a way for Francis.

Jason Connell: 7:05:45

Yeah. I mean, I didn't say this earlier, but I watched video of Francis Ford Coppola talking about this in the press the accident, and you could just see that it devastated him and he actually took responsibility. I don't know how or why but, you know, a parent wants to protect their child from any and everything he had to go on and make the movie finished making that movie fired. Griffin lost his son and still made the movie. Now I've seen most difference for a couple of movies. I haven't seen the one he was making. But anyway, I just I can't even imagine what that would have been like maybe felt

Sal Rodriguez: 7:06:18

responsible because maybe Francis Ford Coppola thought, well, if it weren't for me, they wouldn't have even been hanging out together. Maybe

Jason Connell: 7:06:25

I gave him the day off, or I should have kept them here. It's probably something like that, you know, at play. And his mother, John Carlos, mother, Eleanor, she created a art installation, a touring art installation, entitled circle of memory. And it commemorates the life of John Carlo, and has been exhibited across the globe. Now I'd love to see this installation sound.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:06:49

Yeah, I'd love to see it, too. I need to find out more about this circle of memory. I wonder if it's still around?

Jason Connell: 7:06:55

Probably maybe there's some sort of online presence. I mean, all this is still new to me. I took all this in yesterday as I was putting the notes together. Yeah. Yeah. I would love to check that out. And then there's another wonderful dedication, which I'll let you shed light on for us.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:07:08

Yeah, because this is where more of the Coppola name even sounds off more to me personally. Yeah. vineyard. Yes. There you go. So at the inglenook winery owned by Francis and Eleanor in Napa, California, there was a 12 acre vineyard called the jheel vineyard named after John Carlo, which was planted in 1988. So now I'm sitting here thinking I've had couple of wine. Yes. Have we possibly drank wine from grapes from the jheel vineyard? Wow. Yeah, I

Jason Connell: 7:07:37

had no idea man, this was you mentioned that because that's what came to mind with you're like, Oh, the vineyard and I found this little detail and then we included the notes so fascinating.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:07:47

Yeah, cuz Coppola is big in the winemaking industry now much like one of our other heroes, Robert Mark Kaman who wrote The Karate Kid, he owns a vineyard. So it's something to aspire to having a vineyard one day.

Jason Connell: 7:07:58

Yeah. Geo vineyard. I'm gonna look that up for sure. Now, so as I said, In the beginning, I was trying to call it a silver lining, but you put it best light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, much better. And here's where this comes into play. John Carlo Coppola was engaged to Jacqueline de la Fontaine, who was pregnant with their baby at the time of the accident. Well, and looking at the dates. She was newly pregnant.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:08:28

Yes, entirely possible. Or maybe they didn't know. There you go. I think that makes it even more interesting if maybe she didn't even know she was pregnant at the time.

Jason Connell: 7:08:37

Yeah, but we don't know that. So the baby Jia Carla Coppola goes by GIA was born on January 1 1987. A new year baby another good luck charm. And she will turn 35 this New Year, so she's outlived her father already, who dies 22 and GF, much like the rest of the family is in the entertainment industry. She has played the daughter of her real life Great aunt, Talia Shire, who I didn't mention earlier, is related to John Carillo, his aunt. She played her daughter in New York stories, which is a great film. It's like an anthology film. Like Scorsese does a section and Coppola does watch movies have heard of that one. And then there is the Godfather Part Three, in which GIA played her granddaughter again. I remember the movie vividly. I watched it recently, because I was watching Copalis. New cut of the movie. Yeah. And so you see little girls running around and she's one of them. She was very young at that point in time.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:09:45

Well, you're a big fan. You just got the whole godfather. Yeah, I got the Godfather

Jason Connell: 7:09:49

on Apple and wanted to watch them again and all their glory and wanted to compare Godfather Part Three with the new cut and the new title coda, the death of Michael Corleone, which was really good. It was interesting. But GIA would also go on to direct, she made a movie called Palo Alto, and more recently one called mainstream and I'm sure there's many more to come. And the reason this entire John Carlo Coppola story came on my radar is because I looked at the movie mainstream on IMDb, it popped up. And I was like, mainstream, interesting look at this cast. And then there's GIA Coppola. And of course, as you're clicking going, Gia Coppola, I know Sofia, I know, Roman, and of course, Francis and Eleanor. And that's how I figured this whole thing out. And I was just in awe, like, Wait a second. I never heard of John Carver. If I did. I was young. And this is his daughter, and she's excelling in the arts. So it was just like, I had to bring that story here. It is a crime, manslaughter obviously poor judgment. And it was also a chance to kind of shed some light on someone the Coppola that never really got an opportunity.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:11:00

And yeah, but you know what Jason is as far as crimes go, I do agree with the manslaughter charge. And I think that a lot of recent cases, which we don't need to go into a lot of recent cases, I think should at least warrant manslaughter charges. And sometimes they get off with no charges, you know, so it almost seems like manslaughter is almost not utilized. Recently, in recent times, you just don't hear about manslaughter as much. And I really think it should come into play and deserves to be come into play because what it does is it does hold you responsible, accountable. Yeah, you are accountable for this person's death, where it not for you, the person would theoretically still be alive. Therefore, you have to have some penalty. Yeah, if even manslaughter and so no, I do agree with at least that. I remember

Jason Connell: 7:11:41

hearing about that term in the 80s. And it was usually a drunk driving accident. Yes, yes. I mean, manslaughter. It's a tough word. To me. It scared me to death. Well, it

Sal Rodriguez: 7:11:49

has the word slaughter in it. That's pretty gruesome. And yeah, I had noticed

Jason Connell: 7:11:53

that it's not around as much recently. We're discovering crimes as we go. But yeah, definitely relevant here. And I meant to say this a minute ago. But this is our dedication to John Carlo Coppola, essentially, I mean, we cover crimes, and we paint the whole picture. But you can see that he was taken from his family, this world far too soon. And a simple errand judgment calls that just avoid putting yourself in danger. And yeah, this probably did lead to Griffin O'Neill going down a darker path for sure. I'm not saying it didn't, it absolutely had to impact him. You love this guy, your best buds, you get him killed. You already have issues with your father. It's gonna put you down another path in life.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:12:39

Your pain can help you grow and heal or your pain can destroy you, you know, and I think in a situation like this, we see what happened.

Jason Connell: 7:12:46

Yeah, so that's all I got Sal, hon. John Carlo Coppola, fatal boating accident. 1986. Rest in peace. Rest in peace. For sure. John Carlo, I'm absolutely going to check out the vineyard. Yes, we should do that. We should report back to one another on that.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:13:01

I will make it a point of view out I will be honored to have a glass from the geo vineyard.

Jason Connell: 7:13:07

So thank you so much for listening. And please be sure to subscribe to that's a crime wherever you get your podcast. You can also really help us by giving the show a five star rating on Apple podcast.

Sal Rodriguez: 7:13:16

And for all your listeners that enjoy sharing your thoughts. You can leave us a review on Apple podcasts, send us a direct message or post a comment on our social media which is at just curious media.

Jason Connell: 7:13:25

We also highly recommend checking out our other podcast and visiting just curious media.com