Paul F. Markham is an American attorney who served as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts from 1966 to 1969.

Early life

Markham attended Georgetown Preparatory School

Georgetown Preparatory School

Georgetown Preparatory School is an American Jesuit college preparatory school for grades 9 through 12. It is the oldest all boys school in the United States, and the only Jesuit boarding school in the country...

, Villanova University

Villanova University

Villanova University is a private university located in Radnor Township, a suburb northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in the United States...

, and Boston University School of Law

Boston University School of Law

Boston University School of Law is the law school affiliated with Boston University, and is ranked #22 among American law schools by US News and World Report magazine. It is the second-oldest law school in Massachusetts and one of the first law schools in the country to admit students regardless...

. He was admitted to the Massachusetts Bar in 1958. He worked at the personal injury firm

Personal injury lawyer

A personal injury lawyer is a lawyer who provides legal representation to those who claim to have been injured, physically or psychologically, as a result of the negligence or wrongdoing of another person, company, government agency, or other entity....

 of Badger, Parrish before joining the Small Business Administration

Small Business Administration

The Small Business Administration is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The mission of the Small Business Administration is "to maintain and strengthen the nation's economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses...

.

United States Attorney's office

In 1963 Markham was appointed by United States Attorney General

United States Attorney General

The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The attorney general is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...

 Robert F. Kennedy

Robert F. Kennedy

Robert Francis "Bobby" Kennedy , also referred to by his initials RFK, was an American politician, a Democratic senator from New York, and a noted civil rights activist. An icon of modern American liberalism and member of the Kennedy family, he was a younger brother of President John F...

 to serve as an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. When Wendell Arthur Garrity Jr. accepted a judgeship on the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts

The United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts is the federal district court whose jurisdiction is the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, USA. The first court session was held in Boston in 1789. The second term was held in Salem in 1790 and until 1813 court session locations...

 in 1966, Markham succeeded him as the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. He remained a U.S. Attorney until 1969 when he resigned to work in private practice.

Chappaquiddick incident

Markham was present on Chappaquiddick Island

Chappaquiddick Island

Chappaquiddick Island is a small island off the eastern end of the larger island of Martha's Vineyard and is part of the town of Edgartown, Massachusetts. The island's name became internationally recognized following the July 18, 1969 incident, for which U.S. Senator Edward M...

, Massachusetts

Massachusetts

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2010...

, on the night leading up to the death of Mary Jo Kopechne

Mary Jo Kopechne

Mary Jo Kopechne was an American teacher, secretary, and political campaign specialist who died in a car accident in Chappaquiddick Island, Massachusetts on July 18, 1969, while a passenger in a car being driven by U.S. Senator Edward M...

. According to the testimony of Ted Kennedy

Ted Kennedy

Edward Moore "Ted" Kennedy was a United States Senator from Massachusetts and a member of the Democratic Party. Serving almost 47 years, he was the second most senior member of the Senate when he died and is the fourth-longest-serving senator in United States history...

, after the accident, he, Markham, and Joseph Gargan

Joseph Gargan

Joseph "Joe" Gargan is an American lawyer.Together with two younger sisters, he was raised by Rose Kennedy and Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. after the 1936 death of his mother, Mary Agnes . His father was Joseph F. Gargan. He and his two sisters are first cousins of the Kennedy family...

returned to the waterway to try to rescue Kopechne. Markham testified that Kennedy was sobbing and on the verge of becoming crazed. The next day Gargan and Markham joined Kennedy at his hotel where they had a "heated conversation" over the fact that Kennedy had not reported the accident.

After Kopechne's body was discovered, Kennedy dictated a statement to Markham which was then given to the police.