Graham planted the bomb in his mother's suitcase in an apparent move to murder her and claim $37,500 (equivalent to $430,000 in 2023) worth of life insurance money from policies he purchased in the airport terminal just before the flight departure.

Graham was born during the height of the Great Depression, and, in 1937, his father died from pneumonia, causing Daisie to send the young Jack to an orphanage due to their poverty.

In 1955, shortly before the aircraft bombing, King's restaurant was destroyed in a suspicious gas explosion, believed to have been deliberately caused by Graham.

Minutes after the plane's departure from Denver, the DC-6B exploded, the flaming wreckage falling into farmland near Longmont, Colorado.

[5][6] Graham's apparent motive for the bombing was to claim $37,500 (equivalent to $430,000 in 2023) worth of life insurance money from policies he had purchased in the airport terminal just moments before the aircraft's departure.

Investigators discovered that Graham had a criminal record for embezzlement by check forgery, and illegal transport of whiskey for which he had served 60 days in a Texas prison.

[4] King's restaurant had been severely damaged by "a suspicious explosion" earlier that year, and Graham had received the insurance settlement.

[7] Local people also suspected Graham of deliberately causing his new pick-up truck to be struck by a train that year, in order to collect the insurance.

Graham recanted his confession, but at his 1956 trial his defense was unable to counter the massive amount of evidence presented by the prosecution.

"[9] Macabre, a grindcore metal band from Chicago, wrote a song about Graham called "There Was a Young Man Who Blew Up a Plane", on their Sinister Slaughter album.