David Kernell, Germantown High graduate who hacked Sarah Palin's email, dies

Ryan Poe
Memphis Commercial Appeal

David Kernell, the Germantown High graduate who guessed his way into Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s personal email account in 2008, died last week in California. He was 30.

Kernell, son of Shelby County Schools board member and former Democratic state representative Mike Kernell, died of complications related to progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) late Friday or early Saturday, his family confirmed in a statement Thursday.

In a statement posted Friday on Facebook, Palin extended her "heartfelt condolences" to the family.

"I can not fathom losing a child, at any age, and can only imagine the sorrow," she wrote. "I am so sorry for their loss. As the Kernell family said, the 2008 incident does not define David. He went on to do good for his family and community. I would ask the public to let David’s good memory supersede anything else. My family and I pray that David's family is enveloped in peace, knowing God has their son, awaiting a reunion someday."

David Kernell, once ranked in the top 10 percent of chess players in the U.S., was a 20-year-old economics major at the University of Tennessee Knoxville when he guessed the security answers to enter Palin's Yahoo! account, changed the password to "popcorn," and then posted the new password, family photographs and some emails on the online message board 4chan under the pseudonym "Rubico."

In a page-long statement regarding his death, the family said Kernell was diagnosed with MS in 2014 and participated in clinical research trials at the Cedars-Sinai Neurosciences Research Center in Los Angeles to help develop cures and treatments for other victims of MS.

He also enjoyed spearfishing, free diving, rock climbing, and wilderness exploration, chess and online gaming, the statement reads.

"David did not let this incident define him," the family said. "He returned to UT Knoxville to complete his economics degree and further refined his programming skills by helping his local community. He first volunteered his expertise to Tennessee Voices for Children, a child advocacy non-profit group. Later, he moved to California and worked to develop facial recognition software that could identify children at risk of abuse."

Before stepping into the national spotlight, Kernell graduated in 2006 from Germantown High, where two years earlier he won the Tennessee Open Scholastic Chess Championship.

Kernell, who read that Palin may have conducted official business as governor of Alaska on her personal account, failed to find politically damaging information about Palin, who was Sen. John McCain's running mate at the time of the hacking.

The case earned the younger Kernell searing criticism from Palin and her fans, with Palin comparing the hacking to Watergate, the 1972 break-in at the Democratic National Committee that gradually led to President Richard Nixon's resignation. At the trial, Palin described the hacking as "the most disruptive and discouraging" moment of the campaign.

But federal jurors and a judge took a softer view of the infiltration. In 2010, after all but one of the felony charges were dropped, he served 10 months in a minimum-security prison for obstruction of justice after destroying evidence from his computer.

He also was convicted of a misdemeanor for illegally accessing Palin's email. Between all the charges, Kernell had faced a maximum of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years probation.

After exiting prison in 2011, Kernell was released from U.S. Probation Office supervision in 2013.

Wade Davies, a Knoxville attorney who represented Kernell in the case, declined to comment, saying he wanted to speak to Kernell's mother first. Davies argued during the trial that what Kernell did was closer to a prank — and one that wouldn't have been prosecuted as zealously if the victim hadn't been a rising Republican star.

Allan Bogle, host of the program Into the Deep on radio station WEVL FM 89.9, said he knew Kernell through the Memphis Chess Club and that he grew up to be a "very smart guy." Bogle said Kernell used the same "Rubico" pseudonym to post Palin's information on 4chan as he used to play Bogle in online chess.

"For a brief period of time he was the most famous chess player in the country," Bogle said of the coverage of the Palin scandal.

Rep. Jim Coley, Barlett Republican and family friend, said David was a good man, like his father and grandfather, Sam Kernell, who fought in both World War II and the Korean War.

"David picked up his good virtues from his father and his grandfather," Coley said. "I was very sorry to learn about David's death."

A memorial service will be held from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday at the Memphis Botanic Garden, 750 Cherry. Services were also being planned in Newport Beach, California.

Donations in lieu of flowers may be sent to Memphis Botanic Garden to support the David Kernell Chess in the Garden Fund, a not-for-profit fund supporting outdoor chess playing areas in the Botanical Garden, local chess events and perhaps an annual chess tournament to fund multiple sclerosis research. Donations can be made online at https://www.memphisbotanicgarden.com/donate or by calling 901-636-4116.

Endowments in David’s honor were being set up at the Memphis Chess Club, Cedars-Sinai Neurosciences Research Center, and the Tennessee Voices for Children.

Knoxville reporter Jamie Satterfield contributed to this story.

Reach Ryan Poe at poe@commercialappeal.com and on Twitter at @ryanpoe.