Sunny von Bulow dead after 28 years in coma

[Bluebear]

Source: AP

NEW YORK – A family spokeswoman says heiress Martha "Sunny" von Bulow has died after almost three decades in a coma that prosecutors tried to blame on her husband. She was 76.

Spokeswoman Maureen Connelly says von Bulow died Saturday at a nursing home in New York City.

Von Bulow spent the past 28 years in a coma after what prosecutors alleged was two murder attempts by her husband, Claus.

He was ultimately acquitted of charges he tried to kill her by injecting her with insulin at their estate in Newport, R.I.

His trials were among the most sensational of the 1980s.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081206/ap_on_re_us/obit_von_bulow

[davidinalameda]

1. I just saw this story

and got me thinking about the the movie about the trial which was just amazing


I bet some network runs it soon

[NanceGreggs]

2. I hope so ...

I love that movie, "Reversal of Fortune" - also read the book twice!

[TomInTib]

7. You read the book twice?

Is your memory as feeble as mine?

I just read all 600+ pages of "Handling Sin", written by Michael Malone. It was the only book I have read in probably five years. I told my ex about it, as it is one of the funniest and most brilliantly written books I have ever had the joy of reading.

She informed me that we had both read the damned thing about ten years ago.

[Honeycombe8]

8. HAHAHAHA! Now, THAT'S funny! Sounds like something I'd do. nt

[Warren Stupidity]

3. So will some idiot DA now attempt to try Claus for murder? nt

[trumad]

5. Santa murdered someone?

[Honeycombe8]

9. "A strand of jingle bells was found wound around the victim's neck"

"That, coupled with the reindoor hoofprints in the nearby snow, were enough to give the NYPD key clues to cracking the case."

[edbermac]

6. I doubt it, his lawyers tore the prosecution's argument to shreds.

From Claus' Wiki entry:

At the second trial the defence called eight medical experts, all world-class university professors, who testified that Sunny's two comas were not caused by insulin, but by a combination of ingested (not injected) drugs, alcohol, and chronic health conditions. The experts were John Caronna (chairman of neurology, Cornell); Leo Dal Cortivo (former president, U.S. Toxicology Association); Ralph DeFronzo (medicine, Yale); Kurt Dubowski (forensic pathology, University of Oklahoma); Daniel Foster (medicine, University of Texas); Daniel Furst, medicine, University of Iowa); Harold Lebovitz (director of clinical research, State University of New York); Vincent Marks (clinical biochemistry, Surrey, vice-president Royal College of Pathologists and president, Association of Clinical Biochemistry); and(Arthur Rubinstein (medicine, Chicago university).

Other experts testified that the hypodermic needle tainted with insulin on the outside (but not inside) would have been dipped in insulin but not injected (Injecting it in flesh would have wiped it clean).

Evidence also showed that Sunny's hospital admission three weeks before the final coma showed she had ingested at least 73 aspirin tablets, a quantity that could only have been self-administered, and which indicated her state of mind.

[liberalhistorian]

11. Wiki is not a completely reliable, solid

unimpeachable source. Just sayin.'

[liberalhistorian]

10. I don't know, but I have no doubt that he's guilty of murder

and that he got away with it due to his money and position. It wouldn't be double jeopardy, since he was tried on charges of attempted murder and not murder. However, I really don't think they're going to bother with it again, despite the fact that he needs to be held accountable for his actions. At this point, it'd be considered a waste of time and money, unfortunately.

That poor woman, she's finally at peace now and may she continue to rest in peace.

[MaineDem]

4. May she finally rest in peace. n/t

[hadrons]

12. I posted this on youtube a few months ago, Alan Dershowitz on the Claus von Bulow (1986)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_GA1vZSvDA0