Claus von Bulow, Accused of Murdering Heiress Wife Sunny, Dead at 92

[blankenship]

Claus von Bulow, Accused of Murdering Heiress Wife, Dies at 92

Claus von Bulow, the Danish-born socialite who avoided a 30-year prison sentence in the 1980s after he was retried and acquitted of attempting to murder his wealthy wife with insulin injections, has died. He was 92.

He died on Saturday at his home in London, the New York Times reported, citing Riccardo Pavoncelli, his son-in-law.

Von Bulow was embroiled in one of America’s most notorious criminal cases after he was indicted for trying to kill his wife, Martha “Sunny” von Bulow, on successive Christmas vacations in 1979 and 1980 at their seaside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. The heiress, who slipped into comas on both occasions, spent almost 28 years in a vegetative state after the second incident, which two of her children claimed had been deliberately caused by Claus von Bulow. She died in a nursing home in 2008 at age 76.
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[YESorNO]

Claus von Bülow | A Wealth of Evidence | Crime Documentary

 

[CCJD]

Claus, a cad for sure but did he do it? I was born and bred in RI, still lived there when all of this was going on and was totally enthralled by the scandal. The mansion, the money and, of course, the mistress, Alexander Moltke, aka the original Vicky from the gothic soap opera Dark Shadows.

Interesting article about Von Bulow that says, in part:
Among those who continued to support him were late-twentieth-century society fixtures like Mercedes Kellogg (now Bass), Doris Duke and Catherine Guinness.
BBM
Claus von Bülow Dead at 92 - Von Bulow's Life After Trial for Sunny's Murder and Reversal of Fortune

Doris Duke (tobacco heiress) had her own scandal back in the 60s...

Doris Duke and her interior designer Eduardo Tirella were leaving Rough Point in a station wagon to head out to dinner. When Tirella left the car to open the huge iron gates to the estate, Duke slid over to the driver’s seat to pull the car out of the gates. Doris Duke “accidentally” accelerated the station wagon and hit Tirella with the car, dragging him across Bellevue Avenue where he was crushed against a tree, instantly killing him.
.....
Though there were rumors that the pair had been arguing, Doris Duke was not charged with murder and Eduardo Tirella’s death was recorded as an accident with Chief Radice saying “There is no cause to prefer charges against Miss Duke and as far as this department is concerned this case is closed.”
An “Unfortunate Accident” At Rough Point

 

[AC's Grandma]

I also was born and raised in RI and recall watching all the news stories and trial pieces on television during this timeframe. In my opinion he was guilty however I just have to leave it at that because he was acquitted.

 

[LietKynes]

My opinion was always against him. Something didn't smell right.
And he seemed to want to be rid of her, but not though a potentially expensive divorce.
Guess the jury thought otherwise.

 

[GreenOrchard]

I don't think he did it, his demeanour and his (known) actions surrounding the time of the supposed murder are too nonchalant in nature alone for me to perceive him as a guilty individual. That's the perception I think. This is of course reinforced by the fact that the prosecution's initial case was little more than a conglomerate of fallacious affidavits and further circumstantial evidence that was erroneous in nature, especially those "lab" tests.