8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[RSorensen]

I completely agree with all of your post, especially the bolded part! Somewhere on one of these threads I listed all the drugs that were on her prescription drug list as shown on the documentary. I don't recall Xanax being on there, and if you don't have a script it's hard to get... unless she was buying from a dealer, which I doubt. Marijuana is one thing and easier to get, but buying controlled pharmaceuticals is another.

FYI... if you still haven't seen the docu it's only on HBO through tomorrow.

Unfortunately, Xanex is not hard to get. You can buy it online and have it shipped right to your home from any number of "pharmacy" sites. I don't know if she had any, but she could have gotten it fairly easily.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Unfortunately, Xanex is not hard to get. You can buy it online and have it shipped right to your home from any number of "pharmacy" sites. I don't know if she had any, but she could have gotten it fairly easily.

There's no reason to believe Diane used Xanax. This is idle speculation.

 

[Melanie]

Wow - just finished watching the docu-story, and I have to say (without reading all the upthread) that I almost questioned what happened. Then Dr. S came on and even he said it was due to drinking. After watching him at the CFCMA trial, I'm convinced he would find an error if there ever was one. No - even he said there's no getting around the drink.

Interesting that Jay said shortly thereafter "I need about 100 cigarretes" and even her family didn't know she smoked -- and that her family would be suprised".

With that said, wouldn't it be obvious enough that Diane was a closet drinker and she (Jay or Danny) didn't know about it?

IMHO I think Diane had some kind of breakdown and chugged that vodka down, coupled with a joint, and killed herself, her family, and others.

I understand their need to want to make Diane into some kind of martyr, but it's quite obvious (to me at least) what happened here.

The Schulers have a lot of work to do in accepting what happened and to care for little Bryan. I can only wish all families peace.

MOO - thanks.

Melanie

 

[CuriousHousewife]

Btw, Xanax is easy to get AND does not affect most people very much as far as ability to function unless you are taking much more than prescribed dose. Also, Xanax was rx'd for me for sleep, but never touched it, so even if she had rx for Xanax, doesn't mean she wouldn't still need something for sleep. If they're running an extensive drug panel, benzodiazepines, if used over the max dose, even the regular dose will definitely show up. Some tests only pop positive on drugs detected at a certain level, though, and often will not detect therapeutic doses of things.

THC doesn't always show up in blood like many other drugs, but is detected in urine for some time after use, like weeks.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I'm very sorry about the loss of your friend.

See, now THAT makes more sense to me in terms of her mother's influence. I certainly wasn't saying it had no impact (no more than I was saying my father's departure had no influence on us).

It's the theories that have Diane suddenly getting so upset over her mother that after 27 years she suddenly and deliberately decides to kill five children. Not impossible, certainly, but I rather doubt it.

I think the sad thing is here that given the amount of alcohol on board, it could have been something irrational and implausible that set her off on a path to mutual destruction. If she was in a blackout, it would have been her id driving the car.

 

[twinkiesmom]

Btw, Xanax is easy to get AND does not affect most people very much as far as ability to function unless you are taking much more than prescribed dose. Also, Xanax was rx'd for me for sleep, but never touched it, so even if she had rx for Xanax, doesn't mean she wouldn't still need something for sleep. If they're running an extensive drug panel, benzodiazepines, if used over the max dose, even the regular dose will definitely show up. Some tests only pop positive on drugs detected at a certain level, though, and often will not detect therapeutic doses of things.

THC doesn't always show up in blood like many other drugs, but is detected in urine for some time after use, like weeks.

Xanax knocks me out....

It is a very effective anti-anxiety drug...If Diane had it, she wouldn't have needed the pot to relax.

 

[travel888]

Zanax? Diane's autopsy reveals that she was tested for 300 drugs as were all the victims. That has already been ruled out. She was a drinker and pot smoker, no medical experts that have weighed in on this case believe she was a novice to drinking or that she had not been drinking all day or all weekend. Both men were suspect, one for leaving her there and the other for not calling police if he knew she was drunk and had children in the car. There were two hours of phone calls. Neither man cooperated with police, both hired attorneys the day tox report was released. Sometimes things are what they seem no matter how horrific and hard for us to understand. Mistakes cause lives everyday, even innocent ones. The thought of losing children is too much for any of us to comprehend, but it happened and it quite possibly could have been prevented. www.taconictragedy.com

 

[RSorensen]

Zanax? Diane's autopsy reveals that she was tested for 300 drugs as were all the victims. That has already been ruled out. She was a drinker and pot smoker, no medical experts that have weighed in on this case believe she was a novice to drinking or that she had not been drinking all day or all weekend. Both men were suspect, one for leaving her there and the other for not calling police if he knew she was drunk and had children in the car. There were two hours of phone calls. Neither man cooperated with police, both hired attorneys the day tox report was released. Sometimes things are what they seem no matter how horrific and hard for us to understand. Mistakes cause lives everyday, even innocent ones. The thought of losing children is too much for any of us to comprehend, but it happened and it quite possibly could have been prevented. www.taconictragedy.com

I agree with you that Xanax is not an issue here. Diane drank (how much we don't know) and she smoked pot (how much we don't know). I wonder if it is a rule, or perhaps should be a rule on this site, that you don't provide links to sales sites. I'm not not really sure it is appropriate to use this forum to try to sell the Bastardi family book. The site has additional things, however, so perhaps people don't mind.

Can you please provide the names of the medical experts that have "weighed in" on this case or at least the link to the reports they submitted in this case? I, and I am sure others, would really like to see them.
I do not believe that there has been any evidence whatsoever produced to suggest that Warren Hance knew his sister was drunk or that he did not cooperate with police. He called them almost immediately when he believed his sister to be ill and he went to the police station to seek help. He also met with the police after the tragedy. Can you please provide evidence that he did not cooperate other than that in the book it appears you might be attempting to sell? I purchased the book in the hope of finding some answers. Unfortunately, after spending $30 for a book worth about $5, I came away with nothing but accusations without proof from a family as much in denial as Daniel Schuler.

Finally, all such accidents could have been prevented but you can't climb into a time machine and go back. I have seen no real evidence of complicity on the part of any of the people (still alive) involved in this case; if there is some, please put it out there. But, the Bastardi book is definitely not it.

 

[travel888]

first off, I referenced the website not the book; for the available information, such as the toxicology report.For those like yourself that "don't know how much she drank or smoked", take a look and do the research. As for medical experts, two from the Westchester County Medical examiners office, Dr. Case, search CNN they had several, Dr. Baden also on line in a news clip...
As far as Hance; Judge Pirro answers that on the website also. You are misinformed there was NO call from the Hances until after the accident occured. Channel 7 released the 911 calls that were subpeoned; all from callers on the taconic. Hance showed up at the Tarrytown police after looking for Diane; again;it was after the accident. The State Police released a statement that said neither Hance and Schuler were cooperating or forthcoming.If you want proof, call them or look for the police report on line, its in there!The statement appeared in several newspapers from the area. He answered questions about the phone calls briefly with his attorney present after the accident. No time machine necessary, two hours on a cell, it only takes seconds to call 911, longer to regret not.

 

[Melanie]

I agree with you that Xanax is not an issue here. Diane drank (how much we don't know) and she smoked pot (how much we don't know). I wonder if it is a rule, or perhaps should be a rule on this site, that you don't provide links to sales sites. I'm not not really sure it is appropriate to use this forum to try to sell the Bastardi family book. The site has additional things, however, so perhaps people don't mind.

Can you please provide the names of the medical experts that have "weighed in" on this case or at least the link to the reports they submitted in this case? I, and I am sure others, would really like to see them.
I do not believe that there has been any evidence whatsoever produced to suggest that Warren Hance knew his sister was drunk or that he did not cooperate with police. He called them almost immediately when he believed his sister to be ill and he went to the police station to seek help. He also met with the police after the tragedy. Can you please provide evidence that he did not cooperate other than that in the book it appears you might be attempting to sell? I purchased the book in the hope of finding some answers. Unfortunately, after spending $30 for a book worth about $5, I came away with nothing but accusations without proof from a family as much in denial as Daniel Schuler.

Finally, all such accidents could have been prevented but you can't climb into a time machine and go back. I have seen no real evidence of complicity on the part of any of the people (still alive) involved in this case; if there is some, please put it out there. But, the Bastardi book is definitely not it.

BBM - here is the autopsy report. Diane had the equivalent BAC of approximately 10 shots (or 3/4 of a soda can) worth of booze in her system.

Best,

Mel

View attachment schuler,%20diane_report[1].pdf

 

[Nova]

BBM - here is the autopsy report. Diane had the equivalent BAC of approximately 10 shots (or 3/4 of a soda can) worth of booze in her system.

Best,

Mel

View attachment 18637

And that doesn't count what she vomited. The vodka she expelled never got to her bloodstream.

 

[Melanie]

And that doesn't count what she vomited. The vodka she expelled never got to her bloodstream.

True. Was there ever any evidence that she actually vomited? I know one of the witnesses said she bent over (and appeared to get sick) at the rest stop. But I didn't read it as fact (maybe I missed it).

Thanks!

Mel

 

[travel888]

Six grams still undigested in her stomach, vitrous humor of 2.5, which meant at one point she was driving with a 2.5 bac. THC 113ng/ml. Impossible not to know she was drunk. Totally dysfunctional family, all of them, one covers for the other, now seven innocent people dead and you want to discuss her mother leaving at age nine? Add the forensic pyschiatrist from HBO to the list, he ruled out murder/suicide also. Horrific and sad but not a big mystery.

 

[RSorensen]

BBM - here is the autopsy report. Diane had the equivalent BAC of approximately 10 shots (or 3/4 of a soda can) worth of booze in her system.

Best,

Mel

Thanks Mel, but as you can see from my last post, I wasn't suggesting we didn't know how much THC and alcohol was in her system that day - I was responding to a comment that suggested that she was a long term drinker and drank all weekend. I had previously read the autopsy report. The toxicology report attached to the Autopsy report tells us how much was in her system - plenty - that day. But, the autopsy report does not tell us she was a long term drinker or, as was suggested by Travel888, that she had been drinking all weekend. I appreciate your post however, and perhaps the link will give a bit more perspective to those who have not seen it. R

 

[travel888]

1. Posted list in prior response; start with Elizabeth Spratt, search the web; no medical person has ever agreed that a novice drinker could have driven or stayed conscious as long; with her tox screen. Not to mention she just happen to have vodka and pot with her in the car.

2. The difference, which is closer to two hours, would have alerted the state police, put out an amber alert, or maybe allowed the state police to walk across and stop her on the bridge,which is where she sat for their last 8 minute conversation. The difference might have been getting her off the road before she killed seven people. You may assume he did not know. I do not believe that he could not have. Listen to the Jeanine Pirro clip. Before you ask, witnesses saw her vomitting and driving irrationally prior to start of the five calls. The vitrous humor of 2.5 bac was already digested, and more importantly because parents that lose children look for every answer; the desire to know every detail no matter how hard it it to hear is very strong. Not wanting to talk to the police is suspicious. Any questions ask John Walsh!

 

[Nova]

True. Was there ever any evidence that she actually vomited? I know one of the witnesses said she bent over (and appeared to get sick) at the rest stop. But I didn't read it as fact (maybe I missed it).

Thanks!

Mel

I'm not sure now that you mention it, Mel, I may have converted a rumor into a "fact". If so, I regret the error.

 

[twinkiesmom]

I'm not sure now that you mention it, Mel, I may have converted a rumor into a "fact". If so, I regret the error.

Given her BAC and multiple witnesses seeing her "assuming the position" (head below knees outside of car), I would call this more than a rumor.

 

[Lexiintoronto]

A friendly reminder that this is a victim-friendly forum and no sleuthing of fellow members is allowed.

If any loved ones of those who died that day are here - please accept my sincere condolences.

 

[Fairy1]

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but let's please stick to the case. It's emotional and frustrating, but surely we can be respectful to one another.

That said, I do want to point out that Diane was not a petite woman. I'm no expert, so I don't know how body weight factors into BAC results, but it may be worth taking into consideration when reviewing the tox reports.

 

[Melanie]

Of course, everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but let's please stick to the case. It's emotional and frustrating, but surely we can be respectful to one another.

That said, I do want to point out that Diane was not a petite woman. I'm no expert, so I don't know how body weight factors into BAC results, but it may be worth taking into consideration when reviewing the tox reports.

I thought that too. I don't presume to be a doctor, and don't pretend to be one on the internet. After reading the autopsy results, I would expect to see some deficiencies in her kidney, liver, or pancreas if Diane was a alcoholic. Yet the autopsy indicated her organs were unremarkable.

OTOH, alcohol is basically empty calories - so if she happened to be a closet alcoholic, it could be the reason for the additional weight. I don't know what her eating habits were, so I'm merely speculating.

In any case, I do believe the reason for the accident is due to her drinking/pot smoking,

MOO

Mel