8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #2

[zippitydoda]

Let's say one of your children killed someone on their way home from a bar after getting into a tiff with you one night. Are YOU responsible for that?

I would suggest that if I knew my child was drunk or under the influence of drugs, and let them drive a car I would be.

 

[rpd113]

But.. we all know that's not what he said.

I watched the full press conference yesterday. What a spectacle. I was waiting for them to say the Bastardis spit the alcohol into Diane's mouth.

How they didn't have the common sense, let alone decency, to start with their sorrow for the other deceased blows my mind.

One thing I found interesting is Barbera immediately starts the presser with "They weren't getting a divorce." Was that the early media speculation? I've read some rumors here and there, but that's it.

 

[voxrock2000]

Well, the thing is, he had no reason to lie about when he went to the camp site after the fact. Everyone was dead who knew or cared about his plans. Its like he was maintaining his alibi out of guilt.

And the way he covered himself too about how the vodka got in the car... 'diane packed the bags, all I did was pick them up and put them in the car.'

wow, just felt a decent size earthquake while writing this post.

 

[rpd113]

And the way he covered himself too about how the vodka got in the car... 'diane packed the bags, all I did was pick them up and put them in the car.'

After saying "I packed up the camper, did what I had to" etc., and stressing how slowly Diane got moving.

 

[Nova]

You've got them mixed up with the Hances again.

No, I haven't. But I said I wasn't sure of the sequence of lawsuits and invited correction. You could have set the record straight (which you still have not done) instead of harping on my past mistake. I've been nothing but gracious to you.

 

[Nova]

In casual conversation, maybe. But in a police deposition following this harrowing accident?

If this were his only inconsistency/lie I might be more inclined to lend some benefit of doubt.

We know people make all sorts of misstatements to police, up to and including false confessions to murder.

In this case, as far as I can see, we're dealing with a reporter's account of what a cop said Dan said.

Plenty of room for error there. Or maybe Dan was in shock and confused, or maybe he was deliberately lying. But until somebody finds a reason for him to lie, I will assume it was just a mistake.

ETA: Never mind. Thank you to voxrock2000 for putting ALL reports of Dan's statements in context. Avoiding statements to the police may just be his lawyer's advice to avoid potential liability in the lawsuits certain to follow. But it seems clear there is something wrong with Dan's account of when he got to camp.

 

[Nova]

Well, the thing is, he had no reason to lie about when he went to the camp site after the fact. Everyone was dead who knew or cared about his plans. Its like he was maintaining his alibi out of guilt.

And the way he covered himself too about how the vodka got in the car... 'diane packed the bags, all I did was pick them up and put them in the car.'

wow, just felt a decent size earthquake while writing this post.

I hope you're okay, vox.

I don't know why Dan gave the wrong day for his arrival at camp, but I can think of some reasons why he might want to hide what he was doing that have nothing to do with the accident.

On the other hand, maybe he was trying to distance himself from the vodka he knows he or Diane packed in the van.

 

[sharkeyes]

....Barbera immediately starts the presser with "They weren't getting a divorce."....

Good catch on that statement, I completely missed hearing it each time I've watched TSWWAD (a total of 5 times so far :banghead I tend to focus on Jay for some reason, I believe her - to a point, but I get a wierd vibe when she's looking at the "medical records" and states "does that say abscess?" and talks about the root canal, etc., her credibility is shaken, IMO, when she entertains the possibility that a tooth problem from 2005 would be a factor in Diane's behavior that day.

I believe Jackie or Warren Hance know something regarding the "why" in all of this. Not that I do not sympathize with their terrible loss; I cannot begin to imagine what they have gone through because of this. However, it would seem to me that either of them would at least say something...yes, I give Jackie credit for the magazine article, I guess I'm just nosey and want to know exactly what was said during the phone conversations, and they have every right to keep that info private, oh well. I sense they are protecting someone (maybe themselves), I don't know, maybe I'd do the same.

On the other hand, Daniel's "I'd marry her all over again," "she was the perfect wife and mother," "that's not true" and "she didn't drink", etc., statements are reminiscent of "methinks [thou] doth protest too much" from Hamlet.

I wonder if Daniel would be willing to submit to a polygraph - not that it would make any difference.....I have to stop watching the doc...damn you On Demand! :maddening:

 

[sharkeyes]

I hope you're okay, vox..

^^^^^This^^^^^ Earthquakes always scare me...even after living in the state that has seizures regularly (CA) for more than 12 years...

I don't know why Dan gave the wrong day for his arrival at camp, but I can think of some reasons why he might want to hide what he was doing that have nothing to do with the accident.

Care to share? I thought about whether he might have been having an affair - idk, doesn't seem like "the type" - I know, I know, ...there is no "type". Then I figured maybe he just needed to go play with his friends (?does he have any?) and be away from Diane for a bit. Anyway, interested to know what your take is (as well as everyone else's).

 

[rpd113]

Good catch on that statement, I completely missed hearing it each time I've watched TSWWAD (a total of 5 times so far :banghead

Ha! I've watched the documentary four times now all the way through. My wife cringes when she hears that haunting piano.

The "they're not getting a divorce" declaration is not in the doc; you have to watch the full press conference, which can be found on TaconicTragedy.com. I recommend it if you are intrigued by the case.

My main takeaway was voxrock is on the right track in talking about how the gas station Tylenol was probably just spin from Ruskin. Seeing him standing up there with the family and churning out the BS lessened my assumption of his impartiality. If you just watch the doc, you could get the sense that he's a neutral party.

 

[Nova]

Good catch on that statement, I completely missed hearing it each time I've watched TSWWAD (a total of 5 times so far :banghead I tend to focus on Jay for some reason, I believe her - to a point, but I get a wierd vibe when she's looking at the "medical records" and states "does that say abscess?" and talks about the root canal, etc., her credibility is shaken, IMO, when she entertains the possibility that a tooth problem from 2005 would be a factor in Diane's behavior that day.

I believe Jackie or Warren Hance know something regarding the "why" in all of this. Not that I do not sympathize with their terrible loss; I cannot begin to imagine what they have gone through because of this. However, it would seem to me that either of them would at least say something...yes, I give Jackie credit for the magazine article, I guess I'm just nosey and want to know exactly what was said during the phone conversations, and they have every right to keep that info private, oh well. I sense they are protecting someone (maybe themselves), I don't know, maybe I'd do the same.

On the other hand, Daniel's "I'd marry her all over again," "she was the perfect wife and mother," "that's not true" and "she didn't drink", etc., statements are reminiscent of "methinks [thou] doth protest too much" from Hamlet.

I wonder if Daniel would be willing to submit to a polygraph - not that it would make any difference.....I have to stop watching the doc...damn you On Demand! :maddening:

I can't imagine Barbera would let Dan take a polygraph. There's no evidence that Dan was culpable in the crash, so why give some examiner a chance to create evidence? (Even though polygraph results are only admissible in the "Court of Public Opinion".)

And as someone with all too much experience with root canals (I've had 3 this month), I agree that if Diane had a painful dental problem, it probably wasn't with the tooth where the roots had been removed.

But maybe Jay doesn't know that.

 

[rpd113]

I wonder whether Dan and Barbera are even on the same page these days, given the report of Barbera embezzling Diane's life insurance money.

Any lawyers on the forum? Is there a chance these civil suits can answer our questions about what Dan knew or what was said in the calls between Diane and the Hances?

 

[OrdinaryLife]

As another poster suggested, I also wonder if there was an affair. Given the way it comes across that Diane "snapped", it may have been just enough for her to deal with. Rationally, no. But....

As far as dental issues, it could be very possible that there was no infection, but she may have had a jaw clenching issue. Been there, felt that often (OW!!!!!), and it can be just as painful as having a severe migraine. Nothing would show up as it's muscle related.

 

[Nova]

^^^^^This^^^^^ Earthquakes always scare me...even after living in the state that has seizures regularly (CA) for more than 12 years...



Care to share? I thought about whether he might have been having an affair - idk, doesn't seem like "the type" - I know, I know, ...there is no "type". Then I figured maybe he just needed to go play with his friends (?does he have any?) and be away from Diane for a bit. Anyway, interested to know what your take is (as well as everyone else's).

Yes, I thought of an affair, something he might not want to admit publicly even after his wife's death. I know what you mean about him not seeming the type, but sometimes people surprise us.

I thought maybe he went to a strip club, but I'm assuming such places wouldn't allow him to bring in a dog. Would he leave his dog locked in his truck on a New York summer night? I don't know.

If he were "out with the boys", he might not want to admit it, even after Diane was dead. Particularly not if he feels guilty for going off with his dog and leaving Diane with all the kids. But somehow I think word would have gotten out if he had been with friends the night before the trip. There's been so much talk about this case and his friends AND their spouses would all have to keep quiet.

I suppose he could have been out gambling and then didn't want his family to hear about it, but unless the gambling were something illegal, I don't think there's any great shame attached to it nowadays. Dan could always say Diane knew where he was, now that she isn't around to contradict him.

None of these strike me as obvious and perfect answers, so maybe the best answer is the simplest: Dan was trying to distance himself from Diane in every possible way, in time as well as space. Lying to the police is incredibly stupid, but given the facts, maybe Dan didn't think his own statements would be checked too closely.

 

[Nova]

As another poster suggested, I also wonder if there was an affair. Given the way it comes across that Diane "snapped", it may have been just enough for her to deal with. Rationally, no. But....

As far as dental issues, it could be very possible that there was no infection, but she may have had a jaw clenching issue. Been there, felt that often (OW!!!!!), and it can be just as painful as having a severe migraine. Nothing would show up as it's muscle related.

Wouldn't jaw clenching be likely to show up in the condition of her teeth? (My granddaughter has been having seizures. After her parents noticed one seizure, their dentist said the child's teeth showed wear specific to a history of seizures.)

I don't know if a coroner would check the teeth that closely unless s/he had some information that led him/her to do so. Of course, TV coroners talk about letting the body "speak" and run all sorts of rare tests, but I doubt that's S.O.P. in the real world.

 

[rpd113]

I think the tooth pain thing is a red herring, honestly.

I mean, I can empathize with how much that can hurt if left untreated, I guess, but she still would have made a conscious decision to slam vodka and smoke pot in the stewardship of five kids in a car. Rather than just pulling over and calling for assistance.

If that makes Danny or Jay feel better -- that Diane's can-do, control-freak nature superseded the well being of the kids -- well, good for them. But it doesn't paint Diane in a great light to me.

And that's the most favorable scenario. I think you can make a better case that the crash was intentional.

 

[Nova]

I think the tooth pain thing is a red herring, honestly.

I mean, I can empathize with how much that can hurt if left untreated, I guess, but she still would have made a conscious decision to slam vodka and smoke pot in the stewardship of five kids in a car. Rather than just pulling over and calling for assistance.

If that makes Danny or Jay feel better -- that Diane's can-do, control-freak nature superseded the well being of the kids -- then good for them. But it doesn't paint Diane in a great light to me.

And that's the most favorable scenario. I think you can make a better case that the crash was intentional.

I completely agree. (Except for the part about the crash being intentional; I can't get my mind around that.)

I have had an abscessed tooth that hurt so badly I was almost out of my head. So that would explain the mystery a little if Diane were found to have such a condition. But it wouldn't excuse her for self-medicating with alcohol and then driving, instead of calling someone (the police or a relative) for help.

ETA if she was in that much pain, it didn't come upon her in an instant. She had time to ask Dan to drive the children.

 

[twinkiesmom]

No, I haven't. But I said I wasn't sure of the sequence of lawsuits and invited correction. You could have set the record straight (which you still have not done) instead of harping on my past mistake. I've been nothing but gracious to you.

My recollection is the Bastardis filed suit before Dan sued the Bastardis and Hances. I believe the Hances countersuing the Schulers came last.

I think you've been gracious some of the time...I didn't find your comment lumping all the wimmins here together to be so.

 

[OrdinaryLife]

Wouldn't jaw clenching be likely to show up in the condition of her teeth? (My granddaughter has been having seizures. After her parents noticed one seizure, their dentist said the child's teeth showed wear specific to a history of seizures.)

I don't know if a coroner would check the teeth that closely unless s/he had some information that led him/her to do so. Of course, TV coroners talk about letting the body "speak" and run all sorts of rare tests, but I doubt that's S.O.P. in the real world.

It would depend on how a person clenches. I've cracked a couple of teeth over the years and have a very strong left jaw muscle that has affected my hearing. But, that was over *many* years before it started to show physical wear. Diane was young and it may not have been apparent. Believe me when I say, the jaw pain is horrific (!!!). Doing this is very often a sign of stress...

 

[sharkeyes]

The "they're not getting a divorce" declaration is not in the doc; you have to watch the full press conference, which can be found on TaconicTragedy.com. I recommend it if you are intrigued by the case.

My main takeaway was voxrock is on the right track in talking about how the gas station Tylenol was probably just spin from Ruskin. Seeing him standing up there with the family and churning out the BS lessened my assumption of his impartiality. If you just watch the doc, you could get the sense that he's a neutral party.

Goin to watch that press conference....oh, I had to laugh, my husband can recognize the music in the doc from the other room! "Do I hear the Aunt Diane music?"...."yes, honey..." :loser: