August 10, 2009 12:40 PM

Paper: Wrong-Way Crash Mom's Husband Had DWI

By
Sammy Rose Saltzman
Topics
Daily Blotter
(AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Daniel Schuler's eyes fill with tears during a press conference in Garden City, N.Y., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009.

GARDEN CITY, N.Y (CBS/AP) Daniel Schuler, the husband of a Long Island mother who killed eight while driving drunk and high, once had his own problems with drinking and driving, according to the New York Post.

While driving from one bar to another on October 14, 1995, Daniel was pulled over by Nassau County Police, according to the paper. Arresting officer John Peelman stopped the white 1991 Plymouth for weaving in and out of traffic and crossing the double yellow line.

A "swaying" Schuler had "glassy eyes" and "impaired motor condition," according to Speelman's police report. Schuler told officers he had already consumed five Budweisers at one bar, but was on his way to a second to continue his drinking, the New York Post reports.

Schuler blew a .113 percent blood alcohol content almost two hours after the initial traffic stop, well over the then-legal limit of .10 percent. As a 24-year-old first-time offender, he was permitted to plea the misdemeanor down to a violation, leading to a 90-day suspension and a $325 fine, according to the Post.

(AP Photo/Schuler Family)
In this undated photo provided by the Schuler family, Diane Schuler poses with her niece Melanie Hance.

The revelation adds another layer of controversy to a story with so many conflicting details. Daniel Schuler, during an emotional press conference Aug. 6, said he had never seen his wife, Diane Schuler, drunk. Family members backed him up; adding they often put their children under the 36-year-old cable executive's care without a thought.

But a toxicology report says Diane Schuler may have had a hidden life that led her to drink roughly 10 shots of vodka and smoke pot an hour before driving nearly two miles in the wrong direction on the Taconic Parkway in Westchester, N.Y. and smashing into an SUV.

The July 26 accident killed eight, including her own daughter, three nieces, and three men in the SUV, Michael Bastardi, 81, his 49-year-old son, Guy, and their friend Daniel Longo, 74. Diane Schuler's five-year-old son was the sole survivor.

PREVIOUSLY ON CRIMESIDER
August 7, 2009 - Crash Mom's Husband: Killer or Victim: Who Was Wrong-Way Crash Mom?
August 6, 2009 - Crash Mom's Husband: "I Would Marry Her Again Tomorrow"
August 5, 2009 - Despicable! Crash Mom Was Trashed


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by DKurk August 13, 2009 2:22 PM EDT
If it's been almost 3 weeks since this horrible tragedy, and as far as I read, since the police, the media, no one has been able to confirm with anyone outside of her immediate family (ie: her husband) that she was a closet drinker, the only other person on earth that could confirm if her husband knew would be Danial himself.

I read an article on women alcoholics that said statistics show women can hide alcoholism easier than men because people expect it less. Especially when they seem to be highly functional. Also, that vodka is the drink of choice for many women alcoholics because you can't smell it on their breath.

A poster on another log stated that Danial and Diane worked different shifts. Her during the day, him at night. Originally, when I first heard about this story, I just absolutely could not imagine that if she was an alcoholic, that the husband didn't know. Now, I'm not quite so convinced. However, if he did know, and still let her leave with both of his children, and three nieces, he's going to have to live with that choice for the rest of his life. Losing his home pales in comparison to what he's living with now.

Not to take away the truly deserved compassion and respect from the Bastardi family, but they may have a hard time proving Danial knew about his wife's addiction. Unfortunately, not only is Danial and Bryan paying for that addiction now, so are two innocent families. Seven innocent people paid with their lives.
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by trhoades123 August 13, 2009 1:42 PM EDT
This is such a tragic event, however I disagree with the Bastardi family placing the blame on the husband. I really do not understand why no one is focusing on the 4 1/2 hours from the time she left the campground to the time of the accident. I drive that should have taken only 1-2 hours. The husband testified she was not drunk when she left the campground, and so did many others. At Mc Donalds a short time later, again testimony she did not appear drunk. From there she had 3 hours to drink that bottle of Vodka in her car, or she may have stopped along the way. No one forced this down her throat. I think it's entirely possible she was a closet drinker and her husband did not know. I know this because my mother was an alcoholic and for many years no one in the family knew and not even her co-workers. She was a police dispatcher and they never knew she came to work with alcohol in her thermis. So YES, it is possible. The other possibility is that this was a suicide. Hair tests will prove if she was a chronic marajuna user. If so I would be more inclined to think she was an alcholic as well. Either way, she alone is reponsible for this tragedy, not the husband. For God's sake this other family should leave him alone, he lost his wife and child too. So many times people want to place blame instead of accepting the reality of what happened. As sad as it is, Mrs. Schuler took the lives of those children, not her husband. Suing him for everything he has left isn't going to bring back the 2 Bastardi men and their friend.
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by buckeyegirl70 August 11, 2009 11:18 AM EDT
You have got to be kidding me!!! Come on CBS ? is this the best you can do? No wonder I can?t stand watching your network. I agree with most comments on here; a DUI 14 years ago hardly sets any type of pattern nor does it prove Diane was a closet drinker. If this is the best dirt you can pull up on him, he should be very proud of the lifestyle he has led thus far.

I also agree with most comments that there is something missing in this story. While I am devastated for the lost innocent souls of this tragedy, I can?t help but wonder. Not one person has come forward and said they had seen this woman drink. Where did she buy the alcohol if she was a closet drinker? Again, not one person has come forward. You can?t really argue with the toxicology reports but still something is missing.

In the meantime, leave her poor husband alone!!!!
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by DKurk August 11, 2009 11:04 AM EDT
This is probably just a long shot, but my husband mentioned something last night when we were talking about this story. When I told him they had stopped at a McDonalds, and the employees said she was perfectly fine while there, my husband questioned if she had something with sesame seeds or poppy seeds on the bun. I've always heard that if a person had eaten these types of seeds before a drug test, you could get a false positive. I don't know if this is a old wife's tale or is in fact true. If it is true,it could explain why the M.E.'s results claim she smoked as shortly as 15 minutes before the crash.

I guess it just doesn't make sense that she would have also smoked pot. Where would she have done it? It's not like she would have risked smoking it in public, and I can't imagine that she would have done it in front of her nieces. Her own children wouldn't have been old enough to realize what she was doing, but the older nieces would. So where would she have been able to smoke it?
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by mackjess1234 August 11, 2009 10:21 AM EDT
OK, I am not even remotely saying that drunk driving is not a big deal. When I was 12, one of my cousin's was killed by a drunk driver. She was on the way home with her newborn baby in the backseat. The baby is fine, but she only got to know her mother for 4 days. This taught me very early on never to drink and drive.

BUT, a DWI FOURTEEN YEARS AGO?? certainly doesn't suggest that his wife was a closet drinker now? Were they even married or know each other that long ago?? My husband got a DUI when he was in college in 2001. He was only 21, and he didn't think he was drunk. I think he blew like .01 under the legal limit, but when its that close the officers can use their discretion. It was one of those alcohol check points, so they were really going for a high # of arrests. Now, he could have turned because he saw the checkpoint, but he really thought he was fine. It was a mistake, bigtime, and I'm glad that the DUI was a wakeup call and nobody was hurt. We don't go anywhere without one of us being the DD for the night, and we discuss it before we go out. On holidays or after weddings, etc, we get a hotel room or make sure we have a cab/limo.

My husband learned from his mistake, maybe this guy did too. If Daniel Schuler got a DWI FOURTEEN YEARS AGO and hasn't been in trouble since, how does this suggest he had a problem?? If I did something stupid and caused a wreck I sure hope my husband wouldn't get blamed because of his infraction.

I'm wondering if they had marital problems and that caused her to do something out of character.
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by DKurk August 10, 2009 4:48 PM EDT
Obviously, the media and everybody else is following this very tragic story closely. If they were able to dig up a DUI on Danial from 1995, I would think in the 2 plus weeks since this horrible accident, someone would have dug up something on Diane being a "closet drinker" or "highly functioning" alcoholic by now.If anyone has, I haven't seen anything written about it. If she truly had that much alcohol and pot in her system, why have they not found one credible person to confirm her addiction by now? With as much alcohol and pot that she was supposed to have had in her system, she did not just decide to drink and get high for the first time on a whim that fateful Sunday morning.

Did she call into work "sick" a lot? Cancel plans on the spur of the moment? Did any of her co-workers, neighbors, her children's playmates parents, ANYONE outside her family circle ever suspect she could have some kind of addiction? I could see where her family may be covering for her now, but you would think someone outside of the family would have seen something. If she truly was drunk and high, there will never be any excuse that can be used to defend either her or what has happened. Four innocent children and 3 innocent men have died.

I'm just saying that unless her entire family is lying, including her poor brother and sister-in-law who lost all of their children, something more had to be going on with her than what we've read in these articles. Every thing I've read on this story stated that Diane was very close to her nieces. I may be assuming a lot here, but I would assume then that she was also very close to her brother and sister-in-law. I just can't imagine if they'd had any inkling she was such a drunk, they would have entrusted her with all of their children. NO ONE is a talented enough alcoholic to be able to keep it hidden from everyone, not long term anyway.
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