Woman Cleared Of Poisoning Marine Husband

(CBS/AP)  A woman once convicted of killing her Marine husband with arsenic to pay for breast implants was cleared Thursday after new tests showed no traces of poison.

Prosecutors who were preparing for Cynthia Sommer's second trial found that previously untested samples of Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer's tissue showed no arsenic. Earlier tests of his liver, presented at the woman's first trial, found levels 1,020 times above normal.

A recently retained government expert speculated that the earlier samples were contaminated, prosecutors wrote in a motion filed in San Diego Superior Court. The expert said he found the initial results "very puzzling" and "physiologically improbable."

The case was profiled in December 2007 by 48 Hours correspondent Bill Lagutta, who reported that the Sommers appeared on the outside to be the very picture of happiness. That is, until the arsenic tests came back. Read the 48 Hours profile.

San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told reporters there was no proof of contamination but offered no other explanation. She said she didn't know how the tissue might have been contaminated.

"We had an expert who said it was arsenic and no reason to doubt that evidence," Dumanis said. "The bottom line was, 'Was there arsenic in Mr. Sommer causing his death?' Our results showed that there was."

Sommer was released from jail Thursday night after two years and four months' incarceration in suburban Santee. She smiled as she walked toward her attorney's Jaguar.

"Hi, honey. I love you," she told her daughter on her cell phone. "I can't wait to see you. I miss you."

Sommer was granted a new trial after her conviction in January 2007 on first-degree murder. A judge ruled in November that she had received ineffective representation from her former attorney.

At her trial, prosecutors argued that Sommer used her husband's life insurance to pay for breast implants and pursue a more luxurious lifestyle.

Her attorney, Allen Bloom, said he felt the evidence was contaminated. "We've said that all along," he told reporters outside the courthouse.

Bloom accused the district attorney of "gross negligence."

"The next time she decides to charge someone with murder in the first degree maybe she should call someone first," Bloom said.

Her former attorney, Robert Udell, said he "never expected this ending."

"Just like I said from day one, it made no sense," Udell said. "It goes to show you there are innocent people in prison."

Superior Court Judge Peter Deddeh ruled last year that Udell erred by allowing prosecutors to introduce evidence about Sommer's partying immediately after her husband's death.

The former attorney has admitted to tactical errors, including failing to call witnesses to adequately rebut prosecutors' theories about the source of the arsenic.

Sommer had faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole if the judge had denied a retrial.

Todd Sommer, 23, was in top condition when he collapsed and died Feb. 18, 2002, at the couple's home on the Marine Corps' Miramar base in San Diego. The couple married in 1999.

Sommer's co-workers testified during the trial that the widow didn't grieve quietly in the weeks after the death. She got her breasts enlarged and, witnesses said, joined wet T-shirt contests at nightclubs and had casual sex with other military men.

When CBS' The Early Show correspondent Hattie Kauffman spoke with her before her retrial, Sommer dismissed notions that she displayed "conduct unbecoming of a widow."

"I don't think this case really has anything to do with my behavior or anything that I did after my husband died," she said. "I think my case really has to do with the fact that there's no scientific evidence that there was even a homicide."

Prosecutors said Sommer wanted a better lifestyle than she could afford on the $1,700 monthly salary her husband brought home and saw the $250,000 military life insurance policy as a way to "set herself free."

Sommer, who moved to Florida after the death, cried on the stand at her trial, dabbing her eyes as she recounted her husband's last moments. She said during cross-examination that she hadn't been able to envision a future with him.

[itraveler99]

When are prosecutors going to start seeking the truth rather than just another conviction??

[Emmy2]

Week after week CBS''s "48 Hours" profiles a case in which there is no evidence, yet a zealous prosecutor manages to get a conviction anyway, because, basically, jurors act like they''re guessing the ending of a fictional mystery story rather than assessing (generally non-existent) evidence. Week after week, we have an elaborate story about why the almost-always-soon-to-be-convicted defendant might have wanted the victim dead. Almost *never*, including tonight''s story (04/18/08), is there any actual evidence. The Supreme Court has just agreed to rule on whether prosecutors can be held responsible for incorrect convictions. I certainly hope so. If it were up to me, I''d include jurors. If jurors thought that they could later serve time for incorrectly convicting someone, they would very quickly learn the meaning of "reasonable doubt" and the difference between "Law and Order" or "CSI", where the prosecutors never put the wrong person on trial, and real life, where cops and prosecutors and victims'' families don''t much care if they convict the *right* person, as long as they convict *someone*.

[stn_sage]

This is one of the strangest murder cases that I recall hearing about.

How does an initial sample presented at the first trial yield a result 1,020 times above normal? And, more recently untested samples show no indication at all?! Contamination? Maybe. Falsified evidence/mistake?

Her behavior at the time sounds consistent with a person who had just murdered their spouse! Certainly not much of a grieving wife!

I don''t think anyone but her & God---or, possibly any accomplice(s)---will ever truly know whether she did it or not! If she did, she served a little time for her crime. If not, then she has reason to be P.O.ed!

[excoachken]

To msgtsteve : Why don''t you try challenging my assertions rather than trying to slander me. If Bush is not to blame for the needless deaths and maming of young Americans by sending them into a battle based upon his lies and deception, who would you blame for this damage to these kids. And, I doubt that you were ever a MasterSgt. except in those comic book that you keep in your closet. Those that I worked with in the Army were much more intelligent and creative than your last posting belies.

[mecury69]

Ugh, why is it never someone''s fault for their own actions? Do we always have to come up with some reason or excuse for our actions and not be held accountable.

It''s terrible what she went through but please let''s not grab at straws and reach so far for an excuse as to expose our undies.

[irliberal]

Yes, the jury decided it was all George Bush''''s fault.

Posted by LibH8er at 04:28 PM

Hehehe... cry more please? :)

[rudy654-2009]

The sad thing is the media ate this up big time and made her out to be a terrible person.

[libh8er]

globlwarning,

Al, does Tipper know you''re unsupervised at the computer again????

[libh8er]

''Woman Cleared Of Poisoning Marine Husband''

Yes, the jury decided it was all George Bush''s fault.

[wakeup60]

Death does the weirdest things to people...people! Having been in the death care business for quite a few years myself, I have witnessed many, many, bizarre reactions & strange behaviors. Even though the activities she went through immediately after her husband''s death were something that the majority of us would not even think of or consider to do whatsoever-Neither would we condone her promiscuous unscrupulous conquests as a way to handle her loss,but just to hang the murder on her without exploring this evidently-unfounded poison allegation and paid for out of his life insurance breast enhancement theory/pretty far fetched.The easiest route is to put the blame on someone to close the case easily and quickly/to accuse and convict the spouse is the way!Looks like a different coroner needs to re-exhume the body and see what really "DID" kill this Marine. Dr. "G" could handle this case.This young mother will go thru enough Hell/as she already has/to raise her "4" children alone, find some peace in her heart without her husband being with her.Good Wishes go to this young woman,her husband''s family, her family and her babies for a fullfilled future.