After 28-Year Coma, Sunny Von Bulow Dies

(AP)  Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, who spent the last 28 years of her life in oblivion after what prosecutors alleged was two murder attempts by her husband, Claus, died Saturday at a nursing home in New York.

She was 76. Her death was announced by her children in a statement released by family spokeswoman Maureen Connelly.

Mrs. von Bulow was a living example of romantic notions about high society - a stunning heiress who brought her American millions to marriages to men who gave her honored old European names.

But she ended her days as an ever-sleeping beauty, visited by her children, pampered around the clock by nurses, sometimes conscious but giving no sign of awareness.

She was the offstage presence that haunted her husband's two sensational trials in Providence, R.I.

At the first trial, in 1982, Claus von Bulow was convicted of trying twice to kill her by injecting her with insulin at their estate in Newport, R.I. The verdict was thrown out on appeal, and von Bulow was acquitted at a second trial in 1985.

The murder case split Newport society, produced lurid headlines and was later made into a film, "Reversal of Fortune," starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.

Claus von Bulow is living in London, "mostly taking care of his grandchildren," said Alan Dershowitz, the defense lawyer who won his acquittal at the second trial.

"It's a sad ending to a sad tragedy that some people tried to turn into a crime," Dershowitz said. "I hope this finally will put to an end to this terrible tragedy."

"There are no winners in a case like this. I'm happy to have played a role in getting the criminal conviction reversed, because it was an unjust conviction, but there were no victory parties or celebrations afterwards because there was a woman in a coma," Dershowitz said.

His main accusers were Mrs. von Bulow's children by a previous marriage, Princess Annie Laurie von Auersperg Kniessl and Prince Alexander von Auersperg. They renewed the charges against their stepfather in a civil lawsuit a month after his acquittal.

Two years later, von Bulow agreed to give up any claims to his wife's estimated $25 million-to-$40 million fortune and to the $120,000-a-year income of a trust she set up for him. He also agreed to divorce her, leave the country and never profit from their story.

A sell-off of Mrs. von Bulow's property followed - her oceanfront estate in Newport for $4.2 million, her 12-room apartment on Fifth Avenue for $6.25 million, and the art and antiques from the homes for $11.5 million at a spirited two-day auction.

The government contended that von Bulow wanted to get rid of his wife to inherit a large hunk of her wealth and be free to marry a mistress. The defense countered by picturing Mrs. von Bulow, who suffered from low blood sugar, as a boozer and pill popper who drank herself into a coma.

Von Bulow was accused of injecting his wife with insulin first in December of 1979, causing a coma from which she revived. The second alleged attempt was a year later and this time, Dec. 21, 1980, at age 49, Mrs. von Bulow slipped into an irreversible coma.

Her world was reduced to a private, guarded room in the Harkness Pavilion and later the McKeen Pavilion of Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. She died at the Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home, her family said.

Her doctor testified that the cost of maintaining her was $375,000 the first year, 1981.

No figures were available for the years that followed, but by the early 1990s room charges were up to about $1,500 a day - $547,000 a year, plus another $200,000 to $300,000 for round-the-clock private nursing.

Mrs. von Bulow was born Martha Sharp Crawford in Pittsburgh, Sept. 1, 1931, daughter of utilities tycoon George Crawford, who died when she was 4.

"Sunny," nicknamed for her disposition, was raised by her mother in New York City. She attended Chapin School and St. Timothy's in Maryland, skipped college and came out in 1951.

While touring Europe with her mother, she met Prince Alfred von Auersperg, who was younger, penniless and working as the tennis pro in an Austrian resort catering to rich Americans.

They were married in 1957 and divorced eight years later after she returned alone to New York with their young son and daughter.

On June 6, 1966, she married von Bulow, who then quit his job as an aide of oilman J. Paul Getty.

[meinnv]

And contrary to everyone else''s belief, the current president was not to blame for the incident which occurred back in the early 80''s.

[meinnv]

Yes people die in horrible tragedies everyday. Yet most of them never have a movie about them, as in this case, as it was a unique case.

There are those who are interested in the case, and this story is a "footnote" as it were. It is educational for those who are studying criminal justice, and part of the reason forensic science is so integral to the investigative process.

Someone else may not care, others might. For some it is a histoy lesson, others it isn''t. It is a good wake-up call to make sure to protect yourself going into a marriage if you have anything of value. And, to make certain to get out of a bad situation before it is too late.

[missybelle-2009]

Who cares about the rich and famous?

What have they done for the country that benefits the greater good? It''''s likely that you and your neighbors have done more, yet when was the last time you saw your neighbor''''s obituary on CBS?

I''''m more than tired seeing the media inform us about about the so-called elite.


Posted by cbsblogger at 08:33 PM : Dec 07, 2008

Wow, that is really.... sad-- how do you sleep at night with such bitterness and loathing? Apparently her family cares very much. I hope you have a family who cares about you, if you don''t then I feel for you.

[usclimey]

What a waste of time and money. The hosptal sure made out like a bandit though.

[alindgr1]

It''s all George Bush''s fault

[oneworldusa]

Her husbands were penniless...is there any other real motive for murder other than MONEY????

[cbsblogger]

Who cares about the rich and famous?

What have they done for the country that benefits the greater good? It''s likely that you and your neighbors have done more, yet when was the last time you saw your neighbor''s obituary on CBS?

I''m more than tired seeing the media inform us about about the so-called elite.

[meinnv]

The fact that her husband, according to the evidence attempted to kill her (or at least he had motive or was under reasonable suspicion of) and got by with it was the main story. All CBS is doing is "closing the chapter" on what might be perhaps a good mystery or a case of someone getting by with murder.

As with all good mysteries, you want to know how it ended or the conclusion.

[meinnv]

If it was her own money being spent, then who are we to decide whether or not a plug should be pulled?? It''s her money and her children were in charge. If they were geedy why wait 28 years when there is nothing left?? That makes no sense.

That was not her case. She was in a vegetative state (life support is when you are "artificially" kept alive; blood pumping and breathing for you), she was breathing with a pulse, thus resulting in "sometimes conscious but giving no sign of awareness".

As CBS so nicely and eloquently put (sarcastic eye-rolling) she "spent the last 28 years of her life in oblivion".

CBS, please try to remember you were reporting on someone''s mother and do try to remember that humans do have emotions.

[meinnv]

From what I have been able to gather, this lady was not on life support. According to the article, she was comatose, ergo "sometimes conscious but giving no sign of awareness".

Also, she was, at the time of the comas, worth $25 million to $40 million, and as of the late 90''s room charges were up to about $1,500 a day - $547,000 a year, plus another $200,000 to $300,000 for round-the-clock private nursing; that is maintenance right there. And she apparently had sufficient funds to cover her care. The article says nothing about life support.

She was in what was known as "A persistent vegetative state (PVS) is a condition of patients with severe brain damage in whom coma has progressed to a state of wakefulness without detectable awareness. ". Individuals in PVS are seldom on any life-sustaining equipment other than a feeding tube because the brainstem, the center of vegetative functions (such as heart rate and rhythm, respiration, gastrointestinal activity), is relatively intact.