Saturday, December 6, 2008

MARTHA "SUNNY" von BULOW: DEAD AFTER 28 YEARS IN COMA

WEALTH AND GRACE

Martha Crawford “Sunny” von Bulow died after 28 years in a coma.

Sunny von Bulow is pictured during her 1957 wedding to Prince Alfred von Auersperg.

The von Bulow family

In this August 1981 file photo, Martha "Sunny" von Bulow is seen in Providence, R.I. The heiress died Dec. 6 after almost three decades in a coma. (AP File Photo)

Claus von Bulow and companion Andrea Reynolds after von Bulow was found not guilty of attempting to murder Sunny von Bulow. (AP Images)

"Reversal of Fortune," 1990 film about Sonny Von Bulow, her life with Claus Von Bulow, her insulin-induced coma, the attempted-murder trial. This film, starring Glenn Close as "Sunny" von Bulow, and Jeremy Irons as Claus von Bulow, was based on a book by von Bulow's attorney, Alan Dershowitz.

Martha Crawford von Bulow, famed heiress dies at 76
‘Tragic ending’ to von Bulow saga

By Laura CrimaldiSunday, December 7, 2008

The notorious aristocrat at the center of the von Bulow “Trial of the Century” greeted the news of his ex-wife’s death with sadness, his famous lawyer said yesterday.

“It’s a tragic ending to a tragic story,” said Claus von Bulow’s former attorney, Harvard law professor Alan M. Dershowitz. “Claus was falsely accused of something that he didn’t do and I was privileged to represent him. This is not a day for celebration. There are not happy endings in these situations.”

Martha Crawford “Sunny” von Bulow died after 28 years in the coma her husband once was alleged to have caused with insulin injections. He was acquitted in 1985.

Dershowitz said he spoke to von Bulow after news broke about his ex-wife’s death at a Manhattan nursing home. He said von Bulow, now 82, is raising grandchildren, writing occasional theater and opera reviews, and living the life of a “retired old gentleman” in London.

Von Bulow and his only daughter with Sunny, Cosima Pavoncelli, 41, have kept in touch with Dershowitz since 1984, when the Rhode Island Supreme Court granted a new trial in the sensational attempted murder case.

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Her three children, Pavoncelli, Ala Isham, and Alexander von Auersperg issued a statement announcing Sunny’s death.

“We were blessed to have an extraordinarily loving and caring mother. She was especially devoted to her many friends and family members,” the children said.

“We are grateful to our mother’s private duty nurses and to the staffs of New York Columbia Presbyterian Hospital and Mary Manning Walsh Nursing Home, who cared for our mother while she was in a persistent vegetative state for the past 28 years,” the statement said.

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