Transcript
Ashley Flowers (0:00)
Hi everyone, Ashley Flowers here. If you love the mystery twists and investigations you hear on this podcast, then you are going to absolutely love my new novel the Missing Half Set. Where I grew up in northern Indiana, two young women go missing within weeks of one another. The only trace of them left behind are their cars left abandoned on the side of the road, door open, key in the ignition and police are convinced that their cases have to be connected but they can't solve them and the cases go cold for years. That is until these girls sisters team up and do what police never could. But learning the truth sometimes has grave consequences and this book will have you questioning how far you would go for someone you love. The Missing half hits shelves May 6. Be the first to solve the mystery by pre ordering your copy now@ashleyplowers.com or wherever books are sold.
Netcredit (0:59)
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Kylie Lowe (1:14)
People Thumbtack presents the ins and outs of caring for your home. Out Uncertainty, self doubt, stressing about not knowing where to start in plans and guides that make it easy to get home projects done out word art Sorry. Live laugh lovers in knowing what to do, when to do it and who to hire. Start caring for your home with confidence.
Ashley Flowers (1:42)
Download thumbtack Today at Strayer University, we help students like you go from Is it possible? To Anything is possible by offering access to up to 10 no cost gen Ed courses so you can reach your goals affordably and fast. Visit strayer.edu to learn more. No cost gen eds provided by Strayer University affiliate Sophia. Eligibility rules apply. Connect with us for details. Strayer University is certified to operate in Virginia by Chev and has many campuses, including at 2121 15th Street north in Arlington, Virginia.
Kylie Lowe (2:17)
When a wealthy socialite was found face down and unresponsive on her bathroom floor. She soon slipped into her second coma in a year. This time she would never wake up. Suspicion surrounded the cause of the woman's condition from the very beginning, and that suspicion eventually led to an arrest. But two trials and endless speculation from the public and media later, the question still stands. Did someone attempt to end Sunny's life in order to inherit her fortune? Or was the suspect framed? I'm Kylie Lowe and this is the case of Martha Sonny von Bulow on dark down East. It was the day after Christmas, December 26, 1979 in Newport, Rhode island and something was wrong with 47 year old Martha Sharp Crawford von Bulow. Martha, who went by the nickname Sunny, had declined over the course of the evening and was feeling weak and uncoordinated. So her son Alexander helped Sunny to her bedroom to get some rest. Around 9:30 the next morning, one of the von Bulow's household staff members, a maid named Maria Schrelhammer, heard some concerning noises coming from Sunny's bedroom. Sonny was moaning in her bed, but Maria was unable to wake her up. Maria went to find Sonny's husband, Klaus von Bulow, and insisted that he call the doctor for his wife who appeared to be unresponsive. But Klaus did not jump to call for help. Not at first. It wasn't until 2pm that afternoon when he finally phoned a physician. The doctor wasn't available at the moment, so Klaus left a message. When the doctor finally called back about an hour later, Klaus explained that his wife had been struggling with alcohol use disorder and she had been drinking the night before, though she was unresponsive now. Klaus said that Sonny was up and out of bed earlier that morning. He told the doctor that Sunny was probably just sleeping off the previous night's indulgences. According to court filings, the doctor did not respond to the von Velo house until around 6pm that evening. Sunny's condition had taken a severe turn for the worst. So Klaus called the doctor in a panic and the physician made it there just in time. Sunny was vomiting and gasping for breath before she stopped breathing and went into cardiac arrest. The doctor was able to revive her, but she was rushed to Newport Hospital in a comatose state. Sonny had suffered cardiorespiratory arrest due to massive aspiration of gastric contents and she was near death when she arrived at the emergency unit. Doctors also discovered that her blood sugar was exceptionally and inexplicably low. She was administered large doses of sugar, but her levels stayed low for hours. Thankfully, after a full 24 hours of treatment at the hospital, Sunny finally regained consciousness. Doctors delivered a diagnosis of bronchopneumonia and hypoglycemia of undetermined etiology, meaning there was not an obvious or identifiable cause of the low blood sugar level. With that, Sunny was advised to be mindful of her sugar intake and avoid alcohol and to be careful not to go long stretches of time without eating. The incident was traumatic for Sunny and her family and it was also odd. According to the von Bulow maid, Maria. Some of what Klaus told the doctor on the phone that day wasn't true. Sunny hadn't been up and about earlier in the morning. As far as Maria remembered, Sunny hadn't been drinking alcohol the night before either. If he really did lie, as Maria alleged, why? Why indeed? To unpack the layers of this case, we need to first understand the life and circumstances of the wealthy, internationally known heiress Sonny von Bulow. Martha Sharpe Crawford von Bulow was a presence. She was tall and blonde and elegant and according to CBS News, she earned the nickname Sunny for her sunny disposition. She was born in 1932 aboard her father's private train car to Annie Laurie Crawford Aitken, who came from wealth of her own, and George Crawford, who built the Columbia Gas and Electric Company in Pittsburgh. The utilities magnate died when Sonny was just 4 years old and as reported by Doyle McManus for the LA Times, George left his only child a $75 million estate. Sunny was raised by her mother in New York City and she attended the finest boarding schools before coming out to society as a debutante in 1951. Several years later, while touring Europe with her mother, she met Austrian Prince Alfred von Ausburg. They married in 1957 and had two children, Prince Alexander George von Ausburg and Princess Annie Laurie von Arrowsberg, who went by Allah. The Couple divorced after 8 years of marriage and Sunny moved back to New York with the children the following year. On June 6, 1966, Sonny married a Danish born aristocrat named Claus von Bulow. Claus had studied law at the University of Cambridge and worked as a lawyer in London before becoming an aide to billionaire J. Paul Getty, who founded Getty Oil Company. Klaus quit his job once he married Sunny, though, and they lived off her estate. A year into their marriage, Klaus and Sonny welcomed their daughter, Cosima von Bulow. The family of five lived between two homes which were paid for and furnished with millions of dollars worth of art, antiques and decor by Sunny. There was the 14 room Fifth Avenue apartment overlooking Central park in Manhattan. And then there was Clarendon Court, a 20 room oceanside mansion in Newport, Rhode Island. According to reporting by Bethany Brunel for the Providence Journal, Sonny bought the mansion for $250,000 in 1970 and spent $600,000 in renovations. Most recently in 2021, it sold for $30 million, potentially the highest ever residential property sale in the state of Rhode Island. The mansion was designed by the famous architect Horace Trumbauer in 1904. It features a carriage house and three separate guest quarters. The whole estate sits on over seven acres of land with landscaped lawns, a cobblestone courtyard and panoramic ocean views overlooking Newport's Cliff Walk. High stone walls and an iron gate surround the entire property, which sits on Bellevue Avenue, also known as Millionaires Row. If you've listened to the Dark down east episode about the suspicious death of Eduardo Torella, you're already acquainted with Bellevue Avenue and another of its infamous former residents, Doris Duke. It's hard to say for certain what happened behind the iron gates of Clarendon Court because there are so many contradictory stories gleaned from the pages of endless court filings and testimony. What we do know to be fact is that on the morning of December 21, 1980, a year after the first medical incident that briefly put Sunny into a coma, Sunny was once again found unresponsive on her bathroom floor. On the evening of December 19, 1980, Sunny, Klaus and their daughter Kozima left New York for Newport, where they'd be spending Christmas together as a family. Sunny's son Alexander met everyone at Clarendon Court, and The next day, December 20, he and Cozuma joined their mother for a movie. Before turning in for the night. Alexander chatted with his mother in her bedroom for a while before she went to the bathroom. They continued their conversation later on in the library, and as the mother and son caught up, Klaus poked his head in to see if his wife needed anything. Sunny asked for some soup, and so Klaus went to fetch it. According to Alexander's later court testimony, about an hour into the conversation with his mother, she started feeling weak and seemed to have a lack of coordination. She could barely stand herself up. It was nearly the same scene as the year prior. As Alexander carried his mother to her bedroom. Alexander found Klaus in his study and let him know something was wrong with Sunny and then returned to his mother's room. She had made it to the bathroom herself and walked back to her bed, but was still feeling weak. A few minutes later, Klaus came to check on Sunny and Alexander left the two of them alone. Alexander woke up on the morning of December 21st and looked out the window to see Klaus walking along the ocean. When Klaus returned, Alexander asked his stepfather if Sunny had woken up yet, and Klaus seemed surprised that his wife might still be sleeping. When they both went to check on Sunny, they found her bed empty. She was lying unconscious on the bathroom floor. Alexander watched as Klaus put his finger under Sunny's nose to see if she was still breathing. Her breath was shallow, but she was alive. Klaus left the room to call emergency services, and paramedics arrived a few minutes later. According to reporting by H.G. quigg for United Press International, one of the physicians who treated Sunny when she arrived at the emergency unit that day remembered that she'd been admitted to the hospital about a year earlier with an unusual case of low blood sugar. The doctor shouted for the patient's insulin levels to be tested before any treatment other than oxygen was administered. Sunny's temperature was 81.6 degrees Fahrenheit. That's 17 degrees below normal human body temperature. Her blood pressure was so low it could not be measured, and she was in such a severe comatose state that there was no response when tested for pain. It was one of the most severe cases of coma the doctor had ever seen. The insulin tests came back showing low blood sugar and a comparatively high insulin level. According to the doctor's later testimony, the two different levels don't usually occur in a normal person under normal circumstances. End quote. Further blood tests also showed the presence of amobarbital, a barbiturate with sedative and hypnotic properties. With the insulin test complete, the doctor ordered for intravenous salt and sugar, among other treatments, to stabilize Sunny. But her condition was critical. She'd suffered a severe and irreversible brain injury. Sunny was transferred to a different hospital out of state, but after weeks in a comatose state, she showed no signs of conscious awareness or voluntary behavior. She was not expected to ever regain consciousness.
