Sunny Von Bulow, the heiress who became the focus of many 1980s' courtroom dramas due to the mysterious circumstances surrounding what may or may not have been attempts on her life by her second husband, Claus Von Bulow, has died at age 76. Sunny Von Bulow had been in a coma for over 20 years.
Found unconscious in 1980, authorities claimed Claus had tried to kill his wealthy wife with an overdose of insulin - not once, but twice. Sunny had a history of drug-use and alcoholism, and had fallen ill at a Christmas gathering. She went into a "persistent vegetative state" due to brain damage brought upon by unknown factors and never regained consciousness. She was kept on life support at the cost of several hundreds of thousands of dollars a year. Prosecutors claimed her husband was to blame. Von Bulow was convicted in the first sensational trial, but it was overturned on appeal. He was acquitted the second time.
Von Bulow divorced his wife after giving up any claim to her inheritance, as well as a trust-fund. He moved to London, where he now writes reviews. The couple had one daughter.
The story was turned into the movie, Reversal of Fortune, based on the book by Von Bulow's defense attorney, Alan Dershowitz. The Von Bulows and the events surrounding them continue to be referenced in pop-culture and media, most notably (recently) in the award-winning TV series, Will & Grace.
© C Harris Lynn, 2008
A rambling melange of pop-culture.
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