Sunny von Bülow Dies in Coma at 76

Heiress' husband accused twice of trying to kill her
By Wesley Oliver,  Newser Staff
Posted Dec 6, 2008 3:17 PM CST

Sunny von Bülow, the heiress whose second husband was twice accused of trying to kill her, died today after lying in a coma for nearly 28 years, the New York Times reports. Von Bülow’s first marriage to an Austrian playboy prince ended in divorce, and she became tabloid fixture in the ‘80s when Claus von Bülow was convicted of attempted murder. He appealed and was acquitted in a second trial.

The high-profile trials, which painted Claus as a greedy, philandering husband, caused a rift among Sunny’s children. They also inspired a book by Alan Dershowitz, which Hollywood turned into the 1990 film Reversal of Fortune, starring Glenn Close. Von Bülow, who wasn’t on life support and whose brain showed no signs of activity, was 76.
(More New York stories.)

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