Sunny von Bülow

Martha Sharp "Sunny" von Bülow (; September 1, 1932 − December 6, 2008) was an American heiress and socialite. Her second husband, Claus von Bülow (1926−2019), was convicted in 1982 of attempting to murder her by insulin overdose, but the conviction was overturned on appeal. A second trial found him not guilty, after experts opined that there was no insulin injection and that her symptoms were attributable to overuse of prescription drugs. The story was dramatized in the book and film ''Reversal of Fortune''. Sunny von Bülow lived almost 28 years in a persistent vegetative state, from December 1980 until her death in a New York City nursing home on December 6, 2008.

Early life

She was the only child of utilities magnate George Crawford (a former chairman of Columbia Gas & Electric Company)"Martha 'Sunny' von Bulow, at 76; heiress fell into coma 28 years ago."
''Boston Globe''. December 7, 2008. and his wife, Annie-Laurie Warmack. She was born on her father's personal railway carriage in Manassas, Virginia, en route from Hot Springs, Virginia, to New York,"Obituary."
''The Scotsman''. December 7, 2008. for which she was known as "Choo-Choo" as a child before being nicknamed "Sunny" because of her nature.

Upon her father's death, when she was three years old, she inherited a reported US$100 million. Her mother, the daughter of the founder of the International Shoe Company, later married Russell Aitken, a sculptor and writer.

Personal life

On July 20, 1957, Sunny married Prince Alfred Eduard Friedrich Vincenz Martin Maria von Auersperg (1936−1992), the son of Prince Alois von Auersperg and Countess Henriette Larisch von Moennich. He came from a very distinguished Austrian princely family that once ruled over the Principality of Auersperg, but due to the collapse of the Austrian Empire, his family became relatively impoverished. He was her tennis instructor in a Swiss resort.

They had two children together:
*Princess Annie-Laurie "Ala" von Auersperg (born 1958), co-founder of the National Center for Victims of Crime, who married financier Ralph H. Isham, son of diplomat Heyward Isham.
*Prince Alexander Georg Auersperg (born 1959), co-founder of the National Center for Victims of Crime, who uses his surname Auersperg without the ''von'' and married investment banker Nancy Louise Weinberg.

The Auerspergs were divorced in 1965. At that time, Sunny's net worth was over $75 million. Prince Alfred died in 1992 after lingering in an irreversible coma for nine years following a 1983 car accident in Austria.

On June 6, 1966, Sunny married Claus von Bülow, a former aide to oilman J. P. Getty, at the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York City. He was grandson of Frits Toxwerdt von Bülow, Justice Minister of Denmark in the government of Klaus Berntsen (1910–1913) and also came from a noble background.

Together, they had a daughter:
* Cosima von Bülow (born 1967), who married Count Riccardo Pavoncelli.

By 1979, significant stresses and tensions had developed in their marriage, and both Sunny and Claus spoke openly about the possibility of a divorce.

1979 incident

On December 26, 1979, after the family had come together for Christmas at their Newport, Rhode Island mansion, she was found unresponsive and was rushed to the hospital where she slipped into coma but was revived. After days of testing, doctors determined the coma was the result of low blood sugar and diagnosed her as hypoglycemic, warning her against overindulging on sweets or going too long without eating. While no foul play was suspected at the time, Claus von Bülow was later accused of causing this incident by injecting her with insulin. In April 1980, she was again hospitalized after appearing incoherent and disoriented; their doctors reconfirmed she suffered from "reactive hypoglycemia". She was advised to maintain control of the hypoglycemia by following a strict diet, limiting her sugar intake, and avoiding alcohol.

1980 incident

On the evening of December 21, 1980, while celebrating Christmas with her family at their mansion, Clarendon Court, in Newport, Rhode Island, she again displayed confusion and lack of coordination. She was put to bed by her family, but in the morning she was discovered unconscious on the bathroom floor. She was taken to the hospital where it became clear that this time she had suffered severe enough brain injury to produce a persistent vegetative state. Although clinical features resembled a drug overdose, some of the laboratory evidence suggested hypoglycemia. The Court of Appeal ordered disclosure of the notes taken by the Auersperg children's attorney. These showed that Claus von Bülow did not want to terminate life support, as had been alleged.

Because of the increased marital tensions between Claus and Sunny von Bülow in the fall of 1980, her children were suspicious that her brain injury was the result of foul play by him. Her two eldest children persuaded Richard H. Kuh, the former New York County District Attorney, to investigate the possibility Claus von Bülow had attempted the murder of their mother. After the gathering of evidence, Rhode Island prosecutors presented the case to a grand jury who returned an indictment, and in July 1981, he was charged with two counts of attempted murder.

First trial

The case attracted nationwide publicity in the United States. The trial began in February 1982. Evidence presented by the prosecution consisted of circumstantial evidence, imputation of financial motive, extensive testimony by various maids, including Maria Schrallhammer who was a prominent witness at both trials, chauffeurs, doctors, and personal exercise trainers, a black bag with drugs, and a used syringe, reported to contain traces of insulin, found in Claus von Bülow's mansion. There was much evidence of excessive use of sedatives, vitamins, and other drugs by her, including testimony of alcohol and substance abuse problems. Harvard endocrinologist George Cahill testified that he was convinced that her brain damage was the result of injected insulin. Claus von Bülow was convicted.

Appeal

Claus von Bülow hired Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz for his appeal. Dershowitz's campaign to acquit him was assisted by the then Harvard Law School student and later television personality Jim Cramer