A Husband's Efforts Came Too Late

New York Times ^ | October 5, 2007 | John Eligon

[yorkie]

Carol Gotbaum was already dead by the time her husband, Noah, made frantic telephone calls to the airport where she had been arrested to try to warn the authorities that she was “suicidal” and “alcohol abusive,” the Phoenix Police Department said on Friday.

According to preliminary information from the Aviation Communication Center at Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, Mr. Gotbaum’s first call was received at 4:39 p.m., a little more than an hour after his wife had been pronounced dead, said Sgt. Andy Hill, a spokesman for the Phoenix police.

The authorities released a statement Friday night saying that they reviewed all phone calls received by the airport after 12 noon on Sept. 28 and confirmed the time of Mr. Gotbaum’s first call. This confirms as well that Mrs. Gotbaum was dead before that first call.

Transcripts of Mr. Gotbaum’s three calls from New York, released on Thursday as part of a police report on Ms. Gotbaum’s death, provide a chilling account of a husband’s efforts to reach his wife. He had last heard from her hours earlier, and she was upset and angry about missing a connecting flight to Tucson, the transcripts indicate.

They show that Mr. Gotbaum grew frustrated because airport operators were unable to give him information about his wife’s status.

During his final conversation with an airport operator, Mr. Gotbaum said: “I have no idea where she is. I haven’t talked to her. All I know is what you’ve told me and what I imagine has happened.”

What Mr. Gotbaum did not know was that his wife was dead...

[donnab]

yep exactly. but then he would have had to make an effort.

[yorkie]

He’s a lib with money and connections, though. That’s as dangerous as a red-neck who wins the lottery, IMHO.

He’s got some high powered lawyers and family ties - he may just take a chunk of Sky Harbor Airport and the Police Department.