Wife cleared of murder ‘overwhelmed with emotion’

MSNBC ^ | 4-22-08 | By Bob Considine

[Hacksaw]

Wife cleared of murder ‘overwhelmed with emotion’ Freed widow fears prisons are full of other wrongly convicted people

By Bob Considine TODAYShow.com contributor updated 9:45 a.m. ET, Tues., April. 22, 2008 Having been exonerated of charges she poisoned her Marine husband to death, Cynthia Sommer is out of prison and renewing bonds with her children. But in the back of her mind, Sommer cannot help but wonder how many other wrongly convicted people languish in America’s crowded prisons.

“There are so many people who this happens to, and that’s scary,” Sommer told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer on Tuesday. “That’s a scary thing, that people sit in jail and in prison that have been wrongfully accused, wrongfully charged, wrongfully convicted.”

Sommer, 34, was first accused of poisoning her Marine husband, Sgt. Todd Sommer, with arsenic in order to cash in on his $250,000 life insurance policy.

[Hacksaw]

"They said she used insurance money for breast augmentation surgery and presented evidence of her participation in wet T-shirt contests and intimate relations with some of Todd Sommer’s fellow Marines."

What a skank.

[liberty_lvr]

“There are so many people who this happens to, and that’s scary,” Sommer told TODAY co-host Matt Lauer on Tuesday. “That’s a scary thing, that people sit in jail and in prison that have been wrongfully accused, wrongfully charged, wrongfully convicted.”

And just how the heck would she know that?? Right honey, everyone in prison is innocent - just ask them.

[donna]

After jurors heard the scientific evidence and stories about her frolicking with her husband’s Marine buddies on the night of his funeral...

Those "Marine buddies" should have served some time, too. What a bunch of libertines.

[wideawake]

Of what "natural cause" did this healthy 23 year old Marine die?

What grieving widow has intercourse with several of her husband's "friends" within weeks of his death?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

According to court documents, prosecutors learned last month that some of Todd Sommer’s untested tissue samples had been stored at San Diego Naval Medical Center. They were tested this month in Quebec and no arsenic was found and, as a result, contamination in previous tissue samples was possible.

[bolobaby]

My thoughts exactly. SOOOOOO many people! Let’s have congressional hearings on it!

[xsmommy]

and here i am, thinking how many guilty as sin people get off and get away with murder.

[krb]

Right honey, everyone in prison is innocent - just ask them.

Only guilty man in here...

[krb]

What grieving widow has intercourse with several of her husband's "friends" within weeks of his death?

Apparently the court requires evidence of a crime to throw someone away for the rest of her life. I guess they can't punish people for really bad grieving practices.

[SECURE AMERICA]

Wife cleared?
After reading the entire article I see no indication that she was “cleared”. I see she was released. Certainly mistakes were made in the case or may have been made, but nothing in the article provides evidence that she did not kill her husband.
Often it is easier for the system to let these people go then to do expensive retrials and start new investigations.
She may be innocent and she may be guilty. Nothing in this article proves one way or the other.

[DBrow]

So apparently it wasn’t arsenic.

I bet the state is going to do further tests to see if there is anything else odd in the samples.

[pelicandriver]

IIRC the case was dropped without prejudice. If that’s so, charges could be filed in the future if new evidence emerges.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

I bet the state is going to do further tests to see if there is anything else odd in the samples.

She was tried for murder wasn't she? Even if they find something new, she can't be exposed to double jeopardy.

[Anitius Severinus Boethius]

No, she was already convicted. The DA asked that the case be vacated. The prosecution already took their shot.

[wideawake]

According to court documents, prosecutors learned last month that some of Todd Sommer’s untested tissue samples had been stored at San Diego Naval Medical Center. They were tested this month in Quebec and no arsenic was found and, as a result, contamination in previous tissue samples was possible.

So why did he die? His death occurred under extremely strange circumstances.

Apparently his widow does not care in the slightest why he died, as long as it won't be pinned on her.

What about his family?

[mtbopfuyn]

American prisoners are languishing??? Three squares a day, HBO, medical care, and a free college education is far from languishing.

[Anonymous Rex]

In my opinion she’s just a whore that got away with murder.

[Hacksaw]

Three squares a day, HBO, medical care, and a free college education is far from languishing.

Don't forget internet access.

[Pan_Yans Wife]

From the interview that I saw this morning, the crux is the tissue samples. It is now believed that the lab made an error and the samples that were tested were compromised. That is why the case has been overturned.

[wideawake]

I guess they can't punish people for really bad grieving practices.

It's not a matter of punishing her behavior - it is a matter of evaluating the behavior in the context of events.

There is as yet no satisfactory explanation of how Todd Sommer died.

What we do have is a wife with a fat insurance check who could not wait until her husband was in the ground to party like a rockstar, a wife who fled California once she heard that the police wanted to ask her questions about her husband's death and then fought extradition, a wife who was $23,000 in debt but who scheduled $6,000 of breast enlargement surgery for herself days before her husband died, a wife who has no apparent interest in the exact circumstances of her husband's death.