Update: Convicted Wife and Murderer of Marine Released
Remember this case? She was convicted for murdering her husband, a Marine, with arsenic. Well, they've let her out of jail after the D.A. retroactively dismissed the charges against her, thereby vacating the conviction. Story here. Excerpt:
'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.
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After jurors heard the scientific evidence and stories about her frolicking with her husband’s Marine buddies on the night of his funeral, Sommer was convicted of first-degree murder last year and sentenced to life in prison.
But last Thursday, after Sommer had served 876 days, San Diego County District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis unexpectedly moved to dismiss the murder charges.
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During the trial, prosecutors presented motive by citing Cynthia Sommer’s behavior following his death. 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.
In an NBC News report aired during her prison stay, Sommer explained her conduct by saying, “I wanted my husband back and I missed him and I didn’t have him and the closest thing I could have were his friends.”
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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.
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“I think the lesson is that the judicial system is flawed,” said Sommer, who has four children. “I’ve seen more than just myself that this has happened to. I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to be in the spotlight and to be able to have a voice.”
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“What this should end up as is somebody realizing in this case, as it relates to Cindy, the system broke,” Bloom said. “What should really end up in this case is to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”'
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(Can we have a delete comments-without-children option please?)
Of Course She Is Innocent!
Many 23 yo physically strapping male Marines drop dead for no apparent reason all the time!
Hyperbole mode now off.
At least her $250K insurance settlement was probably blown for attorney's fees.
FORENSICS
Man, I'd like to know more about arsenic. What's it's half-life? What tissues did they "not" find it in this time? Where there any other tissues still in the lab (such as hair) from which they could have re-checked the results? She is obvously a scumbag; but, I am curious to know if she is a murderer.