Divorce ‘Would Be in Bad Taste’ : Von Bulow to Visit Sunny, Stay Married
NEW YORK — Claus von Bulow, acquitted this week of charges of twice trying to kill his millionaire wife, says he plans to visit the comatose woman for the first time in four years as a gesture of his love for her and does not intend to divorce her.
Asked by the New York Post if he would divorce Martha (Sunny) von Bulow and marry his companion, Andrea Reynolds, Von Bulow replied: “No. I think that would be in bad taste. No, I feel emotionally very strongly about Sunny.â€
Von Bulow, 58, was found innocent in Rhode Island Superior Court on Monday of twice attempting to murder the heiress by giving her injections of insulin.
Sunny von Bulow, 53, the utilities heiress whose wealth is put at nearly $150 million, remains in a coma at Presbyterian Hospital, where Von Bulow said he intends to visit her. “I feel that a person whom you’ve loved . . . you keep your own photographic memories of happy moments,†he said.
Sunny von Bulow’s two children from a previous marriage, Prince Alexander von Auersperg, 25, and Princess Annie Laurie Kneissl, 27, complained Tuesday that jurors were not allowed to hear evidence presented to an earlier jury that convicted Von Bulow in 1982. The conviction was later overturned on technical grounds.
That jury was told that Von Bulow stood to inherit $12 million in cash and securities plus his wife’s Newport mansion and her New York apartment upon her death.
But a juror in the second trial, Rose Carlos, told a Providence radio station that the prosecution’s case was filled with loopholes and added, “You say he would have inherited $14 million, but if he divorced her and she was such a wealthy woman, I’m sure he would not have come out of this penniless.â€
Von Bulow reportedly receives $10,000 a month from a $2-million trust fund his wife established for him.
More to Read
Sign up for Essential California
The most important California stories and recommendations in your inbox every morning.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.