Lowey's opening statement rattling on for a couple of uninterrupted hours. Nonetheless the charges, among them that Tony got his mentally impaired mother to deed over her Maine home to him he promptly transferred it into Charlene's name and that he bought a yacht and hired a captain with her money made for riveting listening.
Also charged is Francis Morrissey, 67, an estate lawyer with a checkered past. Morrissey, who sits a couple of seats away from Mr. Marshall at the defense table, is accused of fraud and forgery as Tony's accomplice in altering his mother's will. Yet as egregious as the charges sounded one can't help but ask whether Mr. Marshall's behavior was any worse than other scions whose wealthy mothers threatened to outlive them.
Lowey documented how Mr. Marshall made off with a Tiepolo drawing valued at several hundred thousand dollars from her Park Avenue apartment, leaving nothing behind but an empty space and an exposed nail. But if his mom was really as out of it as prosecutors claim was there that much harm in taking the work of art for his own enjoyment? It was eventually going to him anyway. If some of this stuff seems like inside family baseball that's because it is.
While the prosecutor painted Brooke Astor as a secular saint, all the people of New York are the recipients of her generosity and by deduction now Tony and Charlene's victims, this matter was never intended for public consumption. When Tony's son Philip Marshall alleged in that his father was neglecting his grandmother his desire was only to have her friend Annette de la Renta quietly named her guardian, not to provide fodder for the Daily News and the New York Post.
In a world of swine flu and economic calamity, the mere couple of hundred million that Tony may or may not have stolen from his mother's estate seems decidedly small potatoes.
Having said that the human heart or is it the adrenal gland? There's something almost quaint, even reassuring, about the government taking the time and resources to prosecute a case that hearkens back to a more genteel era of fine silver, fresh flowers, and Hudson River views.
Co-defendant Francis Morrissey, Astor's estate lawyer, was found guilty on all six counts of conspiracy, scheming to defraud and forgery. Morrissey has yet to be sentenced. Marshall's trial has been called the Battle of the Blue Bloods — a fight to the finish over the fortune of the late millionaire philanthropist Brooke Astor. Click here for full coverage of the Astor trial. She died in August at the age of The trial brought to light what prosecutors say was a tragic end for the New York City philanthropist , whose mental state had deteriorated to the point where she could no longer recognize her family.
Marshall was found not guilty on charges of larceny, relating to the controversial sale of Astor's prized Childe Hassam painting, and falsifying business records. The verdict comes as a surprise, after reports of upset jury members and a possible mistrial swirled, as the jury entered its 12th day of deliberation. When Philip filed for guardianship of Astor in , accusing his father of neglect, some of the allegations caught the eye of prosecutors, who charged Tony Marshall on criminal counts of larceny and scheming to defraud.
Marshall claims the charges of elder abuse were unsubstantiated. You really get the sense that was one of the reasons she never really bonded with Tony. Brooke Astor's second marriage to stock broker Charles "Buddie" Marshall was a happy one. Her son took Marshall's name although there still seemed to be little room for him in his mother's life.
David Patrick Columbia, co-founder of newyorksocialdiary. I never want to see him again and if he does come back here and I do see him again, you're going to leave, too,'" Columbia said. And Tony did not speak to his mother until Vincent Astor died. Brooke Astor took control of the foundation in You know, she got Annette de la Renta -- a host of people to follow in her footsteps. Biographer Gordon said, "The foundation gave her a sense of identity.
It gave her a purpose in life. It made her feel like she was doing something more than wearing pretty dresses and going out on the town. Her work continued the Astors' historic legacy, as a family that left an indelible mark on New York -- from charitable donations, to landmarks like the historic Astoria Hotel, built by John Jacob Astor, which later merged with the Waldorf Hotel, the St. Regis Hotel and more. Brooke Astor gave to smaller hand-picked charities. Linda Gillies, who was director of the now-defunct Astor Foundation, said Astor was deeply involved.
She didn't care about the trustees or local politicians. She wanted to see the people who did the work. We never give to anything we haven't investigated thoroughly There was also a personal dimension to her charity work and her character: After meeting a homeless woman in a shelter, Astor was so touched by her story that she gave her one of her own coats. Gillies said, "She empathized with people. That was one of her wonderful qualities.
That immediately she understood them and communicated with them and sometimes it But the emotional bond she had with philanthropy seemed often lacking when it came to her own son. And, in , when she decided she was too old to run the Vincent Astor Foundation, she decided to close it rather than hand it off to her son, Tony Marshall.
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