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Brooke Astor's Daughter-In-Law: The Elephant In Courtroom
By
Jen Chung
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 13, 2009
Modified May 13, 2009
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A judge ruled that a 2001 incident where Charlene Marshall complained about mother-in-law Brooke Astor won't be heard by the jury. Marshall's husband, Anthony, is Astor's only son and is on trial for allegedly forging her will to gain $60 million. Astor's social secretary recounted Charlene that ranted, "She's f---ing killing him!"—referring to Astor and her husband—"If he dies before she does, I get nothing!" Prosecutors hoped to enter the statements into the trial, because they says it points to why Anthony Marshall would have wanted to take his mother's money—to sate his wife's greed. The Post reports that prosecutor Joel Seidemann explained it as, "It's all for Charlene. She's in the mix. It's unavoidable. They can say there is no elephant in the room. But there is an elephant in the room." The Daily News' Joanna Molloy uses her column to wonder why the trial is suddenly about Charlene Marshall, the woman who left her minister husband for the heir of Brooke Astor. A friend of Charlene Marshall's tells Molloy, "[Charlene] is an extremely compassionate woman. She's active at St. James Church. She brings Communion to shut-ins ... She listens. She helps people in pain ... She's not a golddigger at all." Brooke Astor didn't much like Charlene, FWIW.
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Anthony Marshall
Brooke Astor
Charlene Marshall
elephant in room
money
trial
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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