4/19/2008
Test clears Todd Sommer’s wife of his murder
Frankly, I am disappointed in this.
SAN DIEGO, April 18 (UPI) — Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband.
Cynthia Sommer was freed from the Los Colinas jail after spending two years and four months behind bars on charges of fatally poisoning Sgt. Todd Sommer with arsenic, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.
In freeing Sommer, prosecutors said the conclusions of a new group of toxicology experts has cast doubt on poisoning as a cause of Sgt. Sommer’s death.
District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told a news conference Thursday “as soon as we had the information that pointed to reasonable doubt, we brought this case this afternoon to get the matter dismissed.”
Sommer, 23, died in February, 2002 after collapsing at the couple’s home at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.
At first doctors said he died of natural causes but tests later found high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.
Court documents said a lab in Canada re-tested Sommers’ tissue samples this month and found no evidence of arsenic.
I’m wondering what tissues were used for this second test–because Sommers was cremated before there were suspicions surrounding his untimely demise. The circumstantial evidence showed her actions were extremely odd for a new grieving widow; just within the first five hours of Todd’s death, she asked about the insurance proceeds four times, if memory serves.
The family was going through financial stress, she was spending money like there was no tomorrow, and had been to a doctor to consult about a boob job the day Todd became sick. How she was planning to pay for it seemed to be quite obvious. They’d gone through Todd’s trust fund money and were relatively broke; spending more monthly than they were taking in. After his death, she went ahead with the breast augmentation, and found other ways to go through the insurance proceeds.
Something still stinks about this.
May 6th, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Why are you disappointed?
The tissues that were tested in April were from specimens preserved at Balboa during the autopsy.
What still stinks about this is how the DA’s office handled this case and didn’t do their due diligence to Todd Sommer. They prosecuted his widow with contaminated evidence, knowing full well that their own experts were baffled by the inconsistent test results, and never bothered to reveal that there were still samples left that could be tested.
Read all about it:
http://www.FreeCynthia.com
May 6th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
Sorry, for some reason the “free Cynthia” crowd reminds me of the anti-death penalty crowd…and those who were objecting to Tookie Williams’ execution.
It will be interesting to see, just like with OJ, if she can keep herself out of trouble in the future, or if she marries another guy who winds up dead after his trust fund runs out.
Remember Audrie Marie Hilley and Women Who Kill At least today arsenic poisoning isn’t as easy to slip by authorities as in 1921.
There are others who think she’s guilty, too…
May 8th, 2008 at 5:50 am
How do you believe she killed him? What evidence supports your belief?
May 8th, 2008 at 5:57 am
I’ve already said the many reasons why. The fact that you ignore all of it isn’t my problem.
May 8th, 2008 at 8:45 am
The things you have stated are reasons why you think she killed him. What I want to know is HOW you think she killed him.
May 8th, 2008 at 1:22 pm
The fact that a 911 call justifies your opinion of guilt just goes to prove that your opinion of guilt was in fact based on the behavior. Whether that behavior is from what you perceive a 911 call sounded like or the actions she demonstrated after Todd’s death, it still has nothing to do with evidence.
If you don’t have arsenic, which is the ONLY reason she was arrested (unless they are lying about that too) you don’t have murder. She could have screwed every marine at that base, spent all of the $250,000 on herself (not just the actual $30,000 that she did spend), she could have faked a hundred 911 calls (I don’t believe there was anything fake about it), she could have spat on Todd’s grave… Without arsenic, there was no murder, therefore she is not guilty. It really is as simple as that.
May 8th, 2008 at 4:20 pm
Why do I have to give you anything? What the hell is your problem?
May 8th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
It would figure that Pia would show up on the “free Cindy” side of this thing…LOL
Miss Moral Relevatism
May 8th, 2008 at 4:42 pm
Hey Cao, we can only hope that the fans of the “Cynthia black widow” will see her or someone like her, find her way into the lives of their brother, son or cousin. That is the only way that, koolaid drinking people who make excuses for people who’s actions tell normal folks all they need to know, ever figure it out. Behavior and actions are “clues”, and any detective worth their salt will verify that. Why was a poor Marine Corps wife even wasting time seeing a plastic surgeon about implants BEFORE Todd’s death? Seems to me she knew she had a windfall coming!
I find the “bleeding hearts for every murderer”, liberals annoying. I hope if I am ever murdered, none of the people sit on the jury at the trial of my killer.
May 8th, 2008 at 10:30 pm
I am most certainly not a “bleeding heart for every murderer”, and I was a strong supporter of the death penalty until 2007.
The point is - Todd Sommer was not murdered. Period.
That fact trumps everything else.
And for those who hope for bad things to happen to people who support anyone who is wrongfully convicted - just know that we would do the same thing for you. Pray you never find yourself suddenly widowed in San Diego County.
I hope if you, HoosierArmyMom, are ever murdered, your jury is filled with the kind of people who saw through all the junk science in this case. We are the same people who would most likely see right through a smoke-and-mirrors defense the same way we saw through the smoke-and-mirrors prosecution in the Sommer case.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:06 am
“I was a strong supporter of the death penalty until 2007″
Isn’t that more like “I wasn’t a moonbat until just recently”.
Cindy lied on the stand, she is a liar, she has no morals, she admitted she didn’t see a future with him, and she probably did it - regardless as to what people like Pia say, LOL…
I don’t think she was wrongfully convicted - I think she was wrongfully set free.
Will we ever know the truth? Only time will tell.
Let’s see if she finds another poor sucker with a trust fund.
There are more people than just me that think this way:
Why I believe Cynthia Sommer is guilty
This last sentence may have been “proven” wrong with “new evidence”, but I am suspicious of this “new evidence” and it doesn’t negate everything else.
They convicted Scott Peterson on the same type of circumstantial evidence…I gather Drew Peterson is in similar hot water over his bizarre behavior after Stacy’s disappearance.
You need to be able to connect the dots between these things in order to prove motive. If you have no motive, you have no case. She had motive, she had opportunity, and my gut tells me she did it.
He had no medical history of problems, and for crying out loud, he was a MARINE–Marines need physical health and stamina -and go through rigorous physical training. If he had some kind of a problem, wouldn’t it have shown up before this?
The whole thing stinks - and the people who are berating me for my opinion should stop and think a moment. You don’t have control over someone’s thoughts or feelings; stop trying to be the thought police in my comments section.
We are free to disagree, the last I checked…
May 9th, 2008 at 6:56 am
kanzz, unless you are the forensic pathologist who ran the tests, you cannot state this young man, in his prime and Marine Corps fit “was not murdered”. I think once again, that the only way people who don’t observe facts and use some common sense will come to the conclusion that sometimes people “get away with murder”… is to lose someone you love, and knowing from all the circumstances, someone got away with it!!! Just ask the family of Nicole Brown Simpson how that feels. The retrial will tell us much I hope. I think poor Todd’s family will have to have him exhumed in order to get proper evidence this time, which will be a travesty, but I bet they will do it to see justice done, either way.
May 9th, 2008 at 8:37 am
per Cao: “She had motive, she had opportunity, and my gut tells me she did it.”
* Did WHAT? Again: Todd Sommer was not murdered.
per Cao: “So in my opinion she is guilty and I hope a second jury will agree with me as the first one did.”
* What second jury? You are expecting another trial? Based on what? Do you know something the rest of us don’t?
per Cao: “Todd’s liver and kidney had levels of arsenic consistent with poisoning.”
* The new test results supercede and invalidate those first results. All of the tissues tested in April came back clear. There was no poisoning.
per Cao: “telling Susan Beach that morning she was over it already”.
* What? Even Susan Beach didn’t say that, and since we all know Susan Beach was wrong when she said she arrived before the MP’s and medics, how can you put any stock in what she says?
* Furthermore, Susan Beach posted on the CTV msg board that the investigators put ideas in her head.
per Cao: “Cynthia pretended to do CPR on him.” and “I believe she waited till he was good and dead before calling for help.”
* Highly unlikely. And there’s more reason to accept that Cindy was doing her best to do CPR than there is to opine that she wasn’t.
- The head is always repositioned when medical personnel arrive on the scene. It’s SOP. Stroud, the ER doc, lied about that on the stand.
- Cindy stood up when she heard medics coming up the stairs to get out of their way.
- The 911 dispatcher was doing absolutely nothing by way of instruction. He sat there like a numbnutz when she asked what she could do.
- When medics arrived, Todd had a faint pulse, agonal respirations, and was warm to the touch.
- Mottling can and does occur hours or days before death, and sometimes occurs in the absence of impending death.
- After Stroud lied about repositioning, her statement about Todd being cool means nothing.
- The monitor showed Todd to be in V-Fib, indicating a very recent collapse, most likely this rhythm had lasted less than 5 minutes. There’s no way he had been down a long time.
per Cao: “If he had some kind of a problem, wouldn’t it have shown up before this?”
* Probably not. That’s why, unless there is a known genetic predisposition, the factors that can cause Sudden Cardiac Arrhythmia (SCA) are usually undiagnosed.
* Other factors to consider about SCA are:
— Todd frequently took Yellow Jackets (Ephedra) – known to cause SCA.
— Todd was prescribed Levaquin - known to cause SCA.
— Todd was taking Potassium supplements – hyperkalemia is known to cause SCA.
Per Cao: “the people who are berating me for my opinion should stop and think a moment. You don’t have control over someone’s thoughts or feelings.”
* I have no desire to berate you for your opinion. I’m simply countering it with the facts.
In the Scott Peterson case - at least we know there was definitely a crime committed. Lacy and Conner didn’t accidentally die. SP is right where he belongs. And Drew Peterson - at least we can hope he is prosecuted to the full extent for his previous wife’s murder and keep praying Stacy is found.
May 9th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
HoosierArmyMom, it’s too bad that even the first tests weren’t performed by a forensic pathologist, but rather by an environmental lab at AFIP.
The new tests were performed by a toxicology lab. The results? There was no arsenic in any of the samples and further testing would be of limited or no utility.
Their report stated that AFIP’s determinations regarding the tissue distributions, were “very troubling and physiologically improbable.”
They went on to say that “some kind of contamination occurred that might be responsible for the discrepancy.”
Based on the totality of the information available in this case - Oh yes I can state that Todd Sommer was not murdered.
What do you mean – “The retrial will tell us much I hope.” ??? What retrial?
And what about this – “I think poor Todd’s family will have to have him exhumed…” ??? What body?
Are you familiar with the facts in this case?
May 9th, 2008 at 2:55 pm
Kanzz says “are you familiar with the facts in the case?”
Which indicates to me that Kanzz thinks he/she is the expert.
So let’s see those qualifications.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:01 pm
And by the way “Kanzz”, maybe you ought to read Cao’s comment a little better.
She provides a link there - and quotes the person at the forum that she linked to, yet you attribute the whole thing to Cao. That is rather daft for a person who claims to be so intelligent.
Are you really that stupid?
Someone provides a link, and then puts something in blockquotes (HTML language - for indenting something) - which indicates she is not writing that part.
Do you require an explanation for everything in order to understand it, and if so, it’s no wonder you’re falling for the ‘free Cynthia’ BS
May 9th, 2008 at 3:07 pm
Sommers is just as guilty as OJ ever was.
And he’s running around free, too.
People are not qualified to have an opinion, according to Kanzz, unless they’re as ‘bright’ as Kanzz is and have mastered insulting the people who disagree.
Sorry bub, we’re all allowed to disagree - it’s a free country.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
To the person hiding behind the name “kanzz needs to read” - what exactly is it you think I need to read?
I am quite familiar with the details of this case… and I never said I was an expert.
Demanding my credentials does not answer the questions:
What second jury?
What retrial?
What body?
Perhaps someone does indeed need to read.
May 9th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
Insults? I haven’t issued any, but I have received some.
examples:
- I find the “bleeding hearts for every murderer”, liberals annoying.
- unless you are the forensic pathologist who ran the tests, you cannot state this young man, in his prime and Marine Corps fit “was not murdered”.
- That is rather daft for a person…
- Are you really that stupid?
- Do you require an explanation for everything in order to understand it, and if so, it’s no wonder you’re falling for the ‘free Cynthia’ BS
So, let me see if I have this right:
YOU are allowed an opinion, but anyone who disagrees with you is not.
YOU are allowed to insult, but anyone who states facts is accused of insulting.
To quote someone upthread:
“You don’t have control over someone’s thoughts or feelings; stop trying to be the thought police…”
May 9th, 2008 at 3:43 pm
When quoting someone does it always need to be accurate?
Cynthia Sommer Gets Two Trials
Pay close attention because I’m going to put this in blockquotes quoted from the link above since you’re too stupid to follow a link:
So as of December 2007, she was going to get another trial. Now watch me do another blockquote (quoting the source linked above because you’re too stupid to know the difference):
/End quote. It is all rather curious. That article says that Cynthia Sommer would get another chance to convince a jury that she was not guilty. And they had speculated what wouldn’t be allowed the next go-round. Is it true, then, that she is permanently free, or is there going to be another trial? I haven’t seen anything about another trial since December, although it was promised that it would be ‘different’ the next time.
There is no body–it was cremated, I think most people who’ve kept up with the story know that. Some say his mother requested it, some say it was something that Cynthia slipped by quickly because nobody suspected her yet.
No matter, the fact is - some of the most damning evidence has been destroyed. Or you could look at it another way - evidence that could CLEAR her was destroyed, and what was left was her stupid behavior, and claiming she knew CPR when she didn’t to make sure he was good and dead by the time help arrived.
And Kwanzz, maybe you ought to quit ‘hiding’ behind the “kwanzz’ moniker - since you’re so quick to accuse others of ‘hiding’
May 9th, 2008 at 4:01 pm
ok kids, party’s over.
May 9th, 2008 at 4:18 pm
In May of 2007, Allen Bloom filed a Motion for New Trial and a Request for Discovery. The following was included in the Request for Discovery:
“Access to all of the body tissues, fluids, or microscopic slides taken from decedent Todd Sommer taken before, after, or at the time of his autopsy which are still in possession of the United States Navy, including all tissues that Dr. Robinson stated that he caused to be preserved and kept…”
After hearing arguments, on November 30, 2007, Judge Peter Deddeh granted the Motion for New Trial based on ineffective assistance of counsel by the attorney who represented Cindy in her first trial. The new trial was scheduled to begin May 14, 2008.
Suddenly, on April 17, 2008, Mr. Bloom received notice that Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn had filed a Motion to Dismiss Without Prejudice. Although the prosecution had not produced any tissues and/or fluids to the defense, they had obtained and tested tissue samples recovered from Balboa Hospital. The results were conclusive - Sgt. Todd Sommer was not poisoned.
A Motion to Dismiss With Prejudice is forthcoming, as well as a request to have Todd Sommer’s death certificate changed.
Cindy is free.
_________________
The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil,
but because of the people who don’t do anything about it. - Albert Einstein
May 9th, 2008 at 4:48 pm
The title of this page, thread, whatever it is called:
“Test clears Todd Sommer’s wife of his murder”
The first line:
“Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband.”
May 9th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
you’re obsessed. Knock it off and find somewhere else to rant …and take your trolls with you.
May 9th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Cindy may be free, but as we’ve said - or at least some of us have said, OJ is, too.
Believe those who are seeking the truth; doubt those who find it.~Andre Gide
The function of wisdom is to discriminate between good and evil.~Cicero