8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway

[bogeygal]

Pressers over

Hubby said he "never saw her drink since the day he met her."

Woke up wife that morning around 7am to get packed and she woke up the kids and got them ready. He and his wife had 2 cups of coffee and he kissed everyone goodbye.

About the Vodka, husband said he didn't know where it came from.

Believes she had a medical condition or a stroke. Mentioned she had a lump on her leg and not sure what it was, but it was "moving". Abscess in mouth and dentist begged her to come back for treatment. had diabeties (various levels).

Not yet decided to have a new autopsy.

Reports of marital problems untrue

Husband: "she was a perfect wife, outstanding mother, I'd marry her again tomorrow."

 

[MCDRAW]

I take that with a grain of salt considering the hubby is trying to avoid prosecution.

This is what drives me crazy in this Country it is always someone else's fault. She drank, she dove, she wrecked and killed people. Now some how it's her husband's fault and he has to avoid prosecution. I really doubt that he knowingly allowed her to drive off drunk with a car load of children.JMO

 

[gaia227]

I've been thinking about the ethical question:

Is someone who gets bombed and drives, but makes it home fine that day, guilty of the same ethical lapse as this woman, who didn't make it and caused 8 people to die?

I guess so.... Something to think about if you ever, or have ever, driven under the influence, huh? I think there are people who are "outraged" at this woman, who have themselves driven drunk or know of others who have. "Sobering," if you will....

I think so. The act is the same just with a different outcome. It is kinda like saying if you make it home driving drunk without getting arrested does that mean it isn't illegal?

I think you make a good point about the nerve this touches in people. It does so because they can see a little bit of themselves in Diane and they are projecting their guilt into anger and directing it at her. I know I have driven under the influence and I have the DWI to prove it. However, at the time I had seriously only had two glasses of wine and blew a .09. The legal limit is .08.

 

[Lyn1001]

Pressers over

Hubby said he "never saw her drink since the day he met her."

Woke up wife that morning around 7am to get packed and she woke up the kids and got them ready. He and his wife had 2 cups of coffee and he kissed everyone goodbye.

About the Vodka, husband said he didn't know where it came from.

Believes she had a medical condition or a stroke. Mentioned she had a lump on her leg and not sure what it was, but it was "moving". Abscess in mouth and dentist begged her to come back for treatment. had diabeties (various levels).

Not yet decided to have a new autopsy.

Reports of marital problems untrue

Husband: "she was a perfect wife, outstanding mother, I'd marry her again tomorrow."

If the guy is being genuine, and really had no clue, I feel for him. I believe it's possible he's very much in denial.

If she was diabetic and an alcoholic, that's bad news. Alcohol really messes with your blood sugar. Seh could have typically sounded/felt perfectly normal when she was drunk, but maybe this time it messed with her sugars which is why she actually felt disoriented.

 

[robinparten]

I've been thinking about the ethical question:

Is someone who gets bombed and drives, but makes it home fine that day, guilty of the same ethical lapse as this woman, who didn't make it and caused 8 people to die?

I guess so.... Something to think about if you ever, or have ever, driven under the influence, huh? I think there are people who are "outraged" at this woman, who have themselves driven drunk or know of others who have. "Sobering," if you will....

There but for the grace of God go I...........almost everyone I know has done something that stupid, although I do have to say I was a teenager when I did it, not a wife a mother.

 

[Lexington]

I wonder why Diane's brother wasn't there. Was the SIL who spoke (I didn't see her) the mother of the three girls who died? If they have all these questions, why are they just not having a second autopsy, instead of just thinking about it?

 

[gaia227]

I wonder why Diane's brother wasn't there. Was the SIL who spoke (I didn't see her) the mother of the three girls who died? If they have all these questions, why are they just not having a second autopsy, instead of just thinking about it?

I am pretty sure the SIL was Daniel's sister.

Diane's brother and his family are probably incrediably confused right now and angry. I wasn't surprised to see they were not there. If I were him I don't I would be functional after losing my 3 children especially if the tox. reports stated my sister was highly intoxicated at the time.

 

[robinparten]

If the guy is being genuine, and really had no clue, I feel for him. I believe it's possible he's very much in denial.

If she was diabetic and an alcoholic, that's bad news. Alcohol really messes with your blood sugar. Seh could have typically sounded/felt perfectly normal when she was drunk, but maybe this time it messed with her sugars which is why she actually felt disoriented.

My mother and I are estranged because last year I confronted her about her drinking and how bad it had gotten. My stepfather, who lives with her, completely denies she has a problem. It just blows my mind. I have seen her passed out on her bed with a shot glass tipped over on her stomach, she stashes alcohol all throughout the house and in her car, and he still says she "only has 2 drinks a night, and I have never seen her drunk." Argh, it still infuriates me and blows my mind when I think about it.

 

[Kat]

I think so. The act is the same just with a different outcome. It is kinda like saying if you make it home driving drunk without getting arrested does that mean it isn't illegal?
I think you make a good point about the nerve this touches in people. It does so because they can see a little bit of themselves in Diane and they are projecting their guilt into anger and directing it at her. I know I have driven under the influence and I have the DWI to prove it. However, at the time I had seriously only had two glasses of wine and blew a .09. The legal limit is .08.

I agree with the statements I bolded. It's still illegal for sure. It reminds me of that saying "It ain't illegal unless you get caught". That one always irritated me to no end.

As for my personal reaction so far:

I just heard about this last night on the news. When I heard I did close my eyes and say a prayer for those that lost their lives and my heart is heavy and hurts for them.


I don't know Diane's history. But I see her Husband's comments as one of two things 1. She hid a drug problem from him so well, that he really had no clue as to her usage. 2. Or he was in denial about her drug (I include alcohol as a drug, in my mind) and looked past any clues that might have lead him to that conclusion. Denial ~ especially within a family that has a member that is a drug abuser (or alcoholic) can be so strong that even decades after the user's death, it remains. Either way, he is not responsible for her actions. IMHO.

There are so many "isms" that go with an active addiction that driving drunk isn't a surprise, even risking the safety and welfare of others while doing it. Is it a pass for her? H3ll no. Again, I don't know if she had an addiction, but it sure looks like she did at this point in time.

OT this reminds me of the man that drove into a schoolbus full of children while driving the wrong way on the highway (was in Kentucky). He was drunk too.

Rest in peace sweet Babies. I'm so sorry.

 

[turbosleuthing]

Pressers over

Hubby said he "never saw her drink since the day he met her."

Woke up wife that morning around 7am to get packed and she woke up the kids and got them ready. He and his wife had 2 cups of coffee and he kissed everyone goodbye.

About the Vodka, husband said he didn't know where it came from.

Believes she had a medical condition or a stroke. Mentioned she had a lump on her leg and not sure what it was, but it was "moving". Abscess in mouth and dentist begged her to come back for treatment. had diabeties (various levels).
Not yet decided to have a new autopsy.

Reports of marital problems untrue

Husband: "she was a perfect wife, outstanding mother, I'd marry her again tomorrow."

Perhaps she was diagnosed with something incurable and decided she didn't want to live like that.

 

[robinparten]

Perhaps she was diagnosed with something incurable and decided she didn't want to live like that.

And decided to take all the kids with her? Not likely.

 

[turbosleuthing]

And decided to take all the kids with her? Not likely.

People have done stranger things...........in fact lots of people murder others "If I can't have you, no one will"

When did Websleuths become a place that you could no longer throw out ideas and see how they play out? I've been around quite sometime and I wasn't informed of the new rules..............my bad!!:waitasec:

 

[Native New Yorker]

"Mr. Schuler generally worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, patrolling the Old Bethpage Restoration Facility. That meant that during the week he did not see a lot of his wife, who worked days"

From the article I posted earlier, the NYT....
perhaps their different schedules allowed him to miss signs???



.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/nyregion/06crash.html?hpw

 

[SleuthyMama]

I lean toward the possibility that her husband is very much in denial. I find it interesting that in one of the reports from a few days ago, he was quoted as having told police his wife did smoke pot occasionally and was a social drinker.

Now, at today's presser, per bogeygal, he is saying he "never saw her drink since the day he met her."

 

[robinparten]

People have done stranger things...........in fact lots of people murder others "If I can't have you, no one will"

When did Websleuths become a place that you could no longer throw out ideas and see how they play out? I've been around quite sometime and I wasn't informed of the new rules..............my bad!!:waitasec:

Sorry, didn't mean to come across tersely, of course we are all here to share ideas, etc. It is certainly possible it was an intentional murder/suicide, I just don't tend to think that is likely. But then again, I would not have thought it was "likely" that a woman generally known as a responsible, caring, mother would have 10 drinks and pot in her and drive around with 4 kids in the car.

I will say this - I hope they quadruple-checked the tox reports, and I hope their due diligence is impeccable. Can you imagine how horrible it would be if they messed up the tox reports, or had ones from the wrong person?

 

[grace60]

"Mr. Schuler generally worked the 4 p.m. to midnight shift, patrolling the Old Bethpage Restoration Facility. That meant that during the week he did not see a lot of his wife, who worked days"

From the article I posted earlier, the NYT....
perhaps their different schedules allowed him to miss signs???



.http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/06/nyregion/06crash.html?hpw

I knew I read that somewhere thanks for the link. There is another quote here about her going to a local bar for about 2 years.
http://tinyurl.com/ktxp6t. Who had the kids when she went to the bar? There have to be more witnesses.

 

[Lexington]

I lean toward the possibility that her husband is very much in denial. I find it interesting that in one of the reports from a few days ago, he was quoted as having told police his wife did smoke pot occasionally and was a social drinker.

Now, at today's presser, per bogeygal, he is saying he "never saw her drink since the day he met her."

I don't think that the husband was in denial at all. He might not have been fully aware of just how much she was drinking, but not to know at all "impossible". The press conference was nothing more than a CYA.

 

[gaia227]

They worked opposite hours so really they did not see eachother often. Diane worked days and Daniel works from 4pm-midnight. She was home alone most of the night and I can see how she easily hid an addiction from him. He goes to work, she gets home, starts drinking and by the time he gets home she is already asleep and he is none the wiser.

 

[grace60]

I think so. The act is the same just with a different outcome. It is kinda like saying if you make it home driving drunk without getting arrested does that mean it isn't illegal?

I think you make a good point about the nerve this touches in people. It does so because they can see a little bit of themselves in Diane and they are projecting their guilt into anger and directing it at her. I know I have driven under the influence and I have the DWI to prove it. However, at the time I had seriously only had two glasses of wine and blew a .09. The legal limit is .08.

It's very easy for people to make comments if they have never lived through something like this. We had death threats and never even lived near the person. The internet was not around when ours happened. I could not imagine reading people making horrible comments about our family and not even knowing us. I have to admit I am very confused that the husband says she never drank yet there is a report she was a regular at a bar. There has to be other people to back that story up. If she was going to the bar after work and her husband was at work who had the kids? And what does that person know?

 

[bogeygal]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090806/ap_on_re_us/us_wrong_way_crash

Husband says mother in NY crash wasn't a drinker