CONVICTION OVERTURNED CA - Sgt. Todd Sommer, 23, fatally poisoned, San Diego, 18 Feb 2002

[Soulmagent]

Arsenic poisoning can show up for years in the victims fingernails even after death. Scientist have been able to show arsenic poison on victims who have been dead for 75 years. Hard to believe a simple arsenic case would be so hard to prove if it was in fact a murder as not all doses of arsenic will kill a person. I do not think they had a case because she did not kill her husband.
My friends husband died and she took and shopped all her life insurance money away too 150,000. New car ,gym membership, sold the house bought a double wide, new clothes all new furniture, even had the realtor clean all her old stuff out of the house ,pictures everything. I was floored ,couldnt imagine it. They were married 15 years and I know she didnt killl him. I worried about her to the point of asking about it all and her reply was she didnt want anything from the past to remind her of what she lost. I didnt worry about her actions anymore. You really just never know how people will cope with losses like that.

 

[kanzz]

Wow, Yeah, kinda makes you wonder if not guilt, then def. nothing but tacky. A commenter made a really good point in the article, she was awarded 20 mil in a suit? or the lawyer is trying for that? and it's cause she missed raising her kids 2 years, but yet, here she is...on the red carpet...telling her story like crazy...asking for photo's to be taken...blah, just a little icky to me.

No, she has not been awarded any money. The suit was just filed Sept 24.

The author takes things out of context - once again going for the salacious, and once again the readership swallows it. Since she was just in court the day before and the case was all over the San Diego media - both print and television - you'd think he would have known who she was.

Try putting yourself in her shoes. It might shed a different light on the subject. Just saying.

 

[dgfred]

I have listened many times to the 911 call from the night he died... some things never will sit right with me because of that and her behavior (I know, this is wrong) afterwards. The 911 call, with the fake crying/tone and her wording just seem awfully suspicious to me. Interesting stuff if you want to check out some of this on the 'eyes for lies' sites.

 

[kanzz]

I have listened many times to the 911 call from the night he died... some things never will sit right with me because of that and her behavior (I know, this is wrong) afterwards. The 911 call, with the fake crying/tone and her wording just seem awfully suspicious to me. Interesting stuff if you want to check out some of this on the 'eyes for lies' sites.

Are we forgetting the most important point here? That Todd Sommer was not murdered? What difference does any of the rest of this make?

 

[dgfred]

Are we forgetting the most important point here? That Todd Sommer was not murdered? What difference does any of the rest of this make?

Maybe discussion on a discussion board ... maybe.

 

[mothwings]

Ok, i have an honest question here about the science of the case. I understand that they took multiple tissue samples at the time of death and that there was no trace of arsenic on the recent samples (and on only 1 of the 2 done before?). I have 2 questions.
1) what is the half life of aresenic. In other words, would small amounts of arsenic still be identifiable after 2 years?
2) How does aresenic work. I believe it is a quick death. Is it quick enough that the aresenic would only be detectible in certain organs such as the stomach, heart, lungs, liver etc? If so, does that mean a tissue sample from muscle, skin, kidney, etc would not show traces even if arsenic were used?
3) Do we know where the tissue was collected from that they used for the tests? Were they all collected from the same location/organ?
4) If arsenic were suspected, would specific tissue been collected to test the theory?

My gut is that she is guilty. But, I have to admit something is odd with this scenario. It is easy to say the first evidence was wrong. Perhaps the second evidence was wrong. Or perhaps a lot of the evidence was irrelevent because they didn't have tissue from the best organs to test.

Does someone know more of the really scientific details of this case so that we can all better understand the situation?

I have been watching this trial on courttv.com and remember seeing it years ago on 48 Hours. I also wonder how Todd Sommer died. Why did arsenic show up to begin with when testing for heavy metals? If arsenic poisoning wasn't the cause of death, then what was?

 

[Maisiebelle]

I have been watching this trial on courttv.com and remember seeing it years ago on 48 Hours. I also wonder how Todd Sommer died. Why did arsenic show up to begin with when testing for heavy metals? If arsenic poisoning wasn't the cause of death, then what was?

I have just finished watching this trial too. Something about the 911 call stood out to me. I think I read somewhere that a 911 call starts to record before the call is even answered. If you listen to the recording you can hear her shouting “Todd, Todd!” while the call is still ringing and hadn’t yet been answered by the call handler. I doubt she would know that it records as soon as she dials so why was she “acting”?

I didn’t believe she killed her husband. I also didn’t think the state proved their case.

Sometimes healthy people do just die for no reason. I think that’s what happened here. Such a sad and tragic loss.

 

[mothwings]

I have just finished watching this trial too. Something about the 911 call stood out to me. I think I read somewhere that a 911 call starts to record before the call is even answered. If you listen to the recording you can hear her shouting “Todd, Todd!” while the call is still ringing and hadn’t yet been answered by the call handler. I doubt she would know that it records as soon as she dials so why was she “acting”?

I didn’t believe she killed her husband. I also didn’t think the state proved their case.

Sometimes healthy people do just die for no reason. I think that’s what happened here. Such a sad and tragic loss.

I just don't know—her behavior was very callous and the way she moved on so fast after Todd's death—I know this sounds Casey Anthony-ish behavior judgement but I found it strange. The tissue samples can't be trusted no matter the result but it doesn't make sense why Todd was showing these symptoms and then all of sudden dies and tests positive for arsenic. But what is equally puzzling is after the charges were dropped, the defense claims arsenic was not in the tissues to begin with and might have just shown up because arsenic is ubiquitous. I did read about the shady dealings going on with the DA Laura Gunn and Bonnie Dumanis. I am less inclined to find her believable as a convicted felon convicted of child neglect. Yes, it is a very mysteries case. I just wish there was a cause of death.