NY - 8 Die in Crash on Taconic State Parkway #3

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Not picking on you IB, but what I find most terrible, is that there were 7 more deaths/autopsies because of DS's actions. There is no doubt all of them were innocent victims. If the injuries to her body are upsetting, imagine what happened to the children. I don't give anyone a pass for driving with any type impairment. Have a driver or stay home.
 
IBsleuthin said:
Like so many other people in the US, this case just amazed and astounded me. I wondered about what the husband said, declaring that she never drank, then I realized that maybe he truly did NOT know how much she drank.

For this entire time I keep going back to her trying to buy the Advil or Tylenol. In reading that my guess at the time was many people thought she was having a major headache and then they lept to the idea that she may have been having a stroke.

But after I have thought about this, I've always wondered if she didn't have one or two drinks to begin with and then suffered a diabetic reaction of hypoglycemia due to the alcohol.

As her blood glucose plummeted she had a two fold effect, she was having a major headache due to the low glucose, she became mentally impaired due to both the low glucose and the alcohol and this easily could have lead her to drink more than she ever intended or realized. The more she drank the further her blood sugar went down.

I see the results of the blood screens for alcohol and marijuana but I don't see a blood glucose so far. I will go look now.

Either way, by all accounts this was truly a tragic accident and I highly, highly doubt she did this on purpose.
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The last page of autopsy report had glu 4 mg/dL. Is that her blood sugar level and is it low?
 
Sxvet said:
I disagree that there is no mystery. This woman had never appeared in public completely drunk. Something caused her to behave irrationally and abnormally. By all accounts she was a good mother who loved her children. I have read that she did have a script for ambien. Ambien would make you do things in a dreamlike state especially including drinking alcohol and eating. Alcohol just exacerbates the ambien. My question is did the tox screen check for the metabolites of ambien. Until that is answered I don't believe it can be ruled out. I am amazed how many people on this thread are so ready to crucify this woman based on one horrible event that was totally uncharacteristic of her by all accounts
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I have old scripts in my bedside table for different medications, but I'm not taking anything presently. Why hasn't DS's husband/SIL ask for this test which would remove all doubt if she took ambien or not? Because it wasn't in her system, and it's better to give vague stories about a script for ambien like it's fact and that she actually took it. Why can't we see this script if it exists or the medication pkt itself. This is just too simple. :facepalm:

BTW, who drives around with a bottle of Absolut Vodka in their car? I had a friend who had cask wine in her car, she was an alcoholic who I never witnessed to be drunk, she didn't slur her speech or stagger, no signs whatsoever that she drank. She had built up a high tolerance for alcohol over many years, and I suspect so did DS.

How do we know that this was the only time she drove drunk and high, we don't. I'm amazed you're making excuses for this woman. She didn't make a wrong turn or the tires blew or any other kind of miscalculation.
She chose to smoke marijuana and drink hard liquor. She chose to drive her vehicle onto the road. DS made those decisions which cost the lives of innocent people who had no choice in the matter. JMO
 
Lamima said:
The last page of autopsy report had glu 4 mg/dL. Is that her blood sugar level and is it low?
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WOW! Thank you for finding that. I'm going to look at the autopsy. I'm wondering if it's a typo and suppose to read mmol/L. An actual 4mg/dL blood draw would cause coma and death. It is incompatible with sustaining life to be sure. THANK YOU for finding that!
 
PrimeSuspect said:
I have old scripts in my bedside table for different medications, but I'm not taking anything presently. Why hasn't DS's husband/SIL ask for this test which would remove all doubt if she took ambien or not? Because it wasn't in her system, and it's better to give vague stories about a script for ambien like it's fact and that she actually took it. Why can't we see this script if it exists or the medication pkt itself. This is just too simple. :facepalm:

BTW, who drives around with a bottle of Absolut Vodka in their car? I had a friend who had cask wine in her car, she was an alcoholic who I never witnessed to be drunk, she didn't slur her speech or stagger, no signs whatsoever that she drank. She had built up a high tolerance for alcohol over many years, and I suspect so did DS.

How do we know that this was the only time she drove drunk and high, we don't. I'm amazed you're making excuses for this woman. She didn't make a wrong turn or the tires blew or any other kind of miscalculation.
She chose to smoke marijuana and drink hard liquor. She chose to drive her vehicle onto the road. DS made those decisions which cost the lives of innocent people who had no choice in the matter. JMO
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(BBM) and that is exactly what bothers me so much about this. Fine if you want to drink yourself to death but these other people were completely innocent in this tragedy. Excellent point.
 
noZme said:
Not picking on you IB, but what I find most terrible, is that there were 7 more deaths/autopsies because of DS's actions. There is no doubt all of them were innocent victims. If the injuries to her body are upsetting, imagine what happened to the children. I don't give anyone a pass for driving with any type impairment. Have a driver or stay home.
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(BBM) Oh I'm right there with you!! I thought about that as I was reading her autopsy. This is just horrific. A friend of mine and I were just talking about addiction and addicts. We both reflected on the fact that most of the addicts we have contact with in our lives are highly self centered. To me this is another case of exactly that. She chose to drink and smoke marijuana as a selfish choice with no regard to the other people. Very sad.

(P.S. I did not think you were making fun and I LOVE your signature line)
 
This has really caught my attention, not in the defense of DS but just in understanding the post mortem blood chemistry better.

I found this link, (thank goodness for Google) http://www.forensicmed.co.uk/science/toxicology/post-mortem-biochemistry/

There is a conversion: Millimoles per litre (mmol/L) of glucose to milligrams per decilitre (mg/dL) = times x 18. Going on the notion that the autopsy contains a typo and that the 4 mg/dl should actually be mmol/L, I took 4 x's 18 = 72. Now, a 72 mg/dl blood sugar is classified as hypoglycemia and I'm sure there are plenty of diabetics on this forum that can jump in this conversation to help understand the symptoms, but a 72 isn't THAT low to explain any real bothersome, life altering symptoms.
 
70 - 110 is typically considered normal glucose levels. If that is correct, it's highly unlikely a 72 would have contributed to the crash.

I wonder if anyone ever clarified that with the ME.
 
You guys are so awesome------love how techie-sleuth this is going!!!!
IIRC-----as per Danny the vodka bottle was a "travelling bottle" (my words for it)---Diane was very frugal and bought a large bottle that was used at their home and taken on weekends.....Danny claims they drank pina coladas-----which as we all know are made with rum and not vodka---they also are sweet drinks and a diabetic would not likely be drinking one at all----and since I have my bartender hat on--its a blender drink--was there a blender in the camper?????
 
hot cawfee said:
You guys are so awesome------love how techie-sleuth this is going!!!!
IIRC-----as per Danny the vodka bottle was a "travelling bottle" (my words for it)---Diane was very frugal and bought a large bottle that was used at their home and taken on weekends.....Danny claims they drank pina coladas-----which as we all know are made with rum and not vodka---they also are sweet drinks and a diabetic would not likely be drinking one at all----and since I have my bartender hat on--its a blender drink--was there a blender in the camper?????
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All of this is true-
 
That traveling bottle story is stupid. If they did that, they'd want to pack it up for the ride home, not shove it under the front seat. Open container laws apply whether you have drank anything from the bottle or not. I suppose Diane wasn't actually drinking the alcohol, she was merely transporting it home in her stomach for safekeeping.
 
Cannot argue that MzOp------I would think it was first packed with the rest of the food stuffs ----then Diane took it out for her use that day. Its a little too big for a cupholder----so she kept it handy, perhaps right behind her seat. That may have really scared the kids.
 
MzOpinion8d said:
That traveling bottle story is stupid. If they did that, they'd want to pack it up for the ride home, not shove it under the front seat. Open container laws apply whether you have drank anything from the bottle or not. I suppose Diane wasn't actually drinking the alcohol, she was merely transporting it home in her stomach for safekeeping.
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The above BBM made me chuckle out loud. I know this is a very serious subject, but it is quite laughable sometimes the things that will come out of peoples' mouths when they are in denial. Unbelievable, really.
 
I watched to USA doc "there is something wrong with Aunt Diane" this morning.....

my take......functioning alcoholic......why on this earth have the bottle up front?? She should have stayed put somewhere and let somebody else drive them home.

Maybe she drank for the pain....then don't drive.....crazy.

sad all the way around....reaLLY.
 
Thats possibly what her brother told her to do...."Stay put. You are drunk".....and she drove off anyway.
Sorry--thats one of the things I want to know--the convo with her brother, what Emma really said and Diane's last convo with Danny...
 
This case has always made me obsessed. I've read everything. This thread, other articles. Just haunts me all the time.

I think Diane Schuler killed herself and those kids. It's so hard to say that, but I really believe it. She went past the crash site, turned around, got on the wrong way, which was a very difficult to get on (it wasn't a straight right up the exit ramp) and then she crashed.

I guess what haunts me the most is those poor kids. They must have been terrified. Screaming. Crying. Oh it just makes me sick.

ETA: We don't know that the bottle was up front from the beginning. She could have gotten it at any point in time while the car was stopped. I think it was her liquid courage. And the weed was her relaxation let's do this.
 
Have the brother and sister in law ever revealed anything about that conversation at all? I haven't been able to read her book. I am not sure I can handle it emotionally to read about the girls as they were very close in age to my own daughters.
 
We will never get a satisfactory explanation for what happened but I wonder if perhaps her husband was right an she was not an alcoholic or even much of a drinker and it was her inexperience with alcohol that got her in trouble.

The autopsy disclosed a perfectly normal liver. My understanding is that even moderate drinking over time leads to some fatty buildup in the liver.

Her use of alcohol that day was totally different from what you would expect from a functioning alcoholic/sneak-drinker. That type of drinker has a pretty good idea how much they can drink without becoming visibly intoxicated. From what is known, she mixed something like 4 to 6 ounces of vodka with fruit juice and drank it very rapidly on an empty stomach causing her blood alcohol to spike. This is the kind of thing a teenager would do. Pot on top of that would make the situation worse. A "functioning alcoholic" who made a habit of this kind of drinking would become a "disfunctioning alcoholic" real fast.

I suspect the explanation was that Diane had a bad headache, perhaps a hang over, and got the bright idea that a quick drink and a little pot would make the drive home a little more pleasant. Pouring the booze freehand and drinking it rapidly on an empty stomach led to a level of intoxication far beyond what she expected.
 
kemo said:
We will never get a satisfactory explanation for what happened but I wonder if perhaps her husband was right an she was not an alcoholic or even much of a drinker and it was her inexperience with alcohol that got her in trouble.

The autopsy disclosed a perfectly normal liver. My understanding is that even moderate drinking over time leads to some fatty buildup in the liver.

Her use of alcohol that day was totally different from what you would expect from a functioning alcoholic/sneak-drinker. That type of drinker has a pretty good idea how much they can drink without becoming visibly intoxicated. From what is known, she mixed something like 4 to 6 ounces of vodka with fruit juice and drank it very rapidly on an empty stomach causing her blood alcohol to spike. This is the kind of thing a teenager would do. Pot on top of that would make the situation worse. A "functioning alcoholic" who made a habit of this kind of drinking would become a "disfunctioning alcoholic" real fast.

I suspect the explanation was that Diane had a bad headache, perhaps a hang over, and got the bright idea that a quick drink and a little pot would make the drive home a little more pleasant. Pouring the booze freehand and drinking it rapidly on an empty stomach led to a level of intoxication far beyond what she expected.
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Many people posting have offered up the observation that it would not occur to a casual drinker (or rare drinker, if one is to believe her husband) to drink alcohol on the drive home to cure some ailment, especially while in the company of 5 young children. It wouldn't even have entered her mind as an option to reject. Rather, that's precisely the kind of thought process that occurs in someone who often uses alcohol to solve problems or numb pain.

As to her liver, she was still pretty young. Her healthy liver does not at all discount the possibility of her being a heavy drinker or alcoholic. Her habit may have developed fairly recently, and her liver would not necessarily show any sign.

Also, if she were drinking habitually at night, she wouldn't have to drink as much as another alcoholic because she was combining it with pot. Abusing both drugs causes a synergistic effect; it takes less alcohol to get you the same level of impairment as someone who is drinking alcohol alone. This would also put less stress on her liver.

At any rate, it's kind of irrelevant. Her being an alcoholic or not doesn't make her actions any less horrific.
 
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