Sign in to wowOwow

Enter the email address that you used when registering at wowOwow.
The password field is case sensitive. Click here if you have forgotten your password.

Please register for wowOwow

Newsletter subscriptions
Sign up to receive wowOwow's weekly newsletter and get our best picks delivered right to your inbox. Our newsletter content is hand-picked by the wowOwow editorial team and provides the top features, news, and commentary from our site. Subscribing to our newsletter is free and safe. We will never share your email or other information with a third-party without your direct consent.
By registering, you indicate that you have read and agree
with our privacy policy and terms of service.
Home › Money

Brooke Astor Trial | 04/27/2009 9:40 am

Brooke Astor's Son's Trial in Full Swing

Opening statements begin today in the trial of Anthony Marshall who is accused of bilking the Alzheimer-stricken Astor out of millions
By The Staff at wowOwow.com
Anthony Marshall © AP

Opening statements begin today in the criminal trial of the 84-year-old son of beloved philanthropist, Brooke Astor.

Since Astor’s death in 2007, at the age of 105, the legacy she built has been tarnished by tales of greed and excess from within the Astor clan. Her son Anthony Marshall and son’s lawyer Francis X. Morrissey stand accused of taking advantage of Astor’s Alzheimer’s disease to trick the aged, beloved New York socialite into changing her will to benefit Marshall. Both men face charges of conspiracy and scheming to defraud. Marshall is also charged with first-degree larceny for selling one of his mother’s Childe Hassam paintings for $10 million (he netted a $2-million commission).

The trial will likely become a media frenzy — not only because of the large fortune at steak.  The witness list named several world-class leaders and celebrities, including former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, former UN ambassador Kofi Annan and media madame Barbara Walters.

Lawyers for Marshall and Morrissey are expected to argue that Astor was mentally capable of approving the changes to her will, and that Astor loved her son and wanted to reward him financially.

If convicted, Marshall could face up to 25 years in prison.

Read more about: Alzheimer's Disease, Anthony Astor, Astor Foundation, Barbara Walters, Brooke Astor, Business, crime, Family, Finance, Frances X. Morrissey, Henry Kissinger, Kofi Annan, Money, New York, News, Philanthropy, Punishment

12 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

nanchan u

This is one scumbag I would like to see share the cell with Madoff.

By nanchan u on 04/27/2009 10:14 am
roberta wickham
I think Marshall will be acquitted.  Maybe not Morrissey.   It’s too bad this trial has gotten underway before the publication of Michael Gross’s expose on the Metropolitan Museum, since it is the Met that is going after Brooke Astor’s money.  Thanks for being judge and jury, however.  It’s always nice to have a pre-trial conviction.
By roberta wickham on 04/27/2009 7:43 pm
DL Simon
"At steak"?  There was food involved, too?
By DL Simon on 04/27/2009 10:27 am
Gramma J
Teehee
By Gramma J on 04/27/2009 10:41 am
nanchan u
Not for his mother, apparently.
By nanchan u on 04/27/2009 12:38 pm
roberta wickham
His mother was so ill she could scarcely eat, yet Marshall was excoriated for feeding her oatmeal.  He has already been absolved by the judges of any cruelty to his mother.
By roberta wickham on 04/27/2009 7:44 pm
Barbara B
How do people who do this to the elderly and sleep at night.  I had a cousin who did this  to our aunt and we have no proof except that we know he had her change her will when she had demenga to make him the executor. Prior to that when she was in good health she mentioned a different tune about him
By Barbara B on 04/27/2009 11:40 am
Judy K.
Have a cousin who is mentally challenged and, since we have few relatives, some good friends that live locally, have taken care of him and his finances.  Since I live far from this locale I checked in often and trusted these people.  However, money makes people greedy and now lawyers are involved because there seems to be too much money "borrowed" that is reasonable.  Since my cousin is now a senior a lawyer will be appointed ad litem.  There seems to be protection provided for children and seniors but, in between, you are on your own.  She must have had legal representation.  Why didn’t someone speak up if millions were disappearing?
By Judy K. on 04/27/2009 12:07 pm
roberta wickham
Marshall had been managing his mother’s estate for years, and had increased her personal fortune several times over.  So millions were accumulating, and not disappearing.   It is the greedy people at the Met, led by Annette de la Renta — who seems to have been a very competitve surrogate child to Mrs. A — who are claiming that Mrs. A’s money has been improperly treated.  The Met  — a non-profit — paid its director, Philippe Montebello nearly $5 million in salary last year.  http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=akXGHTQh7uRk   So, apparently they are desperate for money.  This is not the first time the Met has tried to screw rightful heirs out of their inheritance.
By roberta wickham on 04/27/2009 7:50 pm
Judy K.
Sounds like a movie plot.  Movie of the week?
By Judy K. on 04/27/2009 11:27 pm
Laura Ward
My 84 year old great-aunt was set up with her youngest 40 year old son and his family to help her live out her last days and he would inherit the house. He had total access to her savings and social security. After five years, we caught them selling the house when the whole thing was set up for her to live in that house until she died. When we told her, she died of a heart attack two weeks later. His two older brothers let him keep the $100,000 house anyway. After all, he had "taken care of her" for five years. During the two weeks she lived, and after this situation was reported, social services never contacted my great-aunt despite their website claims that the elderly will be protected from being financially wiped out. It would have been interesting to find out how long their first contact would have been and if they really do help the elderly.
By Laura Ward on 04/27/2009 1:26 pm
roberta wickham
Any person who takes care of an ailing relative for five years deserves more than a house.   And if they were "caught selling it", then how come the caregiver still has it?
By roberta wickham on 04/27/2009 7:52 pm