Wife Will Stand Trial In Marine's Arsenic Poisoning
By Allison Hoffman, Associated Press Writer - July 12, 2006SAN DIEGO (AP) _ A woman accused of fatally poisoning her Marine husband and using money from his life insurance policy to shop, party and get her breasts enlarged will face trial on murder charges, a judge ruled Tuesday.
Cynthia Sommer, 32, pleaded not guilty in March to charges that she killed her husband, 23-year-old Sgt. Todd Sommer, in 2002 for financial gain.
Prosecutor Laura Gunn described Todd Sommer's death alleging that Cynthia Sommer dosed her husband with arsenic to cash in on the ``Marine Corps lottery'' _ the standard-issue $250,000 life insurance policy provided to all enlisted troops.
``We have the motive, and we have the opportunity,'' Gunn said in her closing argument to the court. ``After (Todd's) death, she acted like she had been set free to be the real Cindy Sommer. But the picture of the real Cindy Sommer isn't pretty.''
Military investigators testified over two days of preliminary hearings before Superior Court Judge Peter C. Deddeh that neighbors said Cynthia Sommer threw wild parties at her home and engaged in casual sex with multiple partners in the months immediately following her husband's death.
According to court documents, she enrolled with an online ``adult dating community'' days before the Marine first exhibited gastrointestinal complaints, a common symptom of arsenic poisoning. Witnesses said she used life insurance proceeds to pay for a $5,400 breast enhancement surgery at a clinic in San Diego's upscale La Jolla area. The surgery was scheduled before her husband died.
Witnesses called by the prosecution described Cynthia Sommer as a chronic overspender who refused to live within a budget. Military investigators said her primary concern in the hours and days immediately following her husband's fatal collapse was on the family's finances.
The defendant received a $250,000 lump-sum payment from Todd Sommer's life insurance policy and a $6,000 military death benefit, as well as $1,871 a month from the Department of Veterans Affairs, authorities said.
Cynthia Sommer's defense attorney, Robert Udell, rebutted the prosecution's case by noting that no conclusive evidence existed to link the defendant to the poisoning.
``After four years they have no evidence _ no piece of paper _ connecting Ms. Sommer with the source of the arsenic,'' Udell said.
Cynthia Sommer was extradited to San Diego in March from West Palm Beach, Fla., where she had been living with her fiance, Ross ``Freddy'' Ritter. The pair met two months after Todd Sommer's death, according to court documents.
She did not speak in court, except to answer a procedural question with a curt ``yes'' to the judge. She wore her hair _ once dyed blonde, but now dark at the roots _ up in a simple ponytail, and appeared in a black pin-stripe suit with a thin band on her left ring finger.
Todd Sommer died Feb. 18, 2002, in his home at Marine Corps Air Station Miramar in San Diego after a trip to Knott's Berry Farm with his wife, their baby, and her three children from a previous marriage.
Witnesses testified Monday that Sommer complained of gastrointestinal upset for more than a week prior to his fatal collapse.
His death was initially ruled a heart attack, but tests of his liver later found levels of arsenic 1,020 times above normal, according to a document filed in Superior Court.
Arsenic is a colorless and usually tasteless poison.
Prosecutors haven't decided whether to seek a death-penalty trial in the case. Cynthia Sommer remains in custody without bond. She is scheduled for arraignment in early August.
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