If you spend time seeking out real world pulp, as we do, you start to develop the crazy idea that money is an almighty corruptor that mutates people into heartless monsters (assuming they weren’t already that way). In the U.S. yesterday, a court case supporting that thesis came to a close when a jury convicted Anthony Marshall, son of the millionaire socialite Brooke Astor, of defrauding his late mother out of her $185 million fortune. Astor had acquired her wealth by wedding John Astor IV, whose family had originally accumulated the riches dealing in furs and opium. She became a leading light in New York City society, writing novels and hosting charitable events. She once said famously, “Money is like manure—it’s not worth a thing unless it’s spread around.” She died in 2007 at age 105, and in her last years developed Alzheimer’s disease.
During that period, her son, with the help of his lawyer, tricked her into altering her will so that he was the sole executor. Anthony Marshall’s trial involved a who’s-who of upper crust NYC witnesses, including newswoman Barbara Walters and politico Henry Kissinger, who told the jury Astor couldn’t recognize guests at her one-hundredth birthday party. The jury also heard sordid stories about how once Marshall got hold of the fortune, he used it to do things like pay the captain of his yacht a $50,000 salary, while refusing to spend $2,000 to install a safety gate to prevent his mother from falling. Marshall’s lawyers countered by calling an astounding 72 witnesses, spending 17 weeks of court time on his defense, but all for naught. Marshall, who is 85, was sentenced to twenty-five years in prison, but may serve as few as one.
