Obituaries

Lawyer, wife and father-in-law die when small plane crashes on Labor Day

A well-known Pennsylvania lawyer died Monday, along with his wife and father-in-law, when the small plane he was piloting crashed in North Carolina. Michael Apfelbaum practiced in Sunbury and served as city solicitor there. He was also known for his work as counsel for a charitable foundation and as a…

Sep 8, 2015 4:30 PM CDT

Lawyer convicted in wife-murder said to inspire ‘Fargo’ movie plot dies at home at 88

A Minnesota lawyer convicted of first-degree murder in one of the state’s most notorious crimes died at his home last month. T. Eugene Thompson was 88 years old. He served nearly 20 years for the 1963 slaying of his wife, Carol Thompson, who was fatally beaten and stabbed by a…

Sep 2, 2015 11:40 AM CDT

Civil rights icon Julian Bond dies at 75

Corrected: Former NAACP chairman Julian Bond died on Saturday at the age of 75. The Southern Poverty Law Center announced the death in this post by SPLC co-founder Morris Dees. Bond was the first president of the Southern Poverty Law Center, serving from 1971 to 1979. The cause of death…

Aug 17, 2015 7:05 AM CDT

American lawyer stabbed to death in his home in Venezuela

An expatriate American lawyer was stabbed to death Sunday at his home in Venezuela, in what his son, an attorney in the Miami office of White & Case, says may have been a botched robbery or kidnapping attempt. John Pate, who was in his early 70s, had lived and worked…

Aug 13, 2015 4:15 PM CDT

Ann Rule, leading true-crime author who befriended then-unknown serial killer Ted Bundy, dies at 83

Ann Rule, a leading author of true-crime books who wrote best-seller after best-seller and is credited by her publisher with reinventing the true-crime genre to focus on the underlying human tragedy, has died at age 83. Perhaps best-known for her long-ago friendship, as a then-obscure writer, with then-unknown serial killer…

Jul 28, 2015 1:25 PM CDT

Youth who endured solitary and assaults while awaiting theft trial kills himself after his release

A 22-year-old Bronx man who inspired efforts to eliminate solitary confinement for youths imprisoned in Rikers Island committed suicide on Saturday, about two years after his release from the prison. Kalief Browder had spent three years in Rikers Island, almost two of them in solitary confinement, while awaiting trial on…

Jun 9, 2015 10:42 AM CDT

Once America’s youngest death row inmate, released convict dies in apparent suicide

A 45-year-old former death row inmate released from an Indiana prison in 2013 has died in an apparent suicide, 30 years and two weeks after the murder that sent her to prison. Paula Cooper had received the death penalty for the 1985 stabbing death of 78-year-old Ruth Pelke, who let…

May 27, 2015 9:47 AM CDT

Trailblazing bankruptcy lawyer Harvey Miller dies at 82

Pioneering bankruptcy lawyer Harvey Miller, who founded the restructuring practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges, has died at the age of 82. The cause of death was amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, report the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.), the New York Times DealBook blog and…

Apr 28, 2015 10:42 AM CDT

Son is charged with murder in slaying of criminal defense lawyer

A well-known lawyer in York County, South Carolina, has allegedly been killed by his son. This is the third time in five years that lawyers in York County have been killed, and a loved one suspected. Spartanburg County sheriff’s deputies said Oshyn Cyrus Hinton, 47, was fatally shot in the…

Apr 13, 2015 2:35 PM CDT

‘Obsessively frugal’ lawyer leaves $3.3M to Skid Row charities

A former lawyer for the Veterans Administration who invested in stocks and lived a frugal lifestyle has left $3.3 million to Skid Row charities in his will. Delmer Clarence Kallberg was 98 when he died about a year and a half ago, the Los Angeles Times reports. In a will…

Mar 26, 2015 10:20 AM CDT

Suit says law student died due to faulty equipment for diabetics

A University of Chicago law student found dead in her Hyde Park apartment in 2013 died because she relied on faulty equipment for diabetics, a lawsuit by her estate says. Filed in Cook County Circuit Court, the Illinois suit alleges that Abbie Harper died at age 23 due to erroneously…

Mar 9, 2015 10:40 AM CDT

Former chairman of Pepper Hamilton dies at 72

Former Pepper Hamilton chairman Jon Baughman died Monday at the age of 72. The cause of death was dementia, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. Baughman took over as chairman of Pepper Hamilton’s executive committee in 1992 after its former chairman, John Harkins, left with several other lawyers, the Inquirer says. Baughman…

Jan 15, 2015 10:31 AM CST

Hundreds turn out for funeral of former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo

Hundreds turned out to pay respects to the late Mario Cuomo, who passed away Jan.1. According to the New York Daily News and the New York Times, Cuomo’s funeral, which was held Tuesday at St. Ignatius Loyola Church in Manhattan, attracted hundreds of mourners, including former President Bill Clinton, his…

Jan 6, 2015 5:07 PM CST

Woman who won landmark Mapp case on exclusionary rule has died

A woman who challenged a warrantless search of her home, winning a landmark ruling on the exclusionary rule, has died. Dollree “Dolly” Mapp was believed to be 90 or 91 when she died in Georgia on Oct. 31, the New York Times reports. “Even though Ms. Mapp’s name is etched…

Dec 10, 2014 10:35 AM CST

Attorney Alice Lee, sister of famed ‘Mockingbird’ author, dies at age 103

Alice Lee, reportedly the oldest practicing lawyer in Alabama until recently and the sister of famed author Harper Lee, died Monday after “her heart wore out,” according to a local minister. She was 103 years old. Lee, who began practice in the 1940s in their father’s law office, still was…

Nov 19, 2014 5:45 AM CST