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The Daily News and NY Times both look at the life of Carol Anne Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor airport over a week ago. She is portrayed as a vibrant woman and loving mother to three children who had become depressed in recent years.
On Friday, September 28, Gotbaum missed a connection to Tucson (where she would check into alcohol rehabilitation) and become very upset at airline staff, screaming and allegedly throwing her Blackberry. The police arrested her and escorted her to a detainment area. She was found, not breathing, in the holding cell, with the chain of her shackles around her neck (the preliminary cause of death was strangulation), perhaps in an attempt to escape. The police are investigating her death, and her family believes she may have been manhandled, hiring a lawyer and an independent pathologist to find answers.
The Daily News spoke to family and friends about Gotbaum, who was described as "gregarious," "fun," someone you "wanted to sit next to" at a party, and "extraordinarily devoted" to her children. The News, as well as the NY Times' extensive article, note the milestones of her personal history: She met her husband Noah, son of labor leader Victor Gotbaum and stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, in London, where they lived and where she worked as a buyer at a high-end British department store (she had grown up in South Africa and had an MBA). In 2002, they moved to NYC, partly to be closer to his parents and partly because Noah would open up a NYC office for his employer.
Gotbaum became a stay-at-home mom and had suffered from postpartum depression after the birth of her third child. Her husband traveled a lot. Betsy Gotbaum told the Times, "She missed working. We talked about it a lot. Noah was flying to Denver every Sunday night, leaving Carol with the children, and coming back late in the week. Noah has always been a very involved parent, and Carol loved it too, but the routine was exhausting for her.” The Times reports that a year ago, Noah Gotbaum had found his wife passed out drunk in their home, in what "family members later came to refer to as a possible suicide attempt," and participated in therapy at St. Luke's. Additionally, Gotbaum had been feeling unsettled - her father's recent death, issues with where they lived.
The police released surveillance videos and a report on Thursday. Some reports mentioned that Noah Gotbaum had called the airport switchboard on September 28 to let them know his wife was "alcohol abusive" and "suicidal" while security was dealing with his wife but the Phoenix police say his repeated calls came after she died. From the Arizona Republic:
On Friday, police Sgt. Andy Hill said that some media reports suggested that Noah's calls had come before his wife's arrest and death.Noah Gotbaum claimed his wife's body on Thursday. Yesterday, he told reporters in NYC, "Please can you let us just grieve this weekend, please.""This is not true," Hill said.
On Friday, investigators reviewed every call made at the airport Sept. 28 between noon and 4:39 p.m., when Noah's first call came in, Hill said.
The officers who arrested Carol did not know her identity, Hill said....
...Records show that Noah also called US Airways representatives in an effort to get more information about what had happened to his wife.
It was unclear whether he made those calls before or after he called Sky Harbor.
A review of the police report shows that the major events leading to Carol's death took place within half an hour.
At 2:49 p.m., Mesa Airlines gate agent Rikki Greiner called police to report Carol's erratic behavior.
At 3:14 p.m., Officer Andrew Woyna found Carol unconscious in her holding room.
She had been left alone for six to eight minutes, police said. Carol was pronounced dead at 3:29 p.m.
Gotbaum was originally scheduled to fly to Tucson on a direct flight, but took a later flight with connection in Phoenix in order to say goodbye to her children. She was traveling alone and police believe she was drinking at an airport bar in Phoenix and missed hearing about the Tucson flight. According to the News, Noah Gotbaum, who knew his wife was upset about missing the flight, called family friends David and Christine Watson to pick her up and drive her to Tucson. David Watson said, "I think we're all wondering why she was flying alone. But she shouldn't have died." Another friend said Gotbaum didn't think she needed a "baby-sitter" to take her to rehab.
The Daily News has a slideshow of photographs of Gotbaum with her family.
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If she was so unstable, why was she traveling alone?
sgt. andy hill looks very familiar.
you sure he's not on any of those reality cop chase shows? that tells you a lot about their organization along with the jail chief who has inmates wear pink underwear.
this is why i tell all the girls to have abortions. I tell them that if they have kids they will get depressed.
Interesting that now that the video has come out and they've established that the husband called after this tragedy unfolded that the husband and the lawyers suddenly have nothing to say.
All her friends and family will say about her travelling alone is that that is the way she wanted it. What on earth would make you think that listening to an unstable person's wishes is a good idea?
I find it disgusting that the Gotbaum family continues to garner sympathy. The complete lack of support and care that this woman received from her family should be brought to the forefront of any news report from here on out.
No wonder she was unstable. Her husband (and other adult family members) clearly didn't put forth the time or effort in supporting even her trip to rehab!
Normally I would think she would check in for both flights in NY and have a boarding pass for both legs. It's weird where the NYT reports Ms. Gotbaum checked in at 1:05 for a 1:30 flight, according to the police report, but the plane was overbooked and her seat had already been given up. Also where it says friends were supposed to meet her in Phoenix and assist, during a 45-minute layover behind security?
But I've been on planes at LGA where the plane was loaded up and they had to kick five people off because the winds were less favorable than expected and they needed to load more fuel.
So I'm actually surprised more people don't have nervous breakdowns in airports.
>Noah Gotbaum claimed his wife's body on Thursday. Yesterday, he told reporters in NYC, "Please can you let us just grieve this weekend, please."
We'll return to BS next week as we prepare our unwarranted lawsuits, thank you.
Really? Given the problems in the world today why is this stupid exploration of a suicidal drunk who finally got what she wanted have to do with moving on and improving the police protection scenario?
Dumb assholes deserve what they want. Why deny them?
I won't get into the self centered Jewish bitch thing because that offends a lot of people.
Just read the 108 page police report and double-checked some facts. The JFK flight arrived at 12:18; the Tucson flight was due to depart at 1:13 (not 1:30, as police report said - check flight 2825 online). Gotbaum showed up just a few minutes before 1:13, after the jetway door was closed and the jetway was pulled back. Of course they had given away her seat - she hadn't shown up. She was argumentative then; but it wasn't until the next flight at 2:58 approached that she became out of control when the airline would not let her take a fellow passenger's ticket, saying it was a security breach. That's when she lost it and said she was not a terrorist.
Awww, what a sweet picture - it almost makes me want to take back the comments I said about her being a j-- b---h c--t...
Hopefully the subsequent lawsuit will allow for some dental work for the little girl...
Yes, those pictures certainly bring a human dimension to all this - I actually feel bad for Noah Gotbaum now...
What cute boys! surely they take after their mom.
I feel so bad for the kids.
I've noticed some more ads here - I think "guest comments" should be here to stay...
I need a can opener - anyone...?
Unstable Jewish female New Yorker? No way!!?!
They keep Duane Reade pharmacies in business...
im still trying to figure out what is in question here... do people honestly think a couple of airport cops killed a woman and were smart enough to cover it up?? by making it look like she choked herself??? WITH HANDCUFFS? ARE YOU INSANE?
OK, so Carol was mentally ill … but what about her husband? After Carol threw her PDA,
Noah Gotbaum called back, desperately trying to persuade the U.S. Airways Express agent to calm his wife and let the mother of three board the plane for the $42,000-a-month Cottonwood de Tucson rehab program, friends and witnesses said.
"It will be okay. She just needs to take her medication. ... She hasn't taken it today," an airline worker said Noah Gotbaum begged.
IT WILL BE OKAY??? With whom? Have you ever flown with a whack-o on board? I did once. It is scary, and caused great inconvenience & missed connections for the rest of the passengers and great expense to the airline when we had to make an scheduled stop. Just put my wife the nutcase on your flight … it will be okay? Well, his own self-serving words tell me why this poor woman was shuttled off by herself with no traveling companion.
i am a GUEST who has posted such somments as
DIE DRUNK BITCH DIE
i have no personal tolerance for the rantings of problems of the privleged
i personally hate from personal experience the lunacy of alcoholics in my life,
this being said a very good point has been made here...
http://rense.com/general78/carol.htm
excerpts...
*********************************************
Respectfully submitted, it becomes more apparent when articulated and expressed correctly.
Carol Anne Gotbaum
1. A 45 year old woman dies when in police custody.
2. A 45 year old woman dies within one hour of her arrest when in police custody.
3. A 45 year old woman shows emotional distress over missing a flight.
4. A 45 year old woman when showing emotional distress over missing a flight is confronted by three policemen.
5. A 45 year old woman showing emotional distress over missing a flight is thrown to the ground and pounced upon by three policemen within a minute to two of their confronting her.
6. A 45 year old woman showing emotional distress over missing a flight is thrown to the ground and pounced upon by three policemen within a minute or two of their confronting her, who, only then, when on top of her, say they tried to calm her down, only after handcuffing her two arms behind her back.
*****************************
In Old America, a single police officer at best would confront this woman and seek to have her sit down and talk to her about her situation and emotional response to it. Only if the woman lashed out against the police officer in a physical manner or otherwise proved herself to be a threat to public safety and/or the well being to others would the police officer place her under arrest. He would normally contain and control the situation by himself and only call for back up if needed. In this case, a police officer in Old America would be embarrassed to call for back up.
However, in post 9-11 America, where the Constitution has been cast aside and police state laws have been implemented, police in an airport respond to any call against the behavior of a citizen as they would respond against an enemy of the state: excessive use of force with zero tolerance against anyone failing to immediately bow to and comply to any direct command. The truly sad and silly reality to the police response in the Gotbaum death is that this police state type of attitude would have no bearing at all on any genuine terrorist action against the USA and only proves itself as serving to undermine the rights and welfare of those it arose to seemingly protect: the American citizen.
*****************************************
and oh yeah,,,
DIE DRUNK BITCH DIE!!!!
but really folks!
lets see the pictures of her passed out on the sofa, the bottles of jack in the sock drawer,
the pictures of that ugly buck toothed offspring trying to wake mommy up from her drunken stupor!
I agree that I don't understand what the issue is here at all. Shouldn't someone--her husband, a friend, anyone--have been with this woman if she was truly on suicide watch? How can the police be responsible for the death of a woman who was drunk, throwing a complete tantrum, disrupting passengers, and screaming when they simply wanted to calm the area? Please. Crazy police brutality shit happens all the time, to people browner and less rich than this woman, and it rarely merits this kind of attention, even though this case is so clearly not even in that league. It's sad a woman with three cute kids died, but she's no martyr.
How were police supposed to know she was a mentally unstable substance abusing wacko on her way to rehab in Tuscon? She wasn't wearing a shirt or a medical id bracelet that identified her as such. They treated her like a violent drunk because that is what she appeared to be.
The truth of the matter is it was criminally negligent for Mr. Gotbaum to let his wife fly solo to rehab. Thanks for unleashing your crazy wife on the rest of the world because you were too busy or too thoughtless to have someone accompany her.
If she had thrown her PDA at my child (yes, several other reports have indicated it almost hit an innocent child bystander - she sure was some mother) I would be suing Mr. Gotbaum now myself.
And if have to agree with the hypocrisy factor - now that public sentiment has turned against them they family wants their privacy.
Mr. Gotbaum, you are a piece of crap.
What a crazy convergence of issues.
there were never any public sympathy towards them, sir.
I hope your child not only gets hit by a PDA but much much worse and I mean that from the bottom of my heart. sir.
why would you wish such ill will on a stranger? get some mental help yourself
As always, big ups to the haters on this one! What class acts! Thanks for having us over to your lovely glass house and showing us your little wizened black heart with the condemnation leaking out of the side - you have a right to be so proud!
I'm sorry for the families' loss.
What lesson can the rest of us take from this?
1. Please do anything possible to have someone sensible, sane and healthy to travel with your sick relatives on their way to rehab or mental health facility especially if you have the means.
2. Note the names of the people that the Gotbaum family have hired to investigate Carol Anne's death if you should ever need them when confronted with a suspicious death at the heads of the government.
3. Realize that money does make a huge difference when such tragedies occur.
At the end of the day, these cops are gonna wish they never met Mrs. Gotbaum.
I am puzzled that people who live in Manhattan and have relatives that are union officials are excoriated for being "rich" and "spoiled" -- but people who live in segregated McMansions in gated communities with one SUV or Humvee per family member and who make their money from oil/ weapons sales/ evangelical religious preaching and the security state and who shoot people in the face for recreation are not.
I guess there are some kinds of riches money can't purchase.
What ever became of the old over used female "Change of Life" clause?
They tried to make me go to rehab but i said 'no, no, no'
OK, so why didn't she just rent a m0therf*ckin car at PHX and drive her social x-ray a55 down to Tucson? It's like a 2-3 hr drive as I recall. Of course you can't stop off at the "Route 66" airport bar and restaurant and get loaded before getting behind the wheel - but if USAir is gonna treat you like you're nobody, why not rent a Jag and arrive at that 1400 dollar a day rehab with a dash of style.
It's so crass that not only did the Gotbaums hire this Phoenix lawyer who specializes in death-in-police-custody lawsuits, but they also hired media whore Cyril Wecht who re-autopsied the corpses of Anna Nicole Smith and her son. No class.
And don't feel sorry for Noah - he's a quasi good-looking guy with cash and connections and he'll have women slobbering over him and will be remarried in no time flat. The kids, however, are gonna need some major psychotherapy.
What I want is the waitperson who waited on her at the bar in the airport to tell us what she drank. The police report says that the vomit that she produced when being resuscitated smelled like booze. What was it? I've got my money on scotch.
Police brutality at airports is out of control. Especially when the police beat up/kill young women and mothers. This is similar to the police beating of the young woman at Reagan National Airport in DC except she suffered brain damage and is still alive. My thoughts and prayers go out to Carol Ann Gotbaum's family. http://youtube.com/watch?v=XPNmxZwhMag
If her husband found it necessary to warn police that she was suicidal, why in God's name did he put her on a cross-country trip by herself?
I'm amazed that the family seems to be ready to sue the airport police for leaving Mrs. Gotbaum alone for only six minutes when they knew about her problems for months.
Who were the last people to see Carol Gotbaum alive? She wasn't her husband's prisoner at the time of death, she was a prisoner in police custody at her time of death. Quit trying to find blame elsewhere.
The husband says this tragic incident could have been avoided if someone had put an arm around her and helped her calm down? Look at the video, this is an absurd idea. The woman was out of control.