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The family of Carol Gotbaum, the New Yorker who died at Phoenix's Sky Harbor Airport on September 28, held a funeral for the mother of three at Congregation Rodeph Sholom yesterday. Her husband Noah, son of labor leader Victor Gotbaum and stepson of Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, mourned his wife, saying, "Carol, you were an angel, and everyone knew it. My girl was born with the most beautiful smile on her face. It put people at ease, it made others smile, it radiated the warmth of Cape Town.” But he was angry as well, "If the airline or the police authorities had treated Carol with some modicum of dignity and grace or if one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulders, sat her down and given her some attention, she might still be with us today."
Gotbaum was upset when she missed a connection that would have taken her to Tucson, where she intended to check into alcohol rehab. She was arrested when she refused to calm down and was found not breathing in her holding cell. The police were not able to save her and believe she strangled herself with her handcuffs and shackles in an attempt to escape.
The Gotbaum family has questioned the airline's and police's tactics in dealing with a woman with mental issues. The police released videos and a report with their actions, while a more detailed portrait of Carol Gotbaum's problems and attempts to deal with them were offered in this past weekend's newspapers. The investigation into her death is still ongoing, but mental-health expert say, upon review of the video, "she appears to be frightened, panicked and possibly experiencing a psychotic episode" and "The outburst may have been caused by alcohol withdrawal, alcohol or drugs, or a sharp mood swing."
Rabbi Robert Levine did acknowledge the question many people have - why was she traveling along. He during the service, "She was fiercely independent and private and believed strongly, as did the rest of the family, that she could do this on her own. She wanted to do this on her own. So let us go forth and end the judgments. Hindsight is wonderfully prescient."
She was originally scheduled to take a direct flight from NY to Tucson, but opted for a later flight with a connection so she could say good-bye to her children. Noah Gotbaum left the funeral with 3-year-old son Tobias on his shoulders and holding the hands of 8-year-old Ella and 6-year-old Nathaniel.
Photograph of Noah Gotbaum and children by Diane Bonadreff/AP
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If someones helped?
Perhaps if the family took a little accountability and someone was traveling with her, mainly Noah, her husband, this never would have happened.
Isn't it the family's fault one way or another? First, they let a completely unstable person travel by herself. Second, she did strangle herself. How is that someone else's fault?
Yeah, I'm still confused about why she was traveling by herself. But the family does have a few legitimate questions, because the police were called to deal with a visibly upset woman - and usually you don't keep upset people unsupervised and on their own.
I think it's pretty obvious that the Phoenix Airport police choked her to death. They are notoriously corrupt, and it is impossible to "strangle yourself" with your hands cuffed behind your back. It's likely a zealous chokehold did the trick. Also, why did the Phoenix medical examiner withhold the brain, neck, and heart; for the independent autopsy? Her family did not kill her, she did not kill herself. The police did.
Look, if you are a recovering alcoholic travelling alone in Arizona, anything can happen.
its never their fault
"If the airline or the police authorities had treated Carol with some modicum of dignity and grace or if one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulders, sat her down and given her some attention, she might still be with us today."
I believe that should read, "If her family had treated Carol with some modicum of dignity and grace or had traveled with her to the airport and put an arm around her shoulders, sat her down and given her some attention, she might still be with us today."
Typical to blame everyone else who had no idea what was going on. Take responsibility or STFU.
what's wrong with traveling alone?
what are you people, babies? you need your hand holded every time you cross the street?
hey, Phoenix PD, where's the rest of the tape?
it's been a week now, where is it?
show us the tape, what are you hiding or editing?
what happens in phoenix stays in phoenix!
what cute kids. the youngest one is adorable.
I'd hate to say this again, but the family has no one to blame but themselves. They should grieve silently and think of what they've done - absolutely nothing to help an ailing woman. No arm was there to accompany her from New York to Phoenix... It's a shame.
I think everyone who goes to lockup is "distressed." i don't really understand why it was the police's job to "put an arm around her shoulders, [sit] her down and [give] her some attention."
#8, the fact that you actually think "holded" is a verb tells me alittle about the level of your education.
And I'll guess I'll say it too - the husband has the unmitigated gall to blame everyone, including passersby, except himself.
"If one single person at that airport had put an arm around her shoulders, sat her down and given her some attention..." like, um, her husband?
I'm sorry. If I see someone making a scene & screaming at the top of their lungs inside an airport, approaching that person would be the last thing I'd do. I'd probably be the first to call for security.
What's missing in the above posts (besides compassion) is the indication that SOMEONE was supposed to meet Ms. Gotbaum in the airport to escort her on the next leg of her journey. Apparently, her husband phoned the airport several times, aware that her escort had gone AWOL.
He warned the airport officials that she could be drunk and was suicidal. The search for a single culpable party is fruitless: a series of errors and poor judgments conspired to kill this woman.
I recently arrived at tiny little Portland, ME airport for my Jetblue flight back to JFK forty-five minutes before flight time and was refused admittance to the gate area. By grabbing that last drink, Ms. Gotbaum truly set up a series of events that ended in tragedy. She arrived at the gate after boarding for the flight had closed.
In the context of her depression and blood alcohol level, she did what all of us feel like doing when faced with the overwhelming absurdity of modern aviation: she flipped out. Judging from the video, the airport security guards had no training whatsoever in handling a disturbed individual. The only thing missing was the taser: that might have actually saved her life.
hey ching chong rocknrope,
you've made some mistakes lately, too.
here's a hint alot.
Yes, the family has some soul-searching to do.
And, yes, its not exactly reasonable to expect the police to 'put an arm around her shoulder'.
But she died in police custody. That matters. Once the state took custody of her, they have a duty to care, legally and morally. By not checking on this woman in the grips of a psychotic episode, they breached that duty and now she's dead.
Plenty of blame to go around, but don't forget about blameworthiness of the authorities here.
It's been pointed out a number of times that someone was supposed to meet her, but I'm sorry, that was still a half-measure. The fact remains that he knowingly sent his suicidal wife off alone. Having someone meet her left a huge margin for error.
Famdoc, if you're that close to flipping out as Gotbaum did when she happened to miss her own flight but was booked on another flight that was taking off the next hour, maybe you need to be on meds as well.
And I don't know what video you saw, but I see the police doing the only thing they could do with an irrational, out-of-control person - bringing her under control. Maybe they should have brought her milk and cookies? Maybe a nice blankie?
I had to come back and make another point.
How many strangers who were screaming and throwing things in public has Mr. Gotbaum hugged lately?
#20 - exactly. clearly he's feeling completely guilty and is trying to pass blame onto others. yes, there is the issue of her dying in police custody. but guess what? if i'm in a bad mood and upset, the LAST thing i want is for some stranger to put their arm around me. get a grip. if she's that unstable, someone in that large family of theirs should have traveled with her.
don't choke me with handcuffs, bro!
If she was such a big load of mental and physical crap why didn't she wear a "Medical Alert" tag. That way the security personnel would realize what a suicidal drunken bitch, off her meds, they were dealing with and would have sat her down with a nice hot cup of cocoa, a big hug and let her watch cartoons until the next flight was ready to leave.
Put an arm around her shoulder? If I came up against a whacko like that I would put my arm around her neck and take her down. Days later I would be proclaimed a hero by the normal press for saving thousands of lives at the airport.
The husband is a loser also if he just thought he could pack up the drunken bitch in a Dial 7 cab and hope that the airlines will deposit her in a $42,000 a month rehab program someplace out west. Did he know where she was going?
Betsy G. could have watched the kids as he took off half a day from work and booked her in.
Lots of people in the funeral. No one to volunteer for the trip.
And now we are expected to follow the further details as if there should be some outcome which justifies the situation? A lawsuit? Who should be blamed, etc.?? The family, the airport cops, she herself? People need love and a meaningful life.
That's our collective responsibility. The underlying attitude of being "realistic" about the situation is complicit with the failure of a society that holds success and profit above human desire. We are all responsible. Compassion is not something you get at a yoga class; it has the smell and taste of everyone whom you pass on the street. Its a dark time. Look to one another for the light. It begins there.
Not potificating... just my opinion.
See yourself in her death. In those last desperate moments. That is the work we need to do together.
Rabbi Robert Levine did acknowledge the question many people have - why was she traveling along. He during the service, "She was fiercely..."
The name "Jen Chung" has become synonymous with sloppy writing and poor editing.
#25 "See yourself in her death. In those last desperate moments. That is the work we need to do together."
She was suicidal. She was probably happier than 99% of the people who die.
That poor little girl will grow up to be a young lady with low self-esteem and a daily regimen of serotonin-reuptake inhibitors - just the way I likes 'em...
I certainly don't think a grown adult needs to have her hand holded each time she goes to rehab - just how often did she have to go..?
#29 She stayed back so she had to repeat the course.
A very sad woman who died a very sad death. If I was her family I would have equally absurd things to say to deflect the blame and hurt. That said, everything was handled accordingly it seems in the videos and her behavior was her own.
I do not believe alcoholics and drug addicts are some how not responsible for their actions.
ME initial results..death by asphyxiation. I still don't see how she strangled herself to death.
I keep hearing that someone was supposed to meet her at the airport... which makes it seem like the family made arrangements for her travel in advance.
This is incorrect. The friends were only called to meet her at the airport after her husband realized she missed her connecting flight.
The fact is a highly unstable person was sent travelling alone (something which is incredibly stressful even for those of us with our wits about us). Her husband might as well sent her to the DMV with a loaded gun in her pocketbook.
The Rabbi said "So let us go forth and end the judgments. Hindsight is wonderfully prescient."
I wonder if this attitude is shared by the Gotbaum's lawyers?
#33, where did you read that the friend was called only after Gotbaum missed her connection? That changes the story considerably.
I just wanted to agree with #17, it's easy to sit here and judge people, but the police do have a specific legal responsibility here.
ANYTIME ANYONE dies in police custody it should be investigated.Police officers have a huge amount of power over regular citizens and with great power comes great responsibility right?
This really does sound like a terrible and difficult situation, but police officers have dealing with terrible situations for a career.
"An Arizona couple told last night how they raced to the airport after getting a call from the frantic husband of Carol Anne Gotbaum.
By the time David and Christine Watson arrived at Phoenix Sky Harbor Airport Gotbaum was dead...
'I think we're all wondering why she was flying alone,' David Watson told the Daily News yesterday."
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/2007/10/06/2007-10-06_frantic_phone_call_from_carol_gotbaums_h.html
Apparently Phoenix police are just having a lot of people die while they cuff them. First a man died a few days after Carol Gotbaum, and now this story:
Phoenix police face second death lawsuit
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/wn_report/2007/10/09/2007-10-09_phoenix_police_face_second_death_lawsuit.html
BY ALISON GENDAR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Tuesday, October 9th 2007, 4:00 AM
The lawyer who represents the family of a New York woman who died in police custody in Phoenix plans to sue the same police department for the death of a 70-year-old grandmother who died under similar circumstances.
The family of Carol Anne Gotbaum hired Michael Manning of Arizona to investigate the 45-year-old woman's death in Phoenix police custody Sept. 28.
Manning said he has filed a notice of claim in the death of Doris Watson, an elderly woman who died of an apparent heart attack after being arrested March 13.
Watson was cuffed by Phoenix police after she refused to get out of her daughter's car. At the time, she was off her medication for bipolar disorder and depression, the lawyer said.
Manning said a distraught Watson went into cardiac arrest as she was subdued, but police told paramedics Watson was "faking."
The claim is seeking damages of $5.5 million for Watson's family and her estate.
Why doesn't Arizona just fly the stars and bars and secede from the Union? With all their profitable Meth labs, I'm sure they'll do fine
Why don't these people just take their drugs when they are told to?
Awww...look at that sweet little girl. How sad for Noah Gotbaum and his family. This is such a tragedy. Cute kids.
Orwellspeak...Why don't these people just take their zombie pills. A nation of zombies won't resist.
Arizona to undergo martial law training exercise Oct.15-Oct.20.
I would like a psychiatrist or pyschology expert to comment on the contradiction between Ms. Gotbaum strong instincts for survival and her being suicidal at the same time. She fought for her right to fly, she through down her phone, emptied her purse and lifted her blouse to show she was not a terrorist. She fought the police, she claimed you are hurting me, she tried to tell those arresting her she was of no danger to anyone, she was a pathetic, depressed, sick mom...and yet she killed herself, by strangling herself with her own handcuffs and her own strength...all 105 lbs. How long did it take her to work her handcuffs down under her legs to the front of her torso and then up to her neck to apply enough pressure to choke herself? She wasn't found hanging by the chain,so she didn't hang herself..which would make more sense.
I believe this happened due to the handcuffs being manufactured in China