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Yesterday, the NY State Police confirmed media reports that Diane Schuler, the 36-year-old woman who had driven on the wrong side of the Taconic State Parkway—killing herself, her 2-year-old daughter, and three young nieces as well as three men in an SUV—was drunk and high. The NY Times explained the details of the toxicology report, "She had a blood-alcohol level of 0.19 percent, and even more alcohol still in her stomach, so fresh that it had yet to be metabolized. There were high levels of a chemical found in marijuana, enough to pinpoint her last use at 15 minutes to an hour before her death in the worst traffic accident in Westchester County in 75 years."
From Newsday's cover
While Schuler's family and her brother's family have not commented, the family of two of the SUV's victims spoke out. Roseann Guzzo, whose father Michael Bastardi, 81, and brother Guy Bastardi, 49, were killed, along with family friend Daniel Longo, 74, told the Journal News, "This is another blow to us. It's crazy. It doesn't make any sense. I can't fathom someone doing that. Everybody is mad. Everybody is angry. Every time I talk, I get more mad."
And her brother Michael Bastardi Jr. spoke to WABC 7, "It's disbelief right now. How someone could jump in a car put five kids in the car and drink? We want to figure out what happened," and said the earlier speculation that Schuler missed the correct road because of signs was ridiculous, "I mean blaming signs and blaming this and that, it didn't make sense from the beginning. Something caused her to do that, now we know. She got on the ramp, cars were pulling over, beeping the horn, trying to warn her. You keep going?"
The Post created a map and timeline of Schuler's drive from a campground in Parksville, NY to Westchester County. Schuler's husband had left the campground at 9:30 a.m. and said his wife seemed fine, as did the campground's owner, who told the Daily News, "I got pretty close to her and waved goodbye. If she had alcohol in her breath, I would have smelled it." And Schuler's neighbors in West Babylon were in shock: One mother who recalled Schuler as a loving mother said, "I've never seen her drink, I've never seen her smoke. I don't believe that. There has to be another explanation."
The Times says the news "also raised questions about the police investigation"—the state police initially said about the July 26 crash, “At this point in our investigation, we have no reason to believe that Diane Schuler was intoxicated or impaired by drugs in any way," only for the toxicology report to refute that, as well as the news that there was a 1.75 Absolut Vodka bottle in Schuler's van. The Times reports, "Officials said that the bottle, pieces of which were scattered around the minivan, was not found immediately after the accident, in which the minivan was completely charred."
The police hope to interview Schuler's family members, including her 5-year-old son who survived the crash, again. The deaths of Schuler's 2-year-old daughter and nieces, as well as the Bastardi father and son and Longo are classified as homicides.
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ugh...
It cant be just being drunk and high. at some point you just pull over. She must have been depressed or really stupid. What kinda job did this women have? Was she fired?
If it turns out that her husband and/or the campground manager were aware that she was intoxicated when she got into the car with the children, there could be some criminal prosecutions coming out of this.
Selfish, irresponsible drunk. Is she related to the Kennedys by any chance?
Really?
You didn't really expect something else, did you?
she could be related to the bushes. laura killed a guy while driving, and george had several d.u.i.'s.
see i can make a funny too ides.
except teddy actually did kill someone, not so funny. this bitch deserves to burn in hell.
yes, and laura bush actually did kill someone. what's your point?
This is unfathomable that a human being would knowingly drink that much and then get behind the wheel of a car with her children and her brother's children in it. I don't think she was depressed, mentally ill or stupid...just a plain alcoholic unfortunately, who was so totally inebriated that she could not see or think straight. It is so sickeningly sad.
Unfortunately it happens every day...
I've been in that situation many times.
Ugh...I just read what I wrote, sounds like I drink and drive, sorry! As a young kid I had to be in car with a drunk driver, thank goodness no one got hurt (and this was in the days before seat belts). I think about it now and absolutely cringe.
Suicide maybe...
the worst part is thinking about the kids who were in the car terrified. How could she do this to them?
my condolences to her husband and to the family of those in the other car involved.
I also feel terrible for the emergency workers and cops that had to pull those little bodies out of that mess. It gives me nightmares just to think about, I don't know how they deal with it.
I'm pretty convinced that this was a murder-suicide. One of my daughters schoolmates was killed by her mother along with her two sisters in a murder suicide. It was devastating to the whole community. It's heartbreaking when parents kill their own children and it's unfathomable to me that anyone could be that selfish.
You don't just have ten drinks and smoke a joint on a Sunday afternoon without nobody noticing. You also have to have a history of doing that, which means that those around her were enablers. She was probably hung over from Saturday night and was using “the hair of the dog that bit you” treatment to try and get over it (really stupid).
This puts in perspective that story about the teen that called the cops on her mother to keep her from driving drunk.
"The police hope to interview Schuler's family members, including her 5-year-old son who survived the crash, again."
I know the cops are just trying to get to the bottom of this but Jesus, hasn't that poor kid been through enough? :(
Fuckin Movable Type. Here we go again:
She would have had difficulty with perception, with her judgment, with her memory. Around that level of alcohol, you also start to get tunnel vision," and combined with marijuana, "those effects are intensified."
But she was still able to pull over and remember her brother's phone # (or able to find it on speed dial, if that was the case), and speak to him clearly enough to not only make herself understood, but not to arouse suspicion that she might be high/drunk? Riiiight.
State police initially said about the July 26 crash, “At this point in our investigation, we have no reason to believe that Diane Schuler was intoxicated or impaired by drugs in any way," only for the toxicology report to refute that, as well as the news that there was a 1.75 Absolut Vodka bottle in Schuler's van. The Times reports, "Officials said that the bottle, pieces of which were scattered around the minivan, was not found immediately after the accident, in which the minivan was completely charred."
So the van was totalled and burned beyond recognition, but over a week later they "find" a vodka bottle so intact they can actually identify the brand? Didn't know Absolut bottle labels were fireproof.
"I got pretty close to her and waved goodbye. If she had alcohol in her breath, I would have smelled it."
One mother who recalled Schuler as a loving mother said, "I've never seen her drink, I've never seen her smoke."
So after all the initial reports that Diane Schuler was healthy and had no indication of drugs or drinking, suddenly she has a BAL of almost .2% and was smoking weed? With no prior history of this kind of behavior?
Something is really, really suspicious about all this. I'm no forensics expert but come on. I didn't need to be an "expert" to call b.s. on the nutjob who "confessed" to killing JonBenet Ramsey. All you guys rushing to demonize this lady need to stop & ask yourself some pretty obvious questions. "Oh yeah, the cops said it, so it must be true!"
a) The bottle was in pieces and under the seats. The initial forensics work may have been sloppy or incomplete, but they eventually found enough pieces when the seats were removed.
b) The police aren't just pulling this out of their asses. The official toxicology tests from the autopsy revealed this. Is there a way to fake all this to frame a dead woman? Maybe they called the same dudes who faked that alien autopsy during the '90s...
how the hell would they get a dead person to smoke a joint?
Peer pressure of course,"Try it, all the cool dead kids are doing it."
The obvious question would be why would the cops want to make it seem like this woman was wasted when she wasn't?
Actually, Absolut labels are relatively fireproof. They're not paper, they're printed directly on the glass.
Stupid bitch.
My take from everything I have read:
-Schuler starts binge drinking in the car for whatever reason (not extremely relevant except for curiousity purposes), shortly after their departure from the campgrounds.
-Schuler begins driving erratically and becomes hostile with the children, scaring them enough to prompt the oldest one to call her father for help. note: I don't believe that Schuler called her brother directly, I think it was his daughter who initiated it.
-Brother gets on phone and asks what is wrong. She makes up excuse that she is just not feeling well and he doesn't buy it (maybe she DID have a history of reckless behavior?), so he tells her to pull over and immediately notifies authorities. She ditches phone because she doesn't want children interfering anymore.
-The rest is pretty much tragic history.
Just my opinion. And btw, conspiracy theories are so bogus in this situation it's almost comical, and most certainly offensive.
"Diane Schuler was totally drunk and high..."
This is what's passing as an acceptable news headline nowdays? Totally drunk and high, dude?
Pathetic journalism.
Nope. Ain't buying it. Too many holes in that theory. First off, the call was made to her brother, not her husband. Why would one of the children (RIP) call her uncle? But assuming she did, wouldn't she be screaming for help in the background if mom had somehow gotten the cell phone out of her hands? That's just for starters.
Personally I prefer "conspiracy theories" over lynch mobs. (Oh, so that's what it's called when you don't swallow a highly suspicious, almost unbelievable story from "the officials"?) And if a healthy dose of skepticism is "offensive" to you, I kind of envy you. You must live a life of extremely blissful ignorance.
Oh, sh!t, I just realized, it WAS her father she called. OK, that theory actually makes some sense... still, I find it amazing that we go from: there was absolutely no evidence of drinking or drug use from a woman who had no prior history of drinking or drug use and who seemed fine when she left the campgrounds, to "she was drunk and high and may the bitch burn in hell" in one week.
And just so you know, a conspiracy theorist already claims to have answers, that don't happen to jibe with the accepted explanation. I never said I have answers, but the whole thing seems highly suspect to me, and I've got lots of questions.
Yes, it was her own father...remember, 3 of those poor children did not belong to that woman, but her brother. I'm sure he DID hear the children screaming in the background, if that were the case, and that is why he called the cops and went looking for them.
I am not saying that skepticism isn't necessary or healthy, and I live nothing close to a blissful, sheltered life. There are a lot of unanswered questions, of course. I just think it's RIDICULOUS for people to speculate that she MUST have been drugged, set up, or anything but the cold hard fact that someone could do something as terrible as it seems she did. In my opinion, it's THOSE people are are extremely ignorant, believing that this type of terrible neglect can't possibly exist.
Also, in response to one of your earlier posts, regarding the release of the toxicology information - it was stated that they wanted to wait until the last victim was buried to share any information, to respect the deceased. I'm not saying it is totally logical, but it would explain the lack of public information until suddenly after the funerals.
OK, fair enough. Actually that's a good point about waiting until after the funerals to release the toxicology report.
I guess we'll all know more over time.
Still, what a horrible thing. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
I can't even begin to understand how a mother and aunt can get into a car with children and drive crazy and aggressive and on top of it smoking substance and drinking. She had to have done this in a short time frame from 9:30 to the crash point to still have alcohol sitting in your stomach. The tox report does not need to have physical evidence of a bottle in a vehicle or near to make the determination of blood levels. It is quite apparent something was not right with this woman. I never believed that she had any issues with low blood sugar, etc... that to me was crap. What mother or "human being" drives eratically with 5 children in the vehicle under the age of 9 for 60 miles? And witnesses flagged her down, beeping horns, flashing lights, calling the police and still continued on to drive. When you have that much alcohol in your bloodstream and in your stomach you are at the point of passing out. What wonderful mother does this. In the beginning, families of the loved ones made her out to be this loving , caring mother that did not drink etc... now the tox report is out and families are not speaking out. Hmmm, could it be that the families knew a little bit more. Diane's husband told police that his wife did drink socially and smoked substance on occasion. This could not be the first time that she was drunk or smoked. Unfortunately, you will never really know what these poor children had to face in their final hours of life and you don't know the conversation with the brother and his sister. Shame on the husband for going home and leaving his wife with the 5 children. Why not split them up? Where was the brother and his wife? I just cannot get this out of my head the horrible death of these children, not to mention the other family that was devasted over this. I don't blame civil actions coming in the near future. Everyone saw that coming. I still believe that the family knew more than what they are saying about this mother, Diane. The guilt will overcome the husband and brother.
Remember - this is under investigation. We really don't have any idea what is being said by family members. I am sure there will be more to come from this...