Family members of Taconic crash victims Michael and Guy Bastardi were back on television yesterday, escalating what has become an ugly feud with Diane Schuler's husband Daniel. Margaret Nicotina and Roseanne Guzzo returned to to publicly respond to the continued denials of Daniel Schuler (seen this week on Larry King Live) and his lawyer Dominic Barbara that Diane Schuler was drunk and stoned when she drove the wrong way in the crash that killed eight. After Barbara was speaking in terms implying a plot in the Schuler investigation, now the Bastardis were the ones shooting back vague accusations. Nicotina said that Daniel Schuler knows what really happened the morning of the crash before hitting the road, despite his claims that there was nothing unusual or off about his wife that morning. She said, "It makes me angry. It makes me angry that he keeps denying it ... I wish he would just admit [she was drunk]." Bastardi family attorney Irving Anolik called Daniel Schuler's insistence for his wife's body to be exhumed because he believe the autopsy to be wrong "totally outrageous" and "an insult to the American public." more ›

Daniel Schuler now says that he plans to extract DNA from his wife's toothbrush in order to ensure the validity that autopsy results indicating his wife Diane was drunk and high when she caused the Taconic crash that killed eight. Sounding slightly conspiratorial, Schuler's private investigator told reporters, "That'll give us her exact makeup that is almost indisputable... we can be assured that the lab test samples - blood, urine, eye fluid - to make sure that the sample that they're about to test is Diane Schuler's." Meanwhile relatives of the two Bastardi victims who died in the crash continued to snap back at Schuler's appearance, saying they're "tired of hearing it" and wondering, "Is he out to make us feel worse than how we feel?" They took particular offense to Schuler lawyer Dominic Barbara's claim that "60 percent of America" thinks Diane Schuler wasn't drunk. Michael Bastardi's daughter Rosann Guzzo said, "Did he just go out and interview 10 people in a bar?...Read the blogs. Most of the people agree with the Bastardis and the Longos and the facts from the state police, the DA and the Medical Examiner." more ›

Five days after autopsy results gave additional confirmation that Diane Schuler's blood alcohol level was more than twice the legal limit with further indication that she had been smoking marijuana before the Taconic car wreck that killed eight, her husband Daniel and lawyer Dominic Barbara took to the airwaves on last night, saying they would once again challenge those results. more ›

Daniel Schuler spoke to state police yesterday for the first time since toxicology reports revealed that his wife Diane was drunk and high when she drove the wrong way in the Taconic crash that killed eight. Mr. Schuler, lawyer Dominic Barbara and a private investigator met with authorities in Westchester County still trying to nail down a timeline of Mrs. Schuler's drive. Police showed them a video of Mrs. Schuler at a Sunoco station, appearing coherent and looking for painkillers a little over an hour before she would call her brother, Warren Hance, sounding disoriented. A friend of Hance's told the Times, “His first impression was..it might be some diabetic condition...or she was having a stroke. There was no ‘Oh my God, could she be drunk?’ ” An official at the meeting with Mr. Schuler said, "No new areas were covered." The family's PI said, “The Diane that they know does not drink and would never smoke marijuana in a car with kids.” In a recent interview, Daniel Schuler's brother said that the family was aware that Mrs. Schuler used marijuana to sometimes help her sleep. more ›

Governor Paterson introduced new legislation yesterday that would stiffen penalties for drunk drivers who get behind the wheel with children in the car. First-time offenders would be required to install devices to prevent their cars from starting and any drunk drivers who kill a child under 17 would face up to 25 years in prison. The bill proposes creating a new drunken driving charge, aggravated vehicular homicide, increasing the penalties for drivers who kill someone while drunk or on drugs. more ›

Throughout the aftermath of the Taconic crash that killed eight, one major party has remained silent—Warren and Jackie Hance, parents of the three girls who died inside the car driven by their aunt, Diane Schuler. And while the couple remains mum to the media, their actions are beginning to do the talking for them, with word that they have reached out to the Bastardi family to meet and exchange condolences. A lawyer for the Hances has also revealed that the couple plan to give any money from a memorial fund for their daughters over to the Bastardis. The Post is even going so far as publishing speculation from the Bastardis' lawyer that "[the Hance family lawyer] told me they would prefer not to be in touch with or connected to the Schuler family" and were particularly upset with bloviating, publicity-hungry lawyer Dominic Barbara, who was hired by Daniel Schuler and quickly launched a public defense following Diane Schuler's toxicology results. Meanwhile police continue to nail down a timeline of the fateful drive, now revealing that video of Diane Schuler at a McDonald's at 10:30 a.m. showed her "acting normally" two hours before her disoriented call to her brother. more ›

The two Westchester sisters who lost both a father and a brother in the deadly Taconic crash were interviewed for the first time this morning on . The daughters of Michael Bastardi, sisters of Guy, spoke about learning of the tragic accident and their feelings on the revelations that Diane Schuler was drunk and high. Rosemary Guzzo told Matt Lauer, "This didn't have to happen. She had a choice and she made a choice." more ›

Prosecutors today said that criminal charges are unlikely for Daniel Schuler for any indirect involvement in the Taconic crash which killed 8 and was caused by his wife Diane. Prosecutors do not believe that Mr. Schuler was aware that his wife was intoxicated when she left the campground they were staying at began the fatal trip home. That still begs the question why Schuler has been publicly disputing the findings of the autopsy this past week. An attorney suggested to WCBS 2 that it was an early defense against any civil charges and said, "For obvious reasons, the family wants to rehabilitate this lady's reputation. She's not the most popular person out there. To most people, she committed a murder." The News talks to a recovering alcoholic and longtime addiction counselor who says that Mr. Schuler's denials that he had never seen his wife drunk combined with evidence that she was a closet drinker hits close to home for her. She tells the paper, "I could not control the drinking, and I could not admit it to myself or anyone else. It's a lot of loneliness and shame. You're living a double life." more ›