
911 Call
This official transcript shows Cynthia Sommer reported that her 23-year-old husband collapsed in their home on Feb. 18, 2002.
Information
This charging document accused Cynthia Sommer of first-degree murder for alleged arsenic poisoning.
NCIS Declaration
Rob Terwillinger of the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NICS) outlines how the investigation of Todd Sommer's death evolved from a heart attack to a homicide.
Search Warrant
This search warrant authorized Florida police to seize evidence, spefically computers, from the Palm Beach County home where Cynthia Sommer resided in November 2005.
SAN DIEGO — Before resting her case Wednesday, a prosecutor called a string of military men to the stand to testify about their sexual encounters with murder defendant Cynthia Sommer, who is accused of poisoning her Marine husband with arsenic in order to obtain his veteran's benefits.
"She was pretty happy and kept making advances at me," Marine Aaron Strang said of his first flirtation with Sommer about a month after her husband's death.
"Did you spend the night with her that night?" Deputy District Attorney Laura Gunn asked the witness.
"Yes, ma'am," Strang said.
"Did you have sex with her?" Gunn asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Strang replied with a bashful grin.
Strang told jurors his relationship with Sommer lasted for about two months, that she bought him a leather coat and let him drive her dead husband's car. He confirmed that they continued to have sex.
"I'm sorry. I have to ask," Gunn continued. "Can you give us an estimation of how often?"
"About twice a week," the Marine replied.
Sommer, 33, sat quietly at the defense table dressed in a black blazer and tan blouse. She did not betray any emotion as the prosecutor called her former friends and lovers to the stand to testify about her sex life in the weeks after her husband, Marine Sgt. Todd Sommer, died suddenly at the age of 23, leaving the mother of four more than $250,000 in life insurance.
Investigators have no evidence linking Sommer to arsenic. The prosecution's case revolves around Sommer's sexual appetite and penchant for shopping in an effort to link her to her husband's mysterious death.
Former Marine Christopher Reed described having a ménage à trois with his wife and Cynthia Sommer before Todd died, and then a continuing sexual relationship with Sommer.
Marine Jeff Pieters said he worked with Cynthia Sommer at a Subway sandwich shop, but never met Todd Sommer. Gunn asked Pieters to tell jurors about the first time he slept with Sommer and how many times they had sex.
Sommer's friend Chantra Wells, who also worked at the sandwich chain, testified about a trip to Tijuana two or three months after Todd's death with Sommer and at least five other girls to celebrate Wells' sister's birthday. Wells said Sommer was drunk, dancing on a balcony in a nightclub and competing in a "thong contest."
"Were you able to see her breasts at any point?" Gunn asked.
"Yes," Wells said. "She flashed them."
Dana Benton, a friend of Sommer's who was also in Tijuana, giggled on the stand as she described seeing Sommer that evening competing in a wet T-shirt contest, showing off her new breasts.
Cynthia Sommer received breast implant surgery on April 18, 2002, exactly two months after Todd's death. Prosecutors have stated that she would not have been able to afford the surgery when Todd was alive.
The prosecution's surrebuttal witnesses appeared to effectively describe a woman who turned to sex and romantic attention in the months after her husband's sudden death.
However, during cross-examination, all the witnesses agreed that Sommer appeared distraught after Todd's death. She honored him in her home with photos and Marine memorabilia. She got a tattoo on her arm with his dates of birth and death and the words "Semper Fidelis."
Aaron Strang said he felt that Sommer missed her husband and that he was acting as a replacement, fulfilling that loss.
Benton, Sommer's co-worker, agreed that the couple appeared to have a good relationship and seemed deeply in love.
"It's fair to say that what you were observing was Cyndi dealing with her grief the best way she knew how?" defense attorney Robert Udell asked Benton.
"Yes," she replied.
Benton also told jurors that Todd approved of his wife's desire to have bigger breasts and gave her a goal of losing 10 pounds before she could get the surgery. She said the couple had plans to save up for Cynthia's new breasts and threw their change in a water jug in the bedroom.
Todd Sommer's death was initially ruled cardiac arrhythmia with unknown etiology. More than a year later, arsenic testing on his tissue samples revealed he had 1,020 times the acceptable levels of arsenic in his liver and 230 times the normal level in his kidney. Sommer was arrested in November 2005 and has been in custody ever since.
Prosecutors claim she was the only one close enough to the Marine who could dose him with the lethal poison.
But several expert witnesses have testified that the inconsistencies and potential for error in Todd's test results caused them grave concerns.
They questioned whether his cause of death was acute arsenic poisoning or whether his tissue samples had been contaminated at some point between the time they were collected and frozen in February 2002 to the time they underwent heavy-metals testing at the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in April 2003.
Both sides will deliver closing arguments Thursday. The jury of seven women and five men are expected to begin their deliberations by Thursday afternoon.
Sommer faces life in prison without parole if she is convicted of feeding her husband poison for the purpose of obtaining his veteran's benefits.
The trial is being aired live on Court TV Extra.
CourtTVnews.com is a part of the Turner Entertainment New Media Network.
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