* Dr Carl Coppolino - Deadly Anaesthesist
I know it's been a while so here we are;
Carl Coppolino was born in 1933 in Florida, USA.
Coppolino graduated Fordham University in 1954 in the Bronx
and worked at the SUNY Downstate Medical Center during 1958 in Brooklyn.
Coppolino’s health was so poor that by age 30 he had already suffered several heart attacks, retired as a practicing anesthesiologist,
and was collecting sizable disability pay.
A true polymath, Coppolino had also written several books and scientific papers on anesthesiology and was considered an expert on the
matter.
He met his wife whilst working at Riverview Hospital in New Jersey. The connection between the two was unmatched, his beautiful wife
Carmela was also a Dr and she understood how hard the job of being a Dr and the work schedules could be. Dr Coppolino's health was
deteriorating so poorly that he ended up having to give up work earlier than expected. Other than Carmela's shifts at work and Carl's failing
health, the couple seemed happy. But as we all know looks can be deceiving. Inside Carl something was boiling and he was losing his grasp
on reality. In 1965 they moved into a home in a retirement community called Longboat Key just off Florida's Gulf of Mexico's coast
by the time they were both 32 due to his fragile health.
Back in Middletown, New Jersey, Coppolino began having an affair with his neighbor Marjorie Farber, a stunning woman 14 years his
senior. Her husband retired US Army Colonel William Farber was unaware of the passionate rendezvous' that his wife and Carl
were having. In 1963 Colonel Farber died suddenly after suffering a heart attack. Marjorie followed Carl to Florida in August 1965 and their secretive affair
resumed as if nothing had happened, as if she had not just suffered the huge loss of losing her husband.
On August 28th 1965 Carmela Coppolino was dead. A late-night phone call to a physician, Dr. Juliette Karow headed to
Longport Key, Florida, home of Dr. Carl and Carmela Coppolino. Carl had called for Dr. Karow’s assistance as Carl believed
Carmela was dying of heart attack. Dr. Karow arrived to find Carmela sadly was already deceased. She was just 32 years of age.
Her death was ruled as a Coronary Occlusion (the partial or complete obstruction of blood flow in a coronary artery) on her death certificate. Her body was sent
to Boonton, New Jersey.
Dr Carl Coppolino did not attend her funeral citing "My heart is weak and my personal physician said it may kill me."
Just 40 days after Carmela's death, Carl was married again. Not to his mistress Marjorie but rather his second mistress.
A 38 year old divorcee called Mary Gibson whom he had met at Maxwell Bridge Studios. They became bridge partners and
from there a passionate love grew. Marjorie Farber was seething, a woman scorned indeed. How dare he marry someone else
when their trysts were more than sex for Marjorie, she loved Carl and would have done anything for him.
This included helping him murder her husband.
Marjorie couldn't allow Carl to marry someone else, he couldn't get away with it. Marjorie walked into Sarasota County Police & told them that
Carl murdered Carmela using deadly quick metabolizing succinylcholine as well as using this on Colonel Bill Farber, her husband.
She confessed her own involvement in the murder of her husband and so the police believed her, after all why would she implicate herself
if there wasn't some truth to what she was saying.
Marjorie alleged that on 29th July 1963 under post-hypnotic suggestion from Carl, she had taken a hypodermic needle that he had provided her
She began to inject her husband she claims "I couldn't stop myself, it was absolutely over and beyond my control."
According to her, unable to continue injecting her husband she called Carl, it was the middle of the night but Carl left his sleeping wife Carmela and
went to the Farber's to finish the job. He drugged his victim, William Farber, before smothering him with a pillow.
Upon investigation, Investigators were able to prove that Coppolino had obtained a supply of succinylcholine right before Farber's death.
And again just 5 weeks before Dr Carmela's death.
Carl's excuse for having this supply of succinylcholine was he was getting rid of a 'troublesome dog" and that he was planning on conducting research
into a way of measuring the concentration of the drug in the blood during surgeries.
Due to the circumstances and the confession from Marjorie the police decided to exhume Carmela's body. Dr Milton Halpern, NYC's Medical Examiner
at the time & Toxicologist Dr Joseph Umburger examined Carmela for any proof of Marge's claims. After observing Carmela, a small puncture wound was found on her left buttocks, which was
consistent with a hypodermic needle. He decided he wanted to test for succinylcholine chloride, however no such test existed. This made it the perfect murder weapon.
Dr Umburger refused to let Coppolino get away with the murder of his young, beautiful wife and so he set about devising such a test.
In June 1966, after spending months taking samples from Carmela's organs and the injection site, he had finally succeeded in isolating
both succinic acid and choline, this was proof Carmela had been killed in the way Marjorie had described. This revelation proved Mrs. Farber's
credibility and she requested the exhumation of her husband, Bill. The police complied with this request due to her proving her reliability
in telling the truth and giving her confession.
On July 14th 1966 Colonel William Farber's body was also exhumed, unfortunately Dr Umburger's test could not be used on the Colonel's body as he had been in the ground for
too long.
The medical examiner could prove William Farber had been murdered though due to the detection of severe fractures
of the cricoid cartilage in the larynx. Halpern deducted Farber had die due to strangulation.
Just 9 days later on July 23rd 1966, Carl was arrested for the murder of Farber. 4 days later he was informed he was to be
indicted for the homicide of his wife, Carmela. Coppolino would have two trial, one for each homicide. The first trial was to be that
for Colonel William Farber. It was to be in Naples, Florid and secondly in Freehold, Florida would be his trial for the murder of
Carmela.
For both of his trials, Carl used a well known public figure, lawyer F. Lee Bailey, despite using him twice however both trials had different
conclusions.
Carl was very charismatic, he was able to convince the jury in Freehold County Court that he was simply being a good physician
on the night Colonel Farber was killed, which was roughly 29th/30th July 1963 according to the M.E.
In response to what exactly he did in his role/duty as a Dr he claimed he had given Farber a tranquilizer and then Pronestal to correct
his uneven heart. He reported that he recommended Bill attend hospital but both Bill and Marge refused and so were asked to sign a form
declaring such. According to Dr Coppolino the damage exhibited in Farber's neck could have occurred during the exhumation.
A defense expert, Dr Spelman theorized that Bill had perished from a heart attack. His theory based on sufficient arteriosclerosis clogging Farber's
coronary arteries enough to cause a heart attack.
The jury at Freehold County Court deliberated for just four and a half hours before deciding to acquit Carl Coppolino of all charges, releasing him on bail
He was free and so Carl and his new wife Mary travelled back home before taking off on holiday!
Overconfident Carl & his defense lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, wholeheartedly believed that he would also be acquitted of charges regarding
Carmela's death. They thought this due to no eyewitnesses and them convinced they could prove Marjorie wasn't credible.
Marge however was growing concerned about Coppolino's second wife, Mary, she didn't want history repeating itself.
The experts for the prosecution included Dr Joseph Umburger whose newly devised test would no scrutinized because
other experts claimed succinylcholine was untraceable. This is because of how rapidly succinylcholine is broken down within
the body.
The succinic acid Dr Umburger had discovered was in Carmela's brain rather than the injection site. Coppolino's lawyer implied the M.E
Dr Halpern had doctored the autopsy report in order to make Carl appear to be guilty.
Dr Umburger unexpectedly confessed that he only said it was possible that Carmela had been poisoned with succinylcholine chloride.
He claimed Dr Halpern had insisted he removed the word possible from the report. This only helped Coppolino's case because if
the report was altered what else could have been amended or doctored.
These circumstances led Coppolino's lawyer, F. Lee Bailey, to believe the case was a home run. He was so confident he didn't even put his client
on the stand to deny the accusation of her murder. This would be his downfall.
At 9:30am on 28th April 1967, the jury announced their verdict - Guilty!
The all male jury decided this wasn't premeditated murder but rather 2nd degree murder, this meant Coppolino couldn't face the death
penalty. Personally I find this appalling how is poisoning not premeditated?
Carl was sentenced to life imprisonment, sadly though due to 'good behavior' from the shamed doctor he served just 12 years.
Upon his release, his wife Mary greeted him beaming with happiness after having fought and protested for his innocence.
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ultimate anaesthetist Korekiyo?
I think that's a pretty fitting talent tbh
Anesthesia was one of the most important parts of many procedures, and from a young age Kiyo found himself drawn to the field. He asked many doctors about it, even while in elementary school.
Although he doesn’t have a medical doctorate- that would make him an anesthesiologist- he’s incredibly dedicated and passionate, and doesn’t allow even tiny mistakes in his practice.
Because of his talent, or maybe it simply helps his talent, Kiyo is incredible and paying attention to small tasks for hours. That’s what he has to do as an anesthetist, after all.
There are a lot of times he works with kids, and he’s very skilled at calming them when they’re scared to go into surgery. He makes sure they understand what’s happening and are comfortable first.
Being at Hope’s Peak takes him away from his talent, but he still goes back during breaks. He’s surprisingly as comfortable at school as he is there, though, which was surprising to him.
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