Today, I read the news that a convicted killer who got a slap on the wrist, had once been married to Andy Williams, had a mediocre singing and acting career, and finally disappeared from view in disgrace, had died. Claudine Longet, 84, had died sometime this month, her nephew announced. She and her second husband (from 1985), Ron Austin, had moved full time to Hawaii upon his retirement from the legal profession. They had lived in Aspen, Colorado, where Claudine gained permanent infamy.
Fifty years ago, on March 21, 1976, Claudine Longet went from being a somewhat lucky woman who traded on her looks to snare rich men to being a permanent pariah. This was a result of being charged with the killing of her live-in boyfriend, Olympic skier Vladimir "Spider" Sabich, who helped popularize skiing to millions of people. He was tall, good-looking, charismatic, and articulate on top of being a top athlete. He had millions in endorsements, with his brother built his house which he owned free and clear, and seemed to have everything going for him. He did like the freewheeling lifestyle Aspen had to offer. He had relocated there in the early 1970s. He had previously lived in northern California, where he was born in 1945. After Longet and Williams split up, she moved to Aspen with their three children (at least one of whom, Christian, passed away in 2019 at age 54 in Costa Rica, and I know nothing about her daughter having died as well, and, contrary to the link provided, there is nothing to indicate she did pass away). Not long after she relocated, she met Sabich and soon the two became an item and eventually shacked up at his house.
Anyway, tiring of Longet's possessiveness, Spider had given Longet an ultimatum to move out of his house by April 1. She moved in with him a couple of years prior with her three children. Longet was furious and wasn't about to be dumped. She wasn't the type of person who was going to be tossed out. She would move only on her terms. Then on the evening of March 21, 1976, she snuck behind him with a gun while he was in the bathroom either shaving or brushing his teeth and shot him dead. According to her, it was an "accident." She just "accidentally" shot him from behind while he was showing her how to use the gun. It was a total bullshit story, but the Aspen police so bungled the investigation by mishandling her diary and the gun involved, neither could be admitted as evidence. Because of that, she was convicted of the most minor thing imaginable, practically a misdemeanor when in fact it was premeditated murder. Since Longet had little support in Aspen, she turned to the one person she could rely on for help: ex-husband Andy Williams. He helped her in her defense; after all, she was the mother of his three children. He was loyal to her.
Longet served only 30 days in jail, at her convenience, and because Aspen was a rich person's town, she got the privilege of being able to paint her cell pink. The public was outraged. Sabich's family eventually sued her for over a million dollars, with the parties settling out of court. The amount of money was undisclosed, but she agreed she would never speak publicly, let alone write a book, about her time with Sabich. She never did. She did create a scandal of sorts by taking up with her defense lawyer, Ron Austin, right after the trial. He ditched his wife and family for her, and, after several years of shacking up, they married in 1985. Amazingly, he survives her given her checkered past.
Years ago, Dominick Dunne's Power, Privilege and Justice had a good episode on this case:
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