Guide Note

Cynthia Sommer was convicted on January 29, 2007, of killing her husband, U.S. Marine Corps Sgt. Todd Sommer, by poisoning him with arsenic. She was sentenced to life in prison. On April 17, 2008, Sommer was released from prison after an appeal cleared her of the charge of first-degree murder.

The alleged motive in the case was that Sommer murdered her husband in order to obtain $250,000 in veterans benefits to pay for breast implant surgery. The prosecution claimed that shortly after his death she hosted parties and began dating.

Sommer's 23-year-old husband died in 2002. The original death certificate stated he died of a heart attack. A 2003 test for heavy metals showed that the victim had 1,000 times the normal level of arsenic in his liver. When the prosecution was preparing for Sommer's second trial, they found that previously untested samples of the victim's tissue showed no arsenic. A government expert filed a motion stating the the original results were possibly contaminated because the levels were physiologically improbable.

Fast Facts

1. Sommer has four children
2. Husband died February 18, 2002
3. Shortly after husband's death, paid $5,400 for breast implants
4. Sentenced to life in prison in 2007
5. Freed on April 17, 2008