Acquittal for Nurse in Death of Rich Husband
A hospice nurse was acquitted of charges that she fatally poisoned her husband so she could inherit his fortune of $15 million.
Judge Daniel R. Bouton ruled in Orange that prosecutors failed to prove their case that Donna Somerville, 51, administered a lethal drug overdose to Hamilton Somerville at their Virginia estate in 2001.
The judge spent more than 30 minutes outlining his reasons for acquitting Somerville after nine days of testimony. He said testimony from defense and prosecution experts left him unable to determine the cause of death.
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