Local newz

Notice the wording of these headlines.

Marine wife accused of poisoning husband
Woman charged with first-degree murder for financial gain
Thurs., Dec. 15, 2005

Authorities: Wife Killed Marine Spouse For Breast Enhancements
Sommer Resists Extradition
POSTED: 9:03 am PST January 4, 2006
UPDATED: 7:05 am PST January 5, 2006

Well, can you imagine my surprise when this woman was released from prison yesterday?

Test clears woman of poisoning husband
Published: April 18, 2008 at 2:12 PM
SAN DIEGO, April 18 (UPI) -- Prosecutors in San Diego have dropped charges against a 34-year-old woman convicted in January of killing her U.S. Marine husband.

Cynthia Sommer was freed from the Los Colinas jail after spending two years and four months behind bars on charges of fatally poisoning Sgt. Todd Sommer with arsenic, The San Diego Union-Tribune reported Friday.

In freeing Sommer, prosecutors said the conclusions of a new group of toxicology experts has cast doubt on poisoning as a cause of Sgt. Sommer's death.

District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis told a news conference Thursday "as soon as we had the information that pointed to reasonable doubt, we brought this case this afternoon to get the matter dismissed."

Sommer, 23, died in February, 2002 after collapsing at the couple's home at the Miramar Marine Corps Air Station.

At first doctors said he died of natural causes but tests later found high levels of arsenic in his liver and kidneys.

Court documents said a lab in Canada re-tested Sommers' tissue samples this month and found no evidence of arsenic.
© 2008 United Press International. All Rights Reserved.

For more go here

Yeesh, I'm so cynical at this point I wonder if it might have been poisoning that killed him and it was easier for the local authorities and NCIS to grab her instead of dealing with the real problem.

US Military Bases Known To Be Contaminated (ca. 1992) (From: Life in the Times)

The following 59 U.S. military bases were suffering from significant water or soil contamination a year ago, according to the Department of Defense's interpretation of its latest hazardous waste survey. DoD officials say not every base suffering such contamination is on the list, because information was not available for all bases. The list is based on the latest status report for DoD's Installation Restoration Program.

The IRP report contains no explanation of the problems at each base, so we asked each service to provide details. The Army did so. The Navy Chief of Information refused to help us gather the information...

Moffett Field NAS, CA
The major contaminants in the ground water are volatile organic compounds.
Whidbey Island NAS, WA...

Other Navy bases:
China Lake, CA
Indian Head NOS, MD
Jacksonville NAS, FL
Miramar NAS, CA (now MCAS Miramar)
Pabmont River NAS, MD


Toxic Trails: U.S. Military Bases and the Environment
November 29, 2000