The 1982 Klaus Von Bulow trial had all the makings of a classic murder tale: depressed heiress, distant husband, mistrusting stepchildren and was set in Newport's mansion district to boot. Klaus Von Bulow stood accused of murdering his wife Sunny by injecting her with a lethal dose of insulin. A long line of witnesses who inhabited the fringes of the Von Bulow life painted a picture of a man driven by a desire to get his hands on the fortune of his ailing wife. After a lengthy trial that was more media circus than judicial proceeding Klaus was convicted.

Immediately Von Bulow retained the services of Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz to represent him on his appeal. Dershowitz focused on how the prosecution had acquired the crucial piece of evidence used to convict his client in the first trial: the medical bag that contained the syringe the prosecution said Von Bulow had used to inject his wife.

After a lengthy investigation Dershowitz and his team discovered that private investigators hired by Sunny's children from her previous marriage (who were no fans of Klaus) had hired a locksmith to open a closet of Klaus' in order to find out what he may have been hiding in there. Because the closet was opened without a search warrant or Klaus Von Bulow's permission the medical bag that was found inside was thrown out as evidence and the prosecution's case collapsed. Nonetheless the state went ahead with a second trial in 1985 but without any truly compelling evidence Von Bulow was acquitted on all charges. Dershowitz went on to pen the best selling book "Reversal of Fortune" about the tragedy. That book was made into a successful major motion picture starring Glenn Close and Jeremy Irons.

Today Klaus Von Bulow lives in London where he does occasional theater and art reviews. Sunny Von Bulow died in 2008 after 28 years in a coma.

Klaus Von Bulow with his daughter (left) after his acquittal on attempted murder charges.