In the case of Diane Schuler, my gut is screaming that the woman was not a closeted drinker or alcoholic, but a woman who was grappling with severe depression -- finally destroyed by undiagnosed, unnoticed, and well-hidden mental illness? Diane Schuler's brother said Wednesday he had no idea she was high and drunk when she crashed on the Taconic State Parkway, killing eight. Whether born out of alcohol or madness, it was patently irrational. The three passengers of the TrailBlazer also died, bringing the total to eight. Its a film nearly impossible to synopsize without ruining its slippery momentum, the sense on first viewing that one has fallen into a rabbit hole from which there may be no exit. Close filters. By all accounts from family and friends, Schuler was an ideal mother, wife, colleague, friend so how to explain blood alcohol more than double the legal limit, or evidence of marijuana consumption? Why did this accident happen? Police revealed Tuesday that Schuler, 36, was wasted on booze and marijuana as she drove from a Sullivan County campsite to her Long Island home. "Any person who was aware that she was drinking is an accomplice," said Irving Anolik, lawyer for the Bastardi and Longo families. Around 1pm, another call was placed from Dianes phone to Hance. "If the driver were alive today the charges would have been second-degree murder," Anolik said. At 1:33pm, two separate drivers called 911 to report that a red minivan was heading towards the exit ramp of the Taconic State Parkway. Watching the Friedmans disintegrate, or the Schulers attempt to rebuild, is a harrowing experience. Yell.com Yell Business. Andrea Yates, for example, was the loving Texas mother who drowned her five children in June 2001. But if you have not seen it, know two things: it is available on HBO on demand, and it is essential viewing. (DelMundo for News). On July 26, 2009, Diane Schuler left the New York campground where she was vacationing and began her trip home to Long Island with her two children and three nieces in tow. Of course, increased potassium is very dangerous and our body responds by releasing insulin, because insulin helps to temporarily regulate potassium levels. Or could it have been a medical condition which caused her to crash? "We would never knowingly allow our daughters to travel with somebody who might jeopardize their safety.". Ill tell you yes, she probably was drinking 100 percent. She possibly feels that the Schuler family is all she has and admires them for their seemingly perfect middle-class life. Just days after the crash, toxicology reports conducted on Dianes body shocked everyone who knew her. It has been speculated that this was either due to an argument with Diane, or a fracturing in their relationship. My timing here is off, and not only because Liz Garbus HBO documentary about the events of that day, Theres Something Wrong with Aunt Diane, premiered in July. The couple's three daughters - Emma, 9, Alison, 7, and Kate Hance, 5 - were killed in the July 26 crash.Schuler was also killed, along with her 2-year-old daughter Erin. Is it possible that Diane Schuler wasn't hiding a drinking problem, but hiding a problem that became so painful she ended it all, able to carry through her only way out of the pain by blinding herself with pot and alcohol? He did not take questions. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. Speak to any mother who holds down a job and she'll tell you that she's the one who typically shuttles the kids back and forth, makes the meals, does the laundry, does the grocery shopping, knows the kids' schedules, speaks to the teachersthe list goes on and on. People will say very out of character things when in the midst of grief. She signed herself up at the childrens school for chaperoning trips and participating in party donations, as described by her friend Noreen, She chaperones for school trips. At 11am, Diane and her party were back on the road, driving along Interstate 87. Like I said, Diane made all the decisions and he was like her oldest boy. It has been speculated that Diane grew to resent this role and was exhausted by shouldering the burden of the full responsibilities of the household. Whilst its impossible to know how Diane felt about her role, from descriptions from friends and colleagues, this was very much her personality. Whilst Daniel and Diane worked opposite shifts- Diane would be at work whilst Daniel remained home all day- family and friends have described the marriage as happy. Once Delia's husband and teen age children realize she's gone, they can barely give her vital statistics to the police - arguing over the color of her eyes, her height, her weight. Stephen Spagnuolo, uncle of the girls who perished at the Taconic crash, speaks at a news conference Wednesday. In this case, they have pre-determined that we have another epidemic on our hands -- that of the "Secret Mommy Drinker." Rather than Daniel being neglectful, I suspect that this was due to Dianes natural secrecy and reluctance to discuss her feelings, as described by her friend, Christine, She infrequently talked about personal feelings., Diane was solely responsible for the family. Such questions niggle like those of Arnold and Jesse Friedmans guilt, of Arnold and Elaines difficult marriage, of the Friedmans family history of mental illness, disappointment, and unhappiness. My gut tells me that Diane Schuler was overwhelmed, sickened and ultimately strangled by demons so powerful they swallowed her, leaving her in madness.. She was very preoccupied with the image she portrayed to the world; this can be seen in her striving to be the first parent at the school gates, as mentioned by her friend Noreen, I was the second parent there every day, and she was the first. Diane presented herself very smartly and her children were always immaculate, as noted by her mother-in-law, Irene Schuler, Everything was ironed and down to, like, the littlest thing, like her pants were ironed, her shirts for ironed, this was ironed. It was found that Diane had a blood alcohol level of 0.19, with the legal limit being 0.08. There is no reasonable answer for the irrational. Filters. I was reminded, watching Aunt Diane, of Capturing the Friedmans, another film in which the truth is so elusive as to suggest that the concept of truth must be an absurdity. Diane Schuler, 30 who died in the wrong-way crash on the Taconic Parkway recently "seemed under pressure, like work and family were getting to her," said the pal, Sheila, who asked . Daniels parents commented, He loved Diane. Dianes friend, Camille Stio, commented, She never, ever once said, Oh, my husband is a pain in the ass, Dianes friend, Christine, stated when asked if Diane discussed her marriage, Not really about her marriage. This would motivate her preoccupation to protect Diane and her reputation, whilst desperately seeking alternative scenarios for the collision. View map. My gut tells me that Diane Schuler was overwhelmed, sickened and ultimately strangled by demons so powerful they swallowed her, leaving her in madness, perhaps even unaware that her children and three nieces were the unwitting victims of the demons as well. Minutes later, Diane was spotted on the side of the road, bent over with her hands on her knees, as if she was throwing up. The Diance Schuler case -- about the young woman who barrelled down the . Everyone's question is, "But why did she take the children with her?" I cannot find any credible evidence, outside of speculation and interpretations of various statements given by witnesses who saw Diane in her last minutes alive, to suggest that Diane was prone, capable or susceptible to commit such an act. Change). There is no reason or grounds to suspect Jay and Daniel were involved together outside of a familial relationship. Contributors control their own work and posted freely to our site. The press often drives the story. The statement was read by Jackie Hance's brother, Stephen Spagnuolo, near the Hance home in Floral Park, L.I. I must admit, so far my gut has served me and my clients well. A witness at the camping ground who had met Diane several times before stated that she saw her leave, and that she looked to be sober and acting completely normal. Why, when she was travelling with five children in the car, was she reported to be driving aggressively? She was reported to be in the same position a short time later at a separate rest stop. What is the reason her family and our society eschews mental illness as an explanation? She had friendships independently of her marriage, friendships with her colleagues, and friendships with other parents. In the same way that Andrea Yates, a self-described "bad" mother could have simply left her children and walked away. Download the app Get a free listing Advertise 0800 777 449. keywords location Search. This post was published on the now-closed HuffPost Contributor platform. It is worth noting that the witness statements of Dianes final moments were relayed from the memories of people who saw her for a split second as she was hurtling 70-80MPH towards them. But why take a tragedy now and spin it into yet another "profile" that will give the media fodder for voyeuristic news until this story fades back into the landscape? Sure, there are closeted drinkers, pot smokers, cocaine users, pill poppers, and the maritally unfaithful out there. The only good things to come out of this terrible accident was a heightened awareness of the dangers of a hidden addiction, and a foundation set up by the Hences, which supports young girls to realise their full potential. "She didn't just wake up one morning with a drug problem and capable of drinking that much alcohol.". Malcolm Roberts Psychic Medium. The Hances indicated in the statement that they will cooperate with police, a day after cops complained the family wasn't talking. An independent investigator hired by the Schuler family obtained DNA testing and toxicology testing of Schuler's samples, and also confirmed the results of the original testing. Instead, as in the case of Diane Schuler who killed eight people including herself on the Taconic Parkway last weekend, the living are speaking for her. We have little room for error, and much of what we do goes unnoticed and taken for granted. IndieWire is a part of Penske Media Corporation. Dianes son, Bryan, survived the crash with a severe head trauma and broken bones, and was left recuperating in the hospital for three months. Another theory was that Diane Schuler typically wasn't alcoholic, but she had been self-medicating due to an abscess in her mouth. The Unsolved UK Podcast Diane Schuler/Taconic Parkway, Unsolved 13th Apr 2019 7 Minutes. Her friend Noreen mentioned that Ive never seen her mad or angry, and no one in her life reported any ups and downs or mood swings. Her five-year-old son Brian survived and is hospitalized. Theres Something Wrong with Aunt Diane becomes, through the ultimate opaqueness of those tragic events, something even darker a film about the very tenuousness of what we call evidence, of what we call personality, of what we call knowing somebody. On one level, Garbus film is an investigation, weighing toxicology reports, autopsy findings, eyewitness testimony, character analysis, phone records, and security video a re-membering of tragedy, stitching it back together piece by piece. Clearly, they didn't know all of her. This is the most rude company and p. Malcolm Roberts Psychic Medium. Interviews with leading film and TV creators about their process and craft. On the day of the incident, the Schuler family had been driving back from a weekend away at their Long Island property. View all posts by The Unsolved UK Podcast. Her blood alcohol level was 0.19% when she slammed into the SUV while driving in the wrong direction on the Taconic.