Martha von Bulow dies

The heiress had spent almost 30 years in a coma after her husband Claus was accused of trying to kill her.

Martha von Bulow, known as Sunny, finally died in a New York nursing home after almost three decades in a coma.

The heiress never regained consciousness after she was found lying in a bathroom at the Rhode Island mansion she shared with her husband.

SOUNDBITE: NBC news anchorman saying (English):

"Claus von Bulow went on trial in Newport, Rhode Island today charged with twice trying to murder his wife."

The trials of Claus von Bulow for allegedly trying to kill Sunny were among the most sensational of the decade.

At the first in 1982 he was convicted.

SOUNDBITE: Unidentified juror saying (English):

"The jury finds the defendant Claus von Bulow guilty."

That verdict was later thrown out on appeal.

A second trial in 1985 cleared him.

SOUNDBITE: Unidentified voices delivering verdict (English):

"How do you find the defendant - guilty or not guilty?"

"Not guilty."

During his trials the prosecution said von Bulow wanted his wife dead so he could inherit a chunk of her wealth and marry again.

The defence portrayed his wife as an alcoholic pill popper who drank herself into a coma.

Von Bulow, who later agreed to renounce any claim to his wife's money and never to profit from their story, now lives in London and writes art reviews.

Paul Chapman, Reuters