<p>So the husband is saying that the medical examiner was either 100% wrong, or lied? Somehow I don’t see that happening . . . The new autopsy may harm the husband rather than help him.</p>
<p>Saw this on the news this morning and as the commentators correctly pointed out a 2nd autopsy gives the state another chance to take more samples too. They would likely take hair samples to analyze for THC (marijuana). As the hair grows it includes traces of whatever chemicals were in the body at the time, including many illegal substances. In short, it’s like a timeline of what you were putting into your body. </p>
<p>If it shows that she had a long history of illegal drug use that certainly won’t help their cause one bit. </p>
<p>The autopsy results were quite conclusive… every body tissue they tested was pickled with alcohol. The family even put out this ‘theory’ that the subsequent fire converted her blood sugar into alcohol… this is of course total hogwash.</p>
<p>I’m not sure they can get further conclusive alcohol tests - especially is she were embalmed. If heating a body produced that much alcohol, there would be a chain of Jack Daniels crematoriums.</p>
<p>True… it’s difficult to run many more tests for alcohol although I’m sure the lab still has the original fluid samples. </p>
<p>The Schuler family is obviously going to get nailed by a massive lawsuit, and rightfully so. I suppose they may have been told planting seeds of doubt in the public’s mind may help their cause… but the public is clearly smarter than that and all the Schulers are doing is making things even more difficult for loved ones of Diane Schuler’s victims.</p>
<p>[Sister-in-law</a> claims Taconic driver Diane Schuler smoked pot everyday](<a href=“http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/07/2009-11-07_taconic_druggie_sez_kin.html]Sister-in-law”>http://www.nydailynews.com/news/ny_crime/2009/11/07/2009-11-07_taconic_druggie_sez_kin.html)</p>
<p>Family member says mother who drove van the wrong way down the Taconic smoked pot daily. Another article I read stated that the same relative said Diane did in fact drink.</p>
<p>I knew this story had a few more layers than the husband was willing to admit.</p>
<p>And there’s a report that witnesses saw her pulled over earlier in the day and sick on the side of the road…apparently doubled over…</p>
<p>And Law & Order already worked this into a script…</p>
<p>Reminds me of an acquaintance whom friends became concerned about because she was driving drunk with her small kids in the car. The friends told her husband, and one wealthy friend even offered to pay for the woman to enter alcohol rehab. The husband, however, angrily denied that his wife had a drinking problem.</p>
<p>Years later, he divorced her, complaining about her longtime alcohol abuse. She, however, says that when he divorced her was the first time he ever had complained about her drinking… At least their situation didn’t result in the kind of tragedy that happened in the situation described in this thread.</p>
<p>^^^^yet…</p>
<p>I wonder if she tried really hard not to drink and smoke in front of her husband. That would explain why she seemingly couldn’t wait to light up and guzzle the minute she got into the car - away from him. If they worked different shifts at home, it would be easier to do what she wants when he’s not around. Going to the trailer for the weekend would create stress for her rather than relaxation.</p>
<p>Oh boy, this does not bode well for the husband.</p>
<p>The surprising thing to me is that this took so long to come out.</p>
<p>Cartera, your theory is very interesting, and does account for some of the bizarre disparity in the story. I wonder if the husband is a control freak.</p>
<p>Momof3sons, I saw that Law & Order episode also…gotta love the L&O twist.</p>
<p>I don’t think that it is far fetched that the husband didn’t know about the wife’s drinking and drugging. Many who have addictions to drugs or alcohol work hard to hide their use from relatives.</p>
<p>Didn’t the husband refuse to answer questions regarding her pot use, citing his job in law enforcement as the reason? I’m betting he knew about the pot; she may have been able to hide the extent of her drinking, though.</p>
<p>He said she smoked occasionally to help her sleep. If she smoked after the kids went to bed, she probably also waited for him to go to bed. I think it would be easier to hide the pot smoking than the alcohol. I know some say you can’t smell vodka, but I don’t agree.</p>
<p>I think I remember reading that he worked nights, so it’s certainly plausible that she could hide the extent of her chemical use.</p>
<p>The thing that always aggravated me about this story is the husband’s cocky, arrogant attitude that his wife was a saint who couldn’t possibly have been drunk and/or high, and that a tooth absess caused her erratic behavior. IMO he knows more than he is telling for fear of a civil lawsuit. I did read somewhere that the husband and wife worked opposite shifts, so it would be easy for her to drink and smoke in private.</p>
<p>My husband and I work opposite shifts and when we are both together for a significant amount of time it causes stress because we’re each so used to living as we choose. When he returned days for a while, I told him that I was suffocating and felt like he was taking up all the space in the house. I think Cartera has it exactly right. The wife was likely jumping out of her skin at being in close quarters with her husband and the husband probably had no idea.</p>