Charles Weedman, lawyer for Claudine Longet in shooting of ski champion lover, dies at 86
Posted May 15, 2014 6:55 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. – Charles Weedman, a Los Angeles lawyer who gained international fame representing singer Claudine Longet (lahn-ZHAY’) in the shooting death of her ski champion lover, has died.
Weedman’s son, Jonathan, says the 86-year-old criminal defence lawyer died Wednesday night after a five-year bout with Parkinson’s disease.
Longet was charged with manslaughter in the killing of Olympic skier Vladimir (Spider) Sabich in Aspen, Colorado, in 1976.
The defence achieved a legal victory as the jury convicted Longet of the lesser charge of criminally negligent homicide, a misdemeanour. Weedman argued the shooting was an accident and called both Longet and her ex-husband, singer Andy Williams, to testify.
Longet was sentenced to 30 days in jail which she was allowed to serve on weekends.
