Brooke Astor and Anthony Marshall at her estate Holly Hill, in Briarcliff Manor, New York, circa December 2001. Photograph by Alec Marshall. Charlene Marshall tends to dominate any room that she is in. As her 85-year-old husband, Anthony Marshall—gaunt, weary, sad-eyed—stoically waited in Manhattan Criminal Court this week to be sentenced after being convicted for stealing from his mother Brooke Astor, Charlene sobbed uncontrollably. Although Tony was the one facing prison, he was in the odd position of trying to comfort his volatile wife, hugging her and whispering gently. Her loyal friends from St. James Church huddled protectively nearby, to no avail. Charlene wept noisily, making herself the center of attention. Indeed, the Brooke Astor trial really was always all about Charlene. During opening arguments back in April, prosecutor Liz Loewy declared that Charlene was “the motive” for Tony Marshall’s crimes. At the sentencing hearing this week, prosecutor Joel Seidemann, describing Tony Marshall’s scheme to separate the Alzheimer’s-addled Mrs. Astor from her $187 million fortune, said, “He had the help of a crooked lawyer and the support of his wife. Grand theft Astor was a team effort. It was all geared to help Charlene and her family.” In a sympathy plea to Justice A. Kirke Bartley Jr., Charlene filed a detailed pre-sentencing affidavit which made her 17-year marriage to Tony, who has multiple medical problems, sound like a living hell. “He wakes up 4-5 times during the night to urinate…. He’s unbalanced so I often get up with him and hold onto him … there are accidents and clean-ups necessary…. He frequently has bad dreams which wake him; then he wakes me so we can talk…. Many days he is so fatigued that he takes long and frequent naps, sometimes sleeping all day, only waking up for meals (served in bed).” Left unmentioned was that the couple has been seen recently out-and-about in the city, including attending the opening night of Finian’s Rainbow.

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