Brooke Astor’s son ‘stole’ her fortune, court hears

The heir to one of America's greatest family fortunes swindled tens of millions of dollars from his mother, the New York society queen Brooke Astor, which she had earmarked for charity, a New York court has heard.

Astor's only child Anthony Marshall (above) and his lawyer Francis Morrissey took advantage of his mother’s mental degeneration from Alzheimer's Disease to exploit her $195 million fortune, prosecutor Elizabeth Loewy said in her opening statement on Monday. The trial, which is expected to last several weeks, is set to expose some of the most private details of one of America's most famous families.

When Astor died of pneumonia last August at the age of 105 the split between New York's 'grande dame' and her 84-year-old son was already evident. In 2006, Marshall's son Philip had accused his father of 'elder abuse', telling a legal hearing that he had forced his mother - Philip's grandmother - to live in squalor. According to Philip, this including letting Astor sleep on a filthy couch smelling of dog urine and cutting her necessary medication and doctor's visits to enrich himself.

A generous philanthropist, Astor - the former wife of property heir Vincent Astor - had already given away more than $200m to New York causes including her "crown jewels", New York's public library and the Metropolitan museum, by the time she died.

A will she wrote in 2003 ensured that her son would receive a 14-room Park Avenue apartment and a 64-acre country estate, valued together at about $40m. Marshall would also receive tens of millions of dollars worth of art and antiques, as well as an ongoing income - seven per cent of a trust fund worth more than $60m.

However, this was not good enough for Marshall, the prosecution alleges. In 2004, when Astor was almost 102 years old, Marshall and his lawyer Morrissey arranged for the socialite's will to be changed, giving Marshall the entire $60m fortune. The pair "stole from her when she was at her most vulnerable", prosecutor Loewy said yesterday. "They literally pulled her out of the arms of her nurse and dragged her behind closed doors" to change her will in Marshall's favour.

Marshall denies 16 charges relating to his mother's fortune, including fraud and grand larceny. If convicted he faces up to 25 years in prison.

The list of witnesses likely to take the stand in the coming weeks includes former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger and TV anchor Barbara Walters, both of whom were close friends of Brooke Astor's. Annette de la Renta, wife of the fashion designer Oscar, is also set to take the stand: she became Astor's guardian in 2006 after a court order stripped Marshall of his duty of care.