Nov 9, 2009 7:34 pm US/Eastern
Documents: Wrong-Way Crash Mom Was A Pothead
Diane Schuler's Sister-In-Law, Best Friend Tell Police She Smoked Marijuana Regularly
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Photograph of Diane and Daniel Schuler
CBS
There's a new theory regarding last summer's tragedy on the Taconic State Parkway, and CBS 2 has gotten an inside look at documents prepared by investigators for probing the July crash that killed four adults and four children.
State police investigators spent weeks digging, and documents from the case file on the crash contain much of what they uncovered. The documents were released to the families of the three Yonkers men who died when Diane Schuler smashed her minivan full of children head-on into their SUV.
"They want to know what happened that day," said forensic investigator Michael Archer.
Archer, who works for the family of victim Daniel Longo, said the documents confirm much of what Schuler's husband Daniel refuses to discuss: his wife was a pothead.
Her best friend and sister-in-law told police: "Diane smoked marijuana on a regular basis. She usually would smoke at night after the kids would go to bed."
Police say the information they uncovered tends to support a new theory: that Diane was not a regular drinker and not an alcoholic, because she had trouble handling the 10 shots of vodka she downed during her deadly drive.
Witnesses saw Diane pulled over on the side of the road twice that fatal Sunday, at 11:45 outside the van and "bent over as if she was sick," and 30 minutes later in Rockaldn County where she was seen outside the van, "like she's getting sick."
Cops think she was sick from a vodka binge, but what set her off remains a mystery, and Daniel has said nothing that might explain her actions.
"We'll never know what happened between them that morning," said Archer. "We'll never know why she did this. But there is a reason and we'll never know what that reason is."
The probe also showed that Diane was so disoriented, when her brother phoned her just before the crash, she kept calling him "Danny" instead of "Warren."
The investigation should wrap up early next year with completion of the accident reconstruction report.
Schuler's son Brian was the only survivor in the minivan. The 5-year-old told police he doesn't remember much about the accident.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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