Her identical twin sister, Thelma, Viscountess Furness, was the mistress of the future Edward VIII. Whitney, one of the most sensational American custody trials in the 20th century. She was a central figure in Vanderbilt vs. Gloria Morgan Vanderbilt (born Maria Mercedes Morgan 23 August 1904 – 13 February 1965) was an American socialite best known as the mother of fashion designer and artist Gloria Vanderbilt and maternal grandmother of television journalist Anderson Cooper. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (maternal grandfather) Socialite, mother of Gloria Vanderbilt, maternal grandmother of Anderson Cooper In 2005, Harrod was re-sentenced to death by a jury and remains on death row.Holy Cross Cemetery, Culver City, California Harrod never revealed who may have helped him with the killing or who may have hired him. Nonetheless, Harrod was convicted of murder in November 1997 and sentenced to death the following May. Some people also claimed that Harrod, a large man weighing about 250 pounds, could not have gotten through the window to get into the home or make it down the rugged mountainous terrain to get to the house. "Harrod argues that his intended questions would not have incriminated Tovrea and would only establish the legitimacy of the Mineral Exploration Company" and should have been allowed at his trial. However, Ed would not testify to this due to his 5th amendment privilege against self-incrimination. Harrod argued that the money and calls connected to Tovrea were because of business dealings they had together in a company called the Mineral Exploration Company of the Americas, where Ed was the president and Harrod served as a consultant. Police stated that they found Harrod's fingerprints on the kitchen counter and the inside and outside of the window. She also said Harrod was going to supervise the murder and that he received boxes of cash. After being offered immunity, Harrod's ex-wife told police that Harrod told her he was hired to kill Jeanne for $100,000 and that he posed as Gordon Phillips to get into the home for a look. Police found multiple calls and money transfers between Harrod and Ed Tovrea Jr. Nearly two years later in January 1994, an anonymous caller identified the voice on the tape as James Harrod. The message was from a man named Gordon Phillips who had contacted Jeanne before her murder and someone Jeanne's daughter considered suspicious. In April 1992, a re-enactment of the murder was done on the television show "Unsolved Mysteries." During the show, a tape of an answering machine message was played. The re-enactment that leads to a suspect: Press accounts at the time show Jeanne Tovrea as every bit the socialite, sponsoring dances and fundraisers for various local charities. When she died, the trust was worth about $4 million and went to Ed's three adult children. The rest of his estate was put into a trust that Jeanne received income from. Each of his children from a previous marriage received $200,000 in monthly installments of $1,500. Upon his death, his wife Jeanne received land, stock, and other personal property. His estate, when he died in 1983, was worth about $8 million. Ed had inherited his fortune from his family's cattle business. Police believed the suspect came through the kitchen window, which was removed and sitting on a chair, on the patio. The rest of the house was undisturbed, except for her purse which was emptied and jewelry case drawers that were removed. Police found her dead in her bed, the victim of five gunshot wounds to her head all at close range and two through a pillow. on April Fool's Day in 1988 when police responded to an alarm call at the Paradise Valley home of Jeanne Tovrea. Arizona’s most notorious death row inmates past and present have incredible stories, including this one where the widow of a multi-millionaire was murdered in her Paradise Valley home in 1988.
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