Just as Brooke Astor was a dominating force in the social scene of New York for decades, the trial of her son Anthony Marshall and her former lawyer Francis X Morrissey has been dominating the legal scene here with a daily articles in the local press. Today’s New York Times reports an interesting chapter in the case with an account of the testimony of G. Warren Whitaker who was questioned extensively about his role in the alleged forgery. Whitaker is not under any suspicion of acting improperly, but it was he who prepared the codicil which re-directed some sixty million dollars from charitable bequests to Marshall who was allegedly looking to create a larger estate for his wife Charlene. Prosecutors have  subjected  Whitaker to withering questions about his role in the preparation of the codicil which was requested by Marshall and Morrissey and, according to the prosecution, forged by those two defendants at a time when Ms. Astor was suffering from Alzheimer’s Disease and presumably lacked testamentary capacity. 

Readers of today’s Times article may find the links to other recent stories about the Astor trial to be of interest.