On this day, March 21, in 1976, singer Claudine Longet, the former wife of Andy Williams, was arrested for the death of Olympic skier Vladimir “Spider” Sabich.
Longet was best known as a French-born singer who co-starred with Peter Sellers in “The Party.” She and Williams were close friends with Sen. Bobbie Kennedy and his wife, Ethel, and the couples were to go out the night Kennedy was assassinated.
In 1976, Longet had been living with Sabich in Aspen, Colo., when Sabich was shot in the bathroom.
Longet said the gun discharged accidently.
Mistakes by police resulted in inadmissible evidence, and Longet was convicted of misdemeanor negligent homicide. She was sentenced to 30 days.
Longet, now 69, has never performed publicly since.
Scott McCabe
