|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
05/06/2006Divorce papers preceded deathMark Unger was served four days before body foundBEULAH - Mark Unger was served with divorce papers that asked about his past addictions to drugs and gambling, four days before his estranged wife's body was found in the shallows of a Benzie County lake. Detroit attorney Ada Kerwin testified Friday during Mark Unger's murder trial that Florence Unger hired her in August 2003 to file divorce papers against her husband. Two months later, in late October, the Ungers attended a divorce intervention hearing during at which Kerwin served Unger and his attorney papers that included questions about addictions and substance abuse. Florence Unger's body was discovered in Lower Herring Lake at Benzie's Watervale resort four days later, as the Huntington Woods family vacationed in northern Michigan. Kerwin said Florence Unger made it clear that the marriage couldn't be saved. "She told me that her husband had, in her opinion, traded his addiction to marijuana and Vicoden to, at that point, an addiction to rehab," she said. "She was convinced that no matter what Mark did regarding his addictions, that the marriage was over," Kerwin testified. Mark Unger told police he and his wife stood on a boathouse deck at the resort the night of Oct. 24, 2003, when she asked him to check on their two children. She was gone when he returned, Unger said. Authorities contend Florence Unger was pushed from the deck and fell 12 feet onto a concrete pad and Mark Unger then dragged her into the water, where she drowned. Kerwin said Florence Unger told her about the weekend trip to Benzie County, but they did not discuss her reasons for going. She also said Florence Unger never seemed to waiver about her decision to seek the divorce, although the couple continued to live together. "She was not thinking of reconciling," she said. Mark Unger believed the marriage could be saved, and he asked the "action of the divorce be dismissed," said Kerwin, who called Unger's response to the divorce complaint "unusual." "It is clear Mr. Unger did not want this divorce." Defense attorney Robert Harrison asked Kerwin about her depiction of Mark Unger's response to divorce proceedings, and whether Florence Unger may have not wavered in her desire to end the marriage. "It is not unusual for people during the course of a divorce to change their minds," she replied. She also said she wasn't worried about violence as the couple continued to live together. Unger's trial is on hold until May 10, when neighbors of the Ungers are expected to testify. See Related Stories:
|
|
