But Charlene, how did you really feel about Mrs. Astor?
Charlene Marshall, the unindicted villainess of the Brooke Astor swindle trial, was center stage again yesterday, this time for allegedly screaming the following, in the background, when the beloved, 101-year-old philanthropist telephoned her apartment back in 2003:
“What the f- – – does that c- – – want now?”
The alleged outburst — banned from testimony by the judge after defense lawyers decried it as “scandalous,” “provocative” and “irrelevant” — was just the worst revelation in a very, very bad heir day for defendant Anthony Marshall.
Prosecutors say Marshall, 84, strong-armed his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother into signing over some $60 million in bequests — all to satisfy his insatiable younger wife, Charlene. Her greed, they say, was his motive.
Three weeks into testimony, they’ve called to the witness stand more than a dozen of Astor’s friends, relatives and staff to describe how, as Astor descended into dementia in the early 2000s, the Marshalls began limiting her spending, her staff, her medical care and her contact with the outside world — all the while plundering her $180 million fortune.
Yesterday, the most damaging barrage came courtesy of Astor’s last social secretary, Naomi Dunn Packard-Koot, 39, who worked for the grande doyenne between 2002 and 2003.
Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Kirke Bartley barred Packard-Koot from telling the story of how, in May 2003, Astor asked her to phone the Marshalls, and tell Tony she wanted to see him.
The Marshalls were getting ready to throw a party in the East 79th Street apartment Astor had purchased for them.
“Mr. Marshall picked up the phone,” prosecutor Elizabeth Loewy said.
“Naomi heard Mrs. Marshall — extremely upset — say in the background, ‘What the “eff” does that “c” want?’ Naomi can hear Mrs. Marshall screaming in the background.”
But Packard-Koot was allowed to drop some other bombs in front of the jury. Among them:
* After Astor met privately with her lawyer, regarding her will, in fall 2002, Marshall railed, “It’s a final will! She can’t do that! She doesn’t know what she’s doing!”
* When Marshall would tell Astor she couldn’t buy more dresses until she sold some paintings, Astor got visibly upset.
“She would shake a lot and one of her legs would start to tremble,” Packard-Koot told jurors.