Anthony Marshall and his band of lawyers were so meticulous in their alleged greed, they took the trouble to assign his mom, Brooke Astor, a hypothetical date of death — Feb. 7, 2006 — on a draft estate-tax return, just so the creepy document would be all filled in.
Problem was, Astor, albeit not all there, was still very much among the living, and wouldn’t die for another year and a half.
“Why didn’t you wait until Mrs. Astor died before you did this return?” Manhattan prosecutor Joel Seidemann asked his witness, estates lawyer Warren Whitaker.
Defense objections that the question was argumentative were sustained, and the lawyer didn’t answer.
Whitaker’s draft return also included calculations, down to the penny, of the worth of the beloved philanthropist’s estate on the date of her fictitious death — $187,113,721. And 15 cents.
It also included the helpful observation that Marshall would make money on Astor’s funeral. He could charge the funeral costs to Mama’s pot of charitable-donation money, which he couldn’t otherwise inherit, and take a tax deduction on themcosts, Whitaker conceded.
The swindle trial, in which Marshall is charged with strong-arming his mom out of more than $60 million in bequests and gifts, is in its eighth week of testimony.
Whitaker continues under cross-examination Monday.