Death of a Jewish American Princess: The True Story of a Victim on Trial - Hardcover

Frondorf, Shirley

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0394568540 ISBN 13: 9780394568546

Publisher: Villard, 1988

Synopsis

Recounts the true story of the murder of a woman by her husband, and his acquittal due to the jury's empathy for his claim to being overwhelmed by her supposedly typical behavior as a "Jewish-American Princess"

About this title

Reviews

In 1982, a sensational murder trial in Phoenix, Ariz., reverberated throughout the legal community. Restaurateur Steven Steinberg, who killed his wife by stabbing her 26 times, was acquitted; his legal defense portrayed the victim as an overpowering "Jewish American Princess" whose excesses may have provoked her violent end. Examining the structure of the defense's case, Frondorf, an attorney who was previously a psychiatric social worker, follows the theme that made Elana Steinberg the villain, instead of the victim, of the piece. The Steinberg marriagehe was a compulsive, frequently indebted gambler, she was a compulsive shopper and decorator of their showcase housewas ostensibly compatible. The defense's forensic presentation, bolstered by testimony from psychiatrists, maintained that Steinberg committed the crime while sleepwalking, an abnormality allegedly brought on by the intemperate spending of his wife. Frondorf recreates the trial whose outcome scarred the tightly knit Jewish community of Phoenix. Photos not seen by PW. Major ad/promo; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Villard
• Publication date: 1988
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0394568540
• ISBN 13: 9780394568546
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 281