Cynthia Sommer

As many of you have heard in the past week, Cynthia Sommer, who was charged and convicted of killing her Marine husband with arsenic in 2007, has been released from prison. All charges against her have been dropped because newly tested tissue samples of her late husband, Todd, were recently tested again for arsenic and came back clean.

Sommer has maintained her innocence from day one, and she and her attorneys have always maintained that she was convicted of murder simply because her actions after her husband’s death were inappropriate.

While her actions clearly showed a reckless person and were out of the norm, I still believe there is much more behind Sommer’s behaviors. I believe Sommer’s behaviors are very inconsistent, and while I don’t know the truth of the situation, I can tell you I don’t trust Sommer. I believe there is more to this story than what we know at the present time.

When I listen to Sommer’s 911 call (time marker 3:07), I hear a voice without any true emotions. When we feel emotions, our voice inflection varies as we speak, and these changes are supportive of our emotions.

Read moreIn Sommer’s 911 call, I don’t hear the normal inflections I would hear when someone is afraid, fearful or facing a crisis. This inconsistency repeats itself over and over during the call. Listen to Sommer’s voice inflection yourself. In a crisis situation, voice inflection goes up at the end of a sentence. It’s consistent with fear and panic. Instead, with Sommer, her voice inflection goes down as if she is making a normal, non-emotional statement. She does this over and over again. It’s a red flag.

Another notable point about Sommer’s 911 call is that her rate of speech is odd, too. She speaks extremely fast. Oftentimes, when people fake fear in a crisis situation, they increase their rate of speech. This, along with the voice inflection, really stands out to me.

Then she hesitates to ask the 911 dispatcher if she can give CPR to her husband. She says “Can I…” without finishing the sentence multiple times before finally saying, “Can I do CPR?” Why does she hesitate to say this? If your husband is “turning blue” in front of you, and you know CPR, are you going hesitate to ask the dispatcher before you act?? It’s odd behavior. If you know CPR, and you love your spouse, there will be no hesitation in helping him immediately.

Was Sommer trying to play the concerned partner, but wasn’t really that concerned?

Also notice that while we hear her doing what sounds like CPR, she is still holding the phone. We know that because she continues to respond to the dispatcher. How does one do this?? This is a big red flag identified by the prosecution. And she doesn’t miss a beat with the dispatcher while doing it, either. For those of you trained in CPR, to do this is amazing, if not entirely impossible.

Add to that, in the middle of doing CPR, she is not only listening to and responding to the dispatcher, but she also takes the time to think about her children, and to ask the dispatcher about getting someone to watch her children while she goes to the hospital.

How is all of this possible while doing CPR? It just doesn’t add up.

Sommer then says, “Now he is just foaming”. Listen to how she says it. She sounds annoyed. Where is her fear, and concern? Also, I want to ask an expert if foaming is something consistent with heart failure or doing CPR? Or is it consistent with other things?

Listen to how she says, “I don’t feel his heart.” She says it without emotion. Then, it sounds like she resumes CPR again.

Is she doing it with him foaming at the mouth?

Next, you hear her say, “Damn it” without any explanation. Why does she say “damn it”? After which time, she says, “It’s like he’s trying to breathe”. The word “like” stands out to me. He is either trying to breathe, or he is not. The word “like” is a hedge word to me, similar to the words “kind of” or “sort of”, which more often than not indicate deception.

Listen again. It sounds like she goes back to her CPR noises again. I can’t get that foam out of my mind. How is she able to breathe for him with the foam in his mouth? In her mouth?

You’d think we’d hear a gag or something, or at minimum questions to the dispatcher on what she should do with him foaming at the mouth. We hear none of it.

Is she perhaps not doing CPR?

Then Sommer screams, “Todd!” as if she is very emotional, and then says in an inconsistent calm voice a second later, “Eyes are all…” How does she turn her emotions on and off so easily? And the way she says “Eyes are all…” is plain eerie. It shows an incredible detachment from Todd. And what was she going to say?? Why does she stop? Why isn’t she saying, “Todd’s eyes are all…”?

Then if you thought Sommer was detaching for minute referring to “eyes are all”, the next minute, she says, “Honey, I love you. I love you so much.” Hmmm… Quick shift in emotions. Her voice gives out. It almost sounds like she is crying, but she never really does, if you listen. You never hear a sniffle or anything through the entire 911 call.

Is she really crying, or is she faking it?

Then she says to her dying husband in the weirdest inflection I’ve heard in the entire call, “What am I doing to DO without you?” The stressing of the word “do” is very unusual here, to say the least. It sounds like she is flat out acting.

And last, she ends the call with “Okay, bye.” Listen to the tone and inflection of her voice here. Do you hear fear, or concern? How about her crying which she seemed to do seconds before? It’s all gone! She cries one second, the next, there are no signs of it whatsoever. She can really turn it on and off, can’t she?

This is very strange behavior for someone who is truly scared they might be losing the love of their life.

In the 911 call, Sommer acts so concerned and afraid that she doesn’t know what she is “…going to do without Todd”, yet on the way to the hospital she says she thinks he will be fine, and amazingly, asks to stop for cigarettes.

Isn’t this unbelievable?

Remember just a few minutes before, he is blue on the floor, she doesn’t feel his heart at all, and he is foaming at the mouth, and now (a few minutes later) she thinks he will be fine?

This is very odd and extremely inconsistent. It is, however, consistent with a woman who is faking her emotions and her concern for her dying husband. It reeks of dishonesty.

Nothing has ever added up when I watch Cynthia Sommer speak, and now this week, Sommer has done an interview tour, speaking about her injustice. And again, I see nothing but red flags. I will write more soon.

For more on Tone of Voice and Inflection, click here.


Please Note:
I realize my opinion will be controversial because it is far from the common opinion. If you disagree with me, you are welcome to post your opinions, but keep them respectful. I will not tolerate bashing of any kind. Crude or rude comments will be deleted.