Murder Victim. She was killed by her husband, Dr. Carl Coppolino. After allegedly disposing of Lieutenant Colonel William Farber, the husband of his mistress, Marjorie Farber, by injecting him with the powerful muscle relaxant, succinylcholine, then smothering him with a pillow, Carl got Carmela, also a physician, to sign the death certificate, giving the cause of death as a heart attack. She naively did this as a favor to her husband, who had retired from practicing medicine, but who had claimed to be treating Colonel Farber as a neighborly courtesy. The Farbers lived directly across the street from the Coppolinos in a wealthy suburb of Middletown, New Jersey, thus affording Marjorie and Carl easy access to each other while their spouses were occupied elsewhere. Not long after the Colonel's death, Carl and Carmela moved to Sarasota, Florida. Marjorie promptly did, too, actually moving into the house next door to the Coppolinos. In spite of this development, Carmela remained unaware of the true nature of the relationship between her husband and Marjorie. And, within months, she, too, was dead, also from an injection of succinylcholine. Since he got a doctor friend of his to sign off on Carmela's death as another "heart attack", Carl probably would've gotten away with two murders if he had only stayed with Marjorie. But, he had already begun cheating on her with another woman, his bridge partner, Mary Gibson. When, soon after Carmela's demise, he married Mary, an indignant Marjorie Farber went to the police and promptly told them about the unnatural deaths of her husband and Carmela. Carl hired famed attorney F. Lee Bailey to defend him at his trials, which were media sensations. He was acquitted at his first trial in New Jersey for the killing of Colonel Farber, but was convicted of second-degree murder for Carmela's death. After serving 12 years, he was released on parole and returned to his wife, Mary, who had waited for him all that time. Three books were written about the case -"No Deadly Drug", "The Trials of Dr. Coppolino", and "The Coppolino Murder Trial".
Murder Victim. She was killed by her husband, Dr. Carl Coppolino. After allegedly disposing of Lieutenant Colonel William Farber, the husband of his mistress, Marjorie Farber, by injecting him with the powerful muscle relaxant, succinylcholine, then smothering him with a pillow, Carl got Carmela, also a physician, to sign the death certificate, giving the cause of death as a heart attack. She naively did this as a favor to her husband, who had retired from practicing medicine, but who had claimed to be treating Colonel Farber as a neighborly courtesy. The Farbers lived directly across the street from the Coppolinos in a wealthy suburb of Middletown, New Jersey, thus affording Marjorie and Carl easy access to each other while their spouses were occupied elsewhere. Not long after the Colonel's death, Carl and Carmela moved to Sarasota, Florida. Marjorie promptly did, too, actually moving into the house next door to the Coppolinos. In spite of this development, Carmela remained unaware of the true nature of the relationship between her husband and Marjorie. And, within months, she, too, was dead, also from an injection of succinylcholine. Since he got a doctor friend of his to sign off on Carmela's death as another "heart attack", Carl probably would've gotten away with two murders if he had only stayed with Marjorie. But, he had already begun cheating on her with another woman, his bridge partner, Mary Gibson. When, soon after Carmela's demise, he married Mary, an indignant Marjorie Farber went to the police and promptly told them about the unnatural deaths of her husband and Carmela. Carl hired famed attorney F. Lee Bailey to defend him at his trials, which were media sensations. He was acquitted at his first trial in New Jersey for the killing of Colonel Farber, but was convicted of second-degree murder for Carmela's death. After serving 12 years, he was released on parole and returned to his wife, Mary, who had waited for him all that time. Three books were written about the case -"No Deadly Drug", "The Trials of Dr. Coppolino", and "The Coppolino Murder Trial".
Bio by: Karen Valentine
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