BALTIMORE (April 4)—Richard P. Isaacs, 36, of 1726 Merrill Lake Road, was found dead at his apartment Saturday morning by his former wife, Holly Isaacs. Police investigators indicated that his death appeared to be self-inflicted. Mr. Isaacs had been out drinking with friends Friday night and, according to witnesses, had to be carried out of the Other Place tavern on Curran Street at about midnight. Police are still looking for a white man in his late thirties or early forties who witnesses say drove the intoxicated Isaacs home.
In 1986, Mr. Isaacs was one of five suspects in the famous Cedar Cove, Long Island Tannering murder case. Juliet Tannering, the attractive fifteen-year-old daughter of New York publishing executive Vincent Tannering, disappeared following a party at the home of a neighborhood boy. Although the Tannering girl’s body was never recovered, the boy last seen with her, Robert Sutton, who was seventeen at the time, was eventually tried as an adult for her murder. Mr. Sutton was defended in the case, built largely on circumstantial evidence, by celebrity criminal defense attorney Nathan Hirsch and was acquitted after a widely covered four-week-long trial. At the time, there was much critical speculation that Mr. Sutton’s uncle, U.S. Senator Myron Burton of New York, had exerted undue influence on police and prosecutors. In recent years, Mr. Sutton’s two older brothers have followed in their uncle’s political path. Hugh Sutton is the current Governor of New York State and considered a likely candidate for the 2008 Democratic presidential primary. Lawrence Sutton is the U.S. Congressman from New York’s 20th District.” Mr. Sutton’s sister, Ariel, is married to acclaimed Hollywood director John Pascarelli.
