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"Unvarnished." (Phi Beta Cons)
"Splendidly splenetic." (Culture Industry)
"Except for University Diaries, most academic blogs are tedious."
(Rate Your Students)
"I think of Soltan as the Maureen Dowd of the blogosphere,
except that Maureen Dowd is kind of a wrecking ball of a writer,
and Soltan isn't. For the life of me, I can't figure out her
politics, but she's pretty fabulous, so who gives a damn?"
(Tenured Radical)

Monday, September 24, 2007

Ah yes... And ... remember when he
bashed his wife's head in? ... Memories...





'A memorial service was held Thursday night in honor of Claude Vandeloise, the University French studies professor convicted of involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice in the death of his wife.

Vandeloise, 62, died Aug. 22 from complications due to cancer. David Bourland, Vandeloise's attorney, said his client was scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 1.

Prosecutor Aaron Brooks said Vandeloise could have served up to 40 years for his crime. Vandeloise would then have been deported to Belgium, his home country.

"With the death of Mr. Vandeloise, the case is officially closed," Brooks said.

Vandeloise was rushed to the hospital in late July, said Garrett McCutchan, Italian professor and close friend. Tumors were found in his abdomen and on his liver.

McCutchan said Vandeloise developed a blood clot in his right leg soon after. He caught pneumonia and never recovered.

McCutchan said Vandeloise wanted to go home but could not walk without assistance.

"Eventually things just multiplied and caused his death," McCutchan said.

Vandeloise struck his wife Monique Beckers on Oct. 7, 2004, after she made an error in booking his flight to a conference he was scheduled to speak at in Quebec. The blow to Beckers' head caused her brain to detach from the spinal cord and bounce against the back of her skull.

Because Beckers suffered from cirrhosis of the liver, her brain had shrunk to a size smaller than average. This caused a blot clot, which ultimately caused Beckers' death a week later, Bourland said.

Vandeloise pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and obstruction of justice April 11.

Brooks said the obstruction charge was the result of Vandeloise placing Beckers' body on the bathroom floor to look as though she had fallen.

"He did ultimately confess to hitting her," Brooks said.

Lucie Brindabour, the executrix of Vandeloise's estate, organized the memorial service, McCutchan said. Several of his colleagues in the French studies department came together and exchanged anecdotes about their time with Vandeloise. McCutchan said Vandeloise's favorite songs were played on his old-fashioned turntable.

Vandeloise and Beckers were very close and relied on each other in adapting to the American culture, McCutchan said.

"He tried to wrestle with the reality of the situation, but sometimes he just threw up his hands and said 'C'est la vie,'" McCutchan said.'



---the daily reveille, louisiana state university---