carol ann gotbaum

The fraternal twin brother of controversial publicist David Hans Schmidt says his sibling had refused treatment for depression throughout his life and hanged himself. The 47-year-old Schmidt -- known for brokering deals involving compromising celebrity photos and videos -- was found dead Friday in his Phoenix townhouse.

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A 36-year-old California man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 1992 rape of a Mesa elementary school teacher. Authorities say Gregory Wayne Galkoski became a suspect last year when his DNA was matched to evidence found on the woman's clothing.

PHOENIX (AP) - Phoenix police say a 45-year-old woman who died after being arrested at Sky Harbor International Airport may have accidentally strangled herself while trying to get out of her handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum died in a police holding room Friday after being arrested for disorderly conduct when gate crews refused to allow her to board a plane.

RYE, N.H. (AP) - Arizona Senator John McCain says both the United States and Myanmar's neighbors need to be tougher on the military junta responsible for this week's brutal crackdown on demonstrators. The Republican presidential hopeful says he's not trying to conjure up the more than five years he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
PHOENIX (AP) - The fraternal twin brother of controversial publicist David Hans Schmidt says his sibling had refused treatment for depression throughout his life and hanged himself. The 47-year-old Schmidt -- known for brokering deals involving compromising celebrity photos and videos -- was found dead Friday in his Phoenix townhouse.

MESA, Ariz. (AP) - A 36-year-old California man has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for the 1992 rape of a Mesa elementary school teacher. Authorities say Gregory Wayne Galkoski became a suspect last year when his DNA was matched to evidence found on the woman's clothing.

PHOENIX (AP) - Phoenix police say a 45-year-old woman who died after being arrested at Sky Harbor International Airport may have accidentally strangled herself while trying to get out of her handcuffs. Carol Ann Gotbaum died in a police holding room Friday after being arrested for disorderly conduct when gate crews refused to allow her to board a plane.

RYE, N.H. (AP) - Arizona Senator John McCain says both the United States and Myanmar's neighbors need to be tougher on the military junta responsible for this week's brutal crackdown on demonstrators. The Republican presidential hopeful says he's not trying to conjure up the more than five years he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam.

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Phoenix police were investigating Sunday how a 45-year-old woman died over the weekend while in police custody at Phoenix's Sky Harbor International Airport.

Carol Ann Gotbaum, in an undated family photo, may have accidentally strangled herself while in custody.

Carol Ann Gotbaum may have accidentally strangled herself while trying to get out of her handcuffs, Phoenix Police Department spokesman Sgt. Andy Hill said Saturday.

"According to investigators, it appeared as though Ms. Gotbaum had possibly tried to manipulate the handcuffs from behind her to the front, got tangled up in the process, and they ended up around her neck area," he said.

Witnesses told police that Gotbaum was "yelling and screaming" and running through the terminal Friday. She was arrested for disorderly conduct.

While handcuffed, the New Yorker became "disruptive" and she was taken to a holding room, where she was left alone, Hill told CNN affiliate KTVK.

Investigators said officers went to check on her five to 10 minutes later. Police policy requires that be done every 15 minutes.

Finding Gotbaum "unconscious and not breathing," Hill said, officers performed CPR.

"Sometime during the time she went into custody, she went into medical distress," he said.

Gotbaum was the mother of three young children and the daughter-in-law of longtime New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum.

A spokeswoman for the Maricopa County medical examiner said an autopsy would be conducted