In 1975 Sam Bronfman. heir to the Bronfman/Seagram liquor fortune was kidnapped. The two individuals arrested for his kidnapping- NYC Fireman Mel Patrick Lynch and his friend Dominic Byrne had surveilled Sam Bronfman - who had just graduated from college- over 30 times at the home he shared with his mother who was divorced from Edgar Bronfman, the patriarch of the family.
The kidnapping, the trial of the kidnappers, and the extraordinary deathbed confession of defendant Lynch's trial counsel- Peter DeBlasio- are detailed in a compelling NY Times story here.
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| Peter DeBlasio at the Bronfman trial |
To cut to the chase of the matter, despite Sam Bronfman being rescued from Lynch's apartment where he was located bound and gaged with tape- tape that removed part of his skin and in which his facial hair had grown into over nine days of being abducted and gagged- and despite confessions- Lynch was acquitted at a trial that Attorney DeBlasio called "the greatest trial victory" of his long and storied career.
DeBlasio trial strategy was that his client and Bronfman were gay lovers (a supremely scandalous allegation in 1976) and that Bronfman had engineered his kidnapping to secure funds from his family. To that end DeBlassio put his client Lynch on the witness stand and by all accounts Lynch was an exceptionally compelling witness whose story the prosecution was unable to shake after four days on the witness stand. After the trial, multiple jurors stated that they were certain Bronfman faked his kidnapping.
Peter DeBlasio passed away at age 91 in December 2020 (only the good die young which is why criminal defense attorneys routinely live into their mid-90's and beyond). In July of 2020 Mr. DeBlassio published his memoirs. In his memoirs he admitted that his defense was made up and that his client did not have a homosexual relationship with Mr. Bronfman and that Mr. Bronfman did not participate in his kidnapping:
From the NY Times article:
“About Sam,” Mr. DeBlasio wrote toward the end of his memoir. Noting that Mr. Lynch and Mr. Byrne were both dead, he felt compelled to set the record straight before his own death. “I want it to be clear to all who may ever read these pages that Samuel Bronfman was not a part of the kidnapping.” He added, “Neither he nor Lynch were gay as far as anyone ever knew and certainly they were not lovers.”
So dear readers, here is the question: Did Peter DeBlasio violate the rules of ethics about setting the story straight on his client and the Bronfman case at a time when his client and the co-defendant were dead?
Are there any cases on you conscience that would engender a deathbed confession? (Rumpole's conscience is 100% entirely clear).