Lynn Turner's death ruled a suicide

Print
E-mail

By Rhonda Cook

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Blood tests indicate convicted murderer Lynn Turner killed herself with an overdose of blood pressure medication, the GBI said Wednesday.

Enlarge photo

In this 2007 photo, Lynn Turner looks toward the jury as she and defense lawyers Vic Reynolds and Jimmy Berry rise to hear the sentence of life in prison in the antifreeze posioning of Randy Thompson.

Calvin Cruce, AJC In this 2007 photo, Lynn Turner looks toward the jury as she and defense lawyers Vic Reynolds and Jimmy Berry rise to hear the sentence of life in prison in the antifreeze posioning of Randy Thompson.

Enlarge photo

Marlene Karas, AJC Lynn Turner listens as her mother testifies in Turner's 2004 trial for the murder of Glenn Turner.

More Atlanta area news »

Turner, a former 911 operator convicted of killing her husband and boyfriend with antifreeze, ingested a lethal amount of the prescribed drug propranolol, said Dr. Kris Sperry, Georgia's chief medical examiner. Her death has been ruled a suicide.

Turner, 42, was found in her cell Aug. 30 at Metro State Prison in DeKalb County, according to Department of Corrections spokeswoman Sharmelle Brooks.

The state medical examiner found no obvious cause of death during her autopsy so a toxicology report was ordered, said GBI spokesman John Bankhead said

Turner was convicted of the 1995 murder of her 31-year-old husband, Cobb County police officer Glenn Turner. She also was convicted of murdering her Forsyth County firefighter boyfriend and the father of her daughter, 32-year-old Randy Thompson, six years later.

The men didn't know each other and their deaths were not linked initially despite some similarities. Both suffered flu-like symptoms before they were discovered home alone, dead. Both were believed to have died of cardiac dysrhythmia, or an irregular heartbeat

But Lynn Turner had moved in with Thompson four days after her husband's death and they had a daughter 10 months after Glenn Turner died.

And once their Lynn Turner connection was realized, Glenn Turner's body was exhumed and tissues from both men were retested.

Both had died from poisoning by ethylene glycol, the sweet, odorless chemical in antifreeze.

News of Turner's death shocked some of the victims' relatives and friends but at least one of them, Thompson's mother, said Lynn Turner's death didn't matter to her.

"I don't think it makes any difference to us whether she's gone," said Nita Thompson.

"It's still strange," she said.

Mike Archer, a longtime friend of Glenn Turner's, said the news was as surprising as his friend's death nearly 15 years ago.

"I'm just kind of stunned," Archer said. "I have a lot of questions about her medical state before this happened. And about her mental state."

Turner collected more than $140,000 in insurance benefits and $700 per month in a police pension from her husband's death. She got another $36,000 from Thompson's insurance plan, according to testimony in her trials.

Penny Penn, Forsyth County district attorney, said Turner was still in financial distress after receiving those payouts and she had no doubt the woman could have killed again if she needed the money.

"I don't think it’s unreasonable to think there might have been a third victim," Penn said. "With anything, the more you do it, the easier it gets. You get emboldened. By locking her up, I think you could argue other people were protected."

Lynn Turner's appeal to have her Cobb County conviction overturned was denied, but her Forsyth County appeal was still pending at the time of her death, Penn said.

"We had an open case," Penn said. "In that regard, we can close it."