Claudine Longet, Singer and Notorious Trial Figure, Dies at 84

Claudine Longet, the French-born singer and actress who was at the center of a 1976 scandal after fatally shooting her boyfriend, Olympic skier Spider Sabich, has died at 84. Her death was reported by her nephew Bryan Longet; no details were given. Longet recorded albums for A&M Records and appeared in Blake Edwards' The Party (1968) alongside Peter Sellers. She married crooner Andy Williams in 1961 and appeared on his TV show. After their 1975 divorce, she lived with Sabich in Colorado. On March 21, 1976, she shot him with a .22-caliber gun, claiming it discharged accidentally. She was charged with reckless manslaughter but convicted of criminally negligent homicide in January 1977, receiving probation, a $250 fine, and 30 days in jail. The Sabich family's civil suit was settled out of court, with Longet agreeing not to speak publicly about the incident. Born in Paris on Jan. 29, 1942, she moved to Las Vegas as a showgirl, met Williams, and married him in 1961. She had three children with Williams: Christian (died 2019), Bobby, and Noelle (reportedly died 2023). After the trial, she married her defense attorney Ronald Austin in 1985 and lived in Aspen and later Hawaii.