Susan Butler - Fatal Attraction: The True Story of Carolyn Warmus

FATAL ATTRACTION : THE TRUE STORY OF CAROLYN WARMUS

SUSAN BUTLER

C arolyn Warmus is serving a sentence of 25 years to life in Bedford Hills Correctional Facility for Women for murdering the wife of her lover, a fellow elementary school teacher.

Her case was widely referred to in the media as the Fatal Attraction murder in reference to the 1987 movie.

She was 25 years old at the time of the murder in 1989, and 28 when she was convicted in 1992 after two trials.

Neighbors and acquaintances, from her time in Michigan and from her time in New York, described her as pleasant and sunny. One was quoted as saying she was the kind of girl you could take home to Mom.

People who knew her better said that her big grin hid an emotionally disturbed, needy, often depressed, and occasionally suicidal individual.

In her 20s, blond, wide-eyed Carolyn had a sexy personality, a great figure, and dressed expensively and fashionably. She turned heads. Her employers described her as cheerful and very competent.

In her 20s, she had also begun obsessing over a string of older unavailable men and, by the time of the murder, had a long history of bizarre behaviorsome of it criminalin relation to these romantic entanglements.

Early life

Carolyn Warmus was born on January 8, 1964. She was the eldest of three children of millionaire Thomas Warmus and his wife Elizabeth. The family lived in small affluent neighborhoods around Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit.

In 1958, Thomas Warmus had begun a career as a life insurance agent. In 1963, he formed the American Way Service Corporation, which later became a holding company for a number of insurance companies. He was a millionaire by the time he was raising his family.

Carolyn and her younger sister and brotherTracey and Tommyhad a typical wealthy upbringing and lifestyle. They were not lacking in material comforts.

However, a family acquaintance told People Magazine in 1990 that there was no deep emotional bond between the parents and their children. A childhood friend told People that none of the children had a good relationship with their father, who was obsessed with business and a rich lifestyle. Their mother was also more interested in being a socialite than in being a mother.

Elizabeth Warmus filed for divorce in 1970. The Warmus marriage had been difficult for years. When they divorced in 1972, Carolyn was eight years old. By this time, American Way Service Corp. was worth $107 million.

Thomas Warmus married his secretary, Nancy, who was younger and wore mink coats, tight strapless sequined dresses, and liked expensive sports cars.

Elizabeth won custody of the children and they lived with her in Birmingham, Michigan, another Detroit suburb. Thomas built Nancy a huge fenced-in house on a hill in the new-money neighborhood of Franklin Village.

When Carolyn was 14, Elizabeth remarried and moved to the East Coast. The children did not go with her. They moved to the big house in Franklin Village. Carolyn told a friend that the house was always empty. She and Tracey used it to throw lavish parties.

High school

Carolyn attended Seaholm High School and graduated in 1981 with honors. She was athletic, cheerful, blond and attractive, got good grades, and played on the basketball team.

Peers who knew her well said that her sunny faade hid deep emotional problems caused by the bitter divorce of her parents and lack of affection from her parents, especially her father.

She and her sister were rivals. Tracey was more popular and better looking, which Carolyn found upsetting.

Schoolmates who were interviewed for a February 1990 People Magazine article painted a disturbing picture of the teenaged Carolyn. They said she tried to buy popularity and affection by inviting people to her familys Florida home, throwing extravagant parties, and throwing cash around. In her senior year, she paid a classmate $100 to set her up with a guy she had her eye on.

The $100 date told People his involvement with Carolyn lasted a few months, and he was happy to get her out of his life when it ended. He described her as an extremely unhappy person who complained about having no father and no affection. He said she sometimes talked about suicide.

University of Michigan

After high school, Carolyn attended the University of Michigan and graduated in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science (Psychology). She was already a very troubled person by the time she went to college and became increasingly so. Friends who knew her in college said that suffered from depression and occasionally spoke of suicide.

Some of her acquaintances told police later that she was ditzy and schizo.

While attending university, Carolyn had a series of relationships with older men who were attached that ended badly and left her feeling like a victim. She was apparently incapable of maintaining a successful relationship, and she behaved obsessively during and after her entanglements.

It has been theorized that her attraction to these unattainable men, and her going to extremes to get them back after they broke up with heror to get back at themstemmed from her poor relationship with her father. She was, after all, desirable enough to interest any attainable man she wanted.

Paul Laven

In February 1983, while attending the University of Michigan, Carolyn met a teaching assistant named Paul Laven. By June, they were dating.

According to people who knew them, he was never serious about her, but she was obsessed with him. In everything she did, she had him in mind. If someone paid her a compliment about an outfit or a hairdo, she would ask them what Paul would think of it.

Paul Laven broke up with Carolyn in December and soon announced his engagement to another student, Wendy Siegel.

Carolyn began stalking and harassing the couple. Records from a court complaint filed by Paul show that Carolyns behavior became obsessive and disturbing. The way she later described the situation to private investigator Jim Russo was that she had tried and tried to win him back after he married someone else and it hadnt worked.

She followed Paul around campus, harassed him at his office, and phoned him day and night.

The couple moved to another town and got an unlisted phone number.

On April 6, Carolyn conned a phone company employee into giving her that unlisted number. On April 10, she entered Paul and Wendys apartment and had to be removed by police. She had also been harassing Paul at his office.

In May 1984, she left a note on Pauls car claiming that she was pregnant with his baby and begging him to phone her.

After returning from a vacation in Florida, Carolyn left Wendy a deliberately misspelled note that said she hoped Wendy had enjoyed the past week of Carolyn not bothering her because now she could start worrying again since Carolyn was back.

She added that Wendy would have even more to compete with now, because of Carolyns tan. That gives some insight into Carolyns mind: she thought a tan was relevant.

She went on to say that, of course, with a body like mine Wendy had to realize what tough competition she was up against, that Wendy was now just about out of the running completely, and that Paul would probably continue to pretend to care about Wendy as long as she let him live with her.