Hans Kristian Rausing, heir to the Tetra Pak packaging manufacturing company, has taken care of his business while the corpse of his wife, Eva, has been decomposing in the house in central London for over two months, writes Wall Street Journal. When friends or family asked about Eve, Hans was giving evasive answers without suggesting that something was wrong.
The macabre lie was uncovered on July 9, when police stopped Rausing because he was driving erratically. After finding drugs in the car, they searched the house. They found the body of Eva Rausing in a room under a pile of clothes and garbage bags bound together. Her husband used deodorizing powder to cut the smell. The bizarre case of the two drug addicts billionaires who have donated millions of pounds to anti-drug foundations has peaked when Rausing pleaded guilty to the accusation that he has not allowed his wife to be properly buried.
He was sentenced to 10 months probation and two months in jail, all suspended, for driving under the influence, plus an intensive treatment in rehab. Judge Richard McGregor-Johnson said that Rausing, aged 49, has not contributed to the death of his wife, but that death was probably caused by a heart attack due to drug abuse. In a statement read in the court room, the billionaire said he believed that he suffered depression after the death of his wife because he could not cope with her loss.
“I did not feel able to face the reality of her death,” said Rausing, adding that all this time he avoided all questions about his wife. During the trial process he stood silently in court and wore a blue suit with a red tie. Investigators believe that Eva died on May 7. She had traces of cocaine and other drugs in her blood and her husband admitted that, instead to notify authorities, he preferred to keep the body in the house.
Rausing, whose father made billions with the Tetra Pak cartons empire, denied any involvement in his wife’s death and added that he did not provide her the drugs. “I can not make a coherent reconstruction of the events that led to Eve’s death and after death. I want to say that I never harmed her,” the billionaire said.
The judge said this case illustrates how drug abuse can destroy even a wealthy family. He added that although they were very rich, they lived in a “total mess”. Johnson said he understood that Rausing has suffered some kind of mental breakdown, but this does not forgive him for hiding the death of his wife. Judge warned Rausing that if he will be caught with drugs, he will go to jail.
Eva Rausing came from a wealthy American family and her husband is a descendant of one of the richest families in Europe, his father having a net income estimated at $6.7 billion. Problems with drugs, a secret known for a long time only by the family, became public in 2008 after Eva Rausing was caught while trying to enter the U.S. Embassy in London with drugs. In a subsequent search in the couple ‘s house it was found a significant amount of heroin and cocaine. The four children of the couple have been raised by one of Rausing’s sisters.
Hans Rausing’s parents, Hans and Marit, have made a statement a few weeks ago describing Eva’s death as “a reminder of distorted reality due to drug addiction.” Eva and her parents made a statement shortly after the death of their daughter. They emphasized that Eva and Hans were “committed and happy” for 21 years.
Reply