[Deathwatch] Leona Helmsley, hotelier/'queen of mean', 87

[Deathwatch Central <cdw@slick.org>]

Leona Helmsley, 'queen of mean,' dies at 87

 NEW YORK (CNN) -- Leona Helmsley, who ran her empire of luxurious
Manhattan hotels with an iron fist and went to prison for tax fraud,
has died, her publicist said Monday.

Helmsley, who was reviled as the "queen of mean," was 87.

She died of heart failure at her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut,
The Associated Press reported.

Helmsley and her husband, Harry, ran a $5 billion real estate empire
that included managing the Empire State Building.

Although poor health spared him from facing charges, she was tried in
1989 for tax evasion. The sensational trial included testimony from
disgruntled employees who said she terrorized both menial and executive
help at her homes and hotels.

A former housekeeper testified that she heard Helmsley say: "We don't
pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."

She denied having said it, but the words followed her the rest of her
life.

Many thanks to TheLenGuy for posting this obituary