Drama over dead Palm Beach socialite’s triplets leads to lawsuit, suicide attempt
Tags: Jill Gladstone, Joanne Cutner, Jonathan Gladstone, Jose Lambiet's Page2Live
| Tuesday 19 January 2010 3:30 pm
Cutner (left) and Gladstone in February at Mar-a-Lago
A tug-of-war for the triplets of well-known Palm Beach Realtor Jonathan Gladstone and his now-deceased ex-wife, socialite Jill Gladstone, took an ugly turn shortly before Christmas.
Jonathan Gladstone accused Jill’s sister and mother in court documents of trying to drive a wedge between him and the children, and attempting to move them illegally to England.
Gladstone, who has custody, asked a judge to prevent Joanne Cutner, Jill’s sister and the high-profile former vice president of the magazine Palm Beach Society, and their mom, Carolyn Barron, from further contact with the kids. The triplets, two girls and a boy, are 12.
About the time of the filing, Cutner tried to commit suicide by shooting herself in the forehead at her West Palm Beach home.
She was found in her garage by her mom, in a pool of blood next to a .380 semi-automatic handgun, according to EMT and police records.
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Gladstone
Miraculously, Cutner survived. She’s recovering after more than a month at St. Marys Medical Center. She didn’t return calls and Barron declined comment.
Their lawyer, Curtis Witter, wouldn’t comment on Cutner’s condition.
West Palm Beach EMS records show medics responded to Cutner’s home about noon Dec. 5 and treated her for a “penetrating injury to the head” on their way to the hospital. Cops said the victim, Cutner, was shot.
Said Gladstone: “It was already a tragedy for the children to lose their mother. But the subsequent events in which one party cannot get along with another party haven’t made it easier.”
Jill Gladstone died in October after a 10-year battle with cancer. She made news in the mid-2000s when, expecting to have weeks to live, the London native got immigration officials to speed up her application for citizenship so that she’d die an American. The same officials schlepped up I-95 to deliver personally to Gladstone an American passport, a hot dog and apple pie.
According to Jonathan Gladstone, who was divorced from Jill after the triplets turned three years old, Cutner and Barron have been leading a campaign to “disrupt the natural parent-child relationship” since Jill passed away. The duo, his complaint alleges, also caused Department of Children and Families workers to visit his Palm Beach home a week after Jill died to investigate alleged child abuse.
And, he alleges, Cutner and Barron have been holding on to the children’s passports so that they all could leave on short notice.
“Maybe, they’re trying to hold on to a little piece of Jill,” Gladstone said.
Said Witter, Cutner’s lawyer: “I don’t know what Mr. Gladstone tried to achieve by filing this lawsuit, but I will try to persuade (his lawyer) to withdraw it.”
Said Gladstone: “The injunction was just to stop the harassment.”
I don’t understand why the father did not get custody
of the children after their mother died? If he wasn’t
interested then-why put up a fuss now with the ex-
mother-inlaw? Is he really the father? This story is
very strange.
Money buys happiness huh? I’d say it F’s with people’s heads as much as anything. But surely money wasn’t at the root of any of this.
ELC, you misread the story, Jonathan does have custody. While I can feel for the mother and sister, the children belong with their father.
He does have custody.
It does say he has custody, but there is still something strange about this story. If the kids are US citizens, then what makes Gramdma and Aunt think they have the right to move the kids anywhere.
The kids are where they should be.
Obviously the kids are where they should be. That family sounds truly f**ked up.
You guys dont know this family - the story sounds strange until you’ve met the parties involved. Jill was a great woman and they knew he was going to be trouble after she was gone. As far as custody goes, I wouldn’t want my kids with him either.
I’m not happy with Jose Lambiet’s reporting on this story. Sure we all like a little gossip, but this was cruel, tabloid-like reporting. The women are kind, loving people trying to do what is best for the children. The father’s top priority should be to show compassion and love to those children and their loving relatives and try to make things easier for everyone. Come on Jose–show a little more class with your reporting please.
Crazy people
Complete and utter defamation of character, “Miss Worried About the Children!” You CLEARLY have no idea what you are talking about. How dare you post the PRIVATE BUSINESS of 12 year old children on the internet, especially seeing that your side of the story is false! Gerald and the girls have never been better and finally are leading some semblance of a ‘normal’ life!
Just a wild guess… “Worried About the Children” is either Jill’s sister or mother. Whomever, they clearly are sadistic and enjoy tormenting children.
This reporting is gutter journalism and Mr Lambie should be ashamed of himself. Whatever is the truth, he has no feelings for ANYONE and the cruelty he is subjecting the triplets to far excedds any of the supposed cruelties he is exposing.
What a vile creature he is.
I asked for this article and all of these comments to be deleted. It states above that, “At Page2Live.com, we want to avoid comments that are obscene, hateful, racist or otherwise inappropriate. If you post offensive comments, we will delete them as soon as we can. If you see such comments, please report them to us by clicking this link.” Apparently this is not the case or Mr. Lambiet finds all of this banter amusing. It is DISGUSTING and NEEDS TO BE REMOVED for the sake of the children!
By the way… I am NOT the same “concerned” that posted in comment number 8!
I don’t know what kind of “friend” on whose side has started this but it is so awful. Can you imagine what these kids have already been through, and now this.
Take it all off please. These kids have suffered enough. They are beautiful children who have lost their mother 3 months ago.
Get a life all of you Palm Beach people, and do something constructive with your lives, instead of this. This is vile.
That photo isn’t from Mar-a-Lago. It’s the William R. Eubanks antiques store. Don’t make them seem like people they aren’t.
I met Joanne in Central Park several years back. She was in New York to help Jill and the triplets through Jill’s cancer treatment. She seemed like a kind, loving, caring person who doted on the triplets. It’s such a tragedy that the custody situation lead to this. Joanne, if you are reading this, just know that I am pulling for you to make a speedy recovery. You are way too special to leave this world and things will get better!
I knew both Jill and Joanne through work in London in the 1980’s. They were both great girls with big hearts and a great sense of fun. God bless Jill. I am sure that her mother and Joanne are devastated by her loss -they were always so close. Joanne, my heart goes out to you. Take care. Thinking of you.
This is absolutely OUTRAGOUS!! Jose has NO right to publish personal information that isn’t even his! This isn’t the whole story and HOW DARE YOU!!! I bet their better off without you writing crap about their family!!