Death in the name of love and Othello in a skirt (9 photos)

The book "The Scarsdale Diet" brought fame and fortune to its author, Dr. Herman Tarnover. And partly accelerated his death.





Herman Tarnover was born in 1910 in Brooklyn and chose medicine as his profession. He was actively involved in cardiology and developed new methods for treating heart diseases. The physician became famous for his 1979 book “The Scarsdale Diet,” in which he outlined in an accessible form ways to lose weight without having to deprive yourself of your favorite foods and delicacies.



Tarnover in his youth

The 50-year-old man started a relationship with a pleasant young lady, Jean Harris. She had recently gone through a divorce and was open to a new relationship. It seems that Jean has become an ideal match for Herman: young, educated, attractive, with a good position (director of an elite school for girls).





Herman Tarnover

The couple's relationship developed according to all the laws of the genre: beautiful courtship, exquisite establishments, going out. But Harris’s life was darkened by the fact that her lover did not ask her to marry, since he was an inveterate bachelor. And he believed that all this boring life was killing romance. And the woman passionately wanted to get married.



Gene Harris

The couple's relationship began to deteriorate. Then Herman relaxed, thinking that his mistress would not escape from him. And at the same time, he started an affair not just with some stranger, but with his own assistant Lynn Truforos, who was 30 years younger than the boss.

The arrogant bachelor flirted with both women for some time. I even equipped two closets at home. One for Jean's clothes, and the second for the assistant's seductive outfits. And he began to think about letting his old mistress resign.



Actually, arrogance and carelessness ruined the life of the famous nutritionist. Jean came across someone else's playful pink peignoir in the bedroom. The woman knew, or at least guessed, about the existence of a second mistress. But she turned a blind eye to this fact. And when I saw Herman peacefully snoring, next to whom lay an erotic rag that still retained the scent of another woman, the decision came by itself.

Jean waited for the traitor to wake up and cold-bloodedly shot him four times. Then she went outside and stood under the pouring rain for almost an hour until a police car drove past the house. Jean waved, stopped the car and said that she had killed the doctor.



When the dying man was carried into the ambulance, she shouted after him with irritation: “Who did you sleep with today?”

The defense of the accused was based on the effect on the killer’s consciousness of antidepressants, which Tarnover himself prescribed. The woman insisted that she tried to shoot herself in front of the man who betrayed her love and trust, but he tried to take the gun away. And during the struggle he shot (four times). An additional incentive could have been a will left in favor of Lynn and her children. But the court was not impressed by Jean’s tragedy, although almost all the women in the country sympathized with her. And he made a decision - 15 years in prison.



Gene Harris

She was released 12 years later on parole, in 1993. She wrote a book about her misadventures and organized a charitable foundation for scholarships for children whose mothers are serving sentences in New York State correctional facilities.



The woman died in 2012 from cancer, just shy of her 90th birthday, leaving behind questions about too harsh a punishment and public sympathy. And becoming a symbol of female jealousy and a character in films based on the story - “The People vs. Jean Harris” (1981) with Ellen Burstyn and “Mrs. Harris” (2005) with Annette Bening.



Still from the movie "Mrs. Harris"