Wondertrash®

Listeners to John Moore's CFRB 1010 afternoon show were a little disappointed with his recent William Shatner interview. They described Shatner as 'tired' and 'defensive'. Well he has good reason to be. It seems that the family of his late wife Nerine are making some very ugly allegations. Now if you recall, Shatner and Nerine had an up and down relationship. Nerine was an alcoholic. Bill has claimed that he tried to get her to straighten out on a number of occasions; but unlike Star Trek where problems of galactic proportions are solved in under 48 minutes - and often with the use of a trick or gimmick, Nerine's alcoholism proved to be beyond even Capt Kirk's resourcefulness.

On the night of August 9th, 1999, Shatner went out to his daughter's for dinner. He left his drunken spouse at home alone, with booze, pills, and a topped up swimming pool. This proved to be a recipe for disaster, since Nerine was later found face down at the bottom of the pool. A preliminary autopsy revealed her system to be full of alcohol, and Valium It also showed that her neck was broken, and that her body was covered in bruises.

Now right away there were suspicions about Nerine's mysterious death. Those suspicions would never really be put to rest. Perhaps this was partly because Shatner had his wife's body cremated within 3 days of her accidental drowning. In fact that lead to an ugly incident with his in laws at Nerine's funeral. They wanted the ashes - claiming that Bill had promised to pass them along. Bill didn't want to give them up. Finally Shatner scooped his hand into the urn, tossed a fistful of ashes at Nerine's grieving family, and said "There's her arm, there's her leg. Are you happy now?"

The family bite their tongues for a long time, but now with the release of yet another Shatner autobiography - Up Till Now - they can remain silent no longer. Nerine's brother, Warren Kidd, has come out and stated that he holds William Shatner personally responsible for his sister's death. Warren points out that Shatner knew the full extent of Nerine's problems. Further more her Alcoholics Anonymous sponser had warned him not ot leave his wife alone - and specifically pointed out the dangers of her swimming alone while drunk. So why did he leave her alone? Why didn't he give the house keeper instructions to watch her? Furthermore, why didn't Shatner try to give her CPR when he found her? He was the host of Rescue 911.

Kidd also goes on to point out that his sister was isolated and depressed. She suspected her husband was having an affair with the woman he is now married to (They made it offical 18 months after nerine's death). Kidd says that at the very least Shatner's behaviour showed negligence. He says more too, like perhaps the case was closed too soon. Then again, Shatner did have an iron clad alibi.

As for Shatner, he frankly admits that people suspected him of doing his wife in almost from the word go. That being said, he then goes on to state that "it's inexplicable to me why Nerine's brother should harbor such evil thoughts". Come on Bill, you're a bright man - use your imagination. He probably harbors those same suspicions. Oh yeah and tossing around her ashes at the funeral probably didn't do much to allay them.

As of now the case is closed. It's offically listed as accidental drowning. Shatner is currently 77. So he can reasonably look forward to maybe another 5 years before he beams up that last time, to that great starship in the sky. So Warren Kidd's assessment of the situation seems right on the money, "We'll probably never know the truth". That doesn't mean that the family might not have grounds for a wrongful death lawsuit. Where the law is concerned, truth isn't everything.

Wondertrash Bogus Zen:

"Talent is having something inside your soul besides anger."

I am not afraid of death, I just don't want to be there when it happens.
Woody Allen