From the March 2004 Idaho Observer:

Wife, mother (not aspartame) convicted of poisoning husband

Fleming's chances for post-conviction relief dashed by medical examiner capable of moving bullet wounds for political reasons

RICHMOND, Virginia -- Diane Fleming's hopes that her murder conviction would be reversed were scuttled March 2, 2004. Virginia State Chief Medical Examiner Marcella Fierro told Fleming's attorney that no evidence links Chuck Fleming's January 2000 death to aspartame consumption.

When her husband suddenly sickened and died while the family and guests from out of town were celebrating their son's high school graduation, the autopsy report showed “acute and chronic methanol poisoning.”

In a two-day trial Chuck's death was blamed on Diane who allegedly spiked her husband's Gatorade with wood alcohol from an unopened gallon of windshield wiper fluid found in the garage. Diane was convicted and is serving a 50-year sentence.

Sadly, Fleming's attorney did not challenge the credibility of the medical examiner, nor her opinions. Fierro once authorized a revised autopsy report in the death of Vince Foster in 1993. Foster was President Clinton's Chief of Counsel. Fierro's alteration allowed Foster's apparent murder to appear as a suicide. Had the original entry location stood, the suicide conclusion would have been hard to explain since few suicides shoot themselves in the back of the head.

The laboriously documented investigation of Foster's controversial death is detailed by British journalist Ambrose Evans Pritchard in “The Secret Lives of Bill Clinton.” X-rays of Foster's skull, noted in the original autopsy report, would verify the actual location of the wound, but they “mysteriously disappeared.”

The meeting was scheduled at the insistence of Dr. H.J. Roberts, author of “Aspartame Disease, An Ignored Epidemic” and Mission Possible International founder Dr. Betty Martini, in an effort to have Fleming's “murder” sentence commuted due to new evidence.

Knowing in advance that Dr. Fierro was to appear at the meeting and hear testimony by Dr. H. J. Roberts, but not knowing about her role in the Vince Foster cover-up, Martini forwarded a 14-page, peer-reviewed article by Dr. Woodrow Monte of the Arizona University Food and Science Laboratory that had been published in “The Journal of Applied Nutrition.”

Dr. Fierro acknowledged she had received the material and agreed to consult with Dr. Roberts.

However, at the actual meeting, Dr. Fierro told Diane's attorney no peer reviewed medical evidence exists supporting Dr. Robert's theory that Chuck Fleming's chronic methanol toxicity was caused by his long-term consumption of aspartame.

Martini and Dr. Roberts, who have invested a lot of effort in the Fleming case, were extremely disappointed Dr. Fierro would refuse to admit the testimony to prove Diane's innocence.

Martini is convinced Fierro's history of complicity in the Foster cover-up clarified her actions in the Fleming case.

Both Martini and Roberts have filed formal complaints regarding Fierro's conduct with the State of Virginia. Martini's complaint cited events leading up to the hearing and the scientific qualifications of the evidence supporting the innocence of Fleming.

Martini asserted, “Dr. Fierro's unprofessional and arbitrary conduct requires a full and open examination of the mechanisms of aspartame/methanol toxicity as they relate to the death of Charles Fleming. There are literally volumes documenting how aspartame triggers methanol poisoning. It is obvious by refusing to look at the evidence, Dr. Fierro doesn't want it on the record. The question is, 'Why?'”

Two film crews, one from the Netherlands, have interviewed Fleming in prison. One, Sound and Fury Productions, will feature Fleming's story in its soon-to-be released film, “Sweet Misery: A Poisoned World.” Advance orders are being taken by calling Cori at 520-624-9710; email: cori@soundandfuryproductions.com.

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Rumsfeld's disease, types A through DU

Former (under President Ford) and current Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was the CEO of GW Searle, Co., when it was spared a grand jury indictment for fraud and magically achieved U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to market the artificial sweetener aspartame. Since FDA investigators had already determined aspartame to be unsafe, Rumsfeld's political muscle was the deciding factor in its 1981 approval for use in dry goods. Since 1981, aspartame, 200 times sweeter than sugar by weight, has been approved for use in foods, beverages and medications. Aspartame, and its new cousin Neotame (reportedly 13,000 times sweeter than sugar by weight) may now be added to just about any product. But you may not be able to tell by the label because the FDA allows aspartame to be listed as artificial flavors, flavors or natural flavors and; Neotame is so powerful and its amounts so small the FDA does not require its listing on product labels.

The FDA lists 92 adverse reactions to aspartame which include blindness, seizures, chronic fatigue, weight gain and death (isn't death the cessation of symptoms?).

The nation is experiencing exponential increases in the numbers of cases reporting the 92 symptoms of adverse reactions to aspartame. Internationally renowned physician Dr. H.J. Roberts, who has dedicated years of his life to studying the effects of aspartame on the human frame, has declared “aspartame disease an international epidemic.”

It is the editorial position of The IO that “aspartame disease” is too generic a name for a government-approved plague. Since Donald Rumsfeld is responsible for aspartame being approved internationally for human consumption, it is appropriate that any cluster of symptoms exhibited by persons adversely affected by this chemical weapon of mass destruction should be called “Rumsfeld's disease, type A.”

But we do not have to stop at type A.

Rumsfeld's disease type B (biological) would be any cluster of symptoms associated with exposure to biological weapons Rumsfeld arranged to be sold to known international terrorists such as Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld's disease, type C (chemical) would be any cluster of symptoms associated with exposure to chemical agents Rumsfeld arranged to be sold to known international terrorists such as Saddam Hussein.

Rumsfeld's disease, type-DU would be any cluster of symptoms associated with the release of depleted uranium from exploded munitions or off-gassing of depleted uranium-coated vehicles that has occurred as a result of Rumsfeld's deployment of said munitions and vehicles.

It is common for diseases to be named after the first person diagnosed as having contracted them. Since the first persons who died a long time ago from Rumsfeld's activities will not likely be exhumed for naming ceremonies, we should consider breaking new ground by naming a disease after the ruthless, discompassionate corporate executive-turned-international-terrorist-fighter who gave these diseases to the world.