Monika Elizabeth (née Zumsteg) Telling
Services set for woman shot to death in England
Funeral services have been set in Santa Rosa for Monika Zumsteg-Telling, 26, who was shot to death last spring in England.
Her husband, Michael Telling, a member of a family considered to be among the wealthiest in Britain, has been accused of her murder. He is in custody in Devon, awaiting trial.
Zumsteg-Telling was the daughter of Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg and his wife, Elsa. residents of Santa Rosa since 1976. She had been living in Britain since her marriage to Telling in November, 1981.
Zumsteg-Telling was working in Sacramento as a computer account representative for an Ohio firm when she met Telling. She was introduced to the vacationing Englishman by her parents who had met him when he asked directions from them in a Sausalito cafe, striking up a conversation that led to a friendship. Her marriage took her into the social circles of British nobility.
The couple lived at High Wycombe, a suburb of London. It was there that Telling was arrested in September after his wife's body was discovered on a country road near Exeter in Devon.
Besides her husband and her parents, she is survived by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Zumsteg of San Leandro, and her brother, Mark Zumsteg, and her sister, Erika Zumsteg, both of Santa Rosa.
Services will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at Eggen and Lance Mortuary, with Mass at 9:30 a.m. at St. Eugene's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Eggen and Lance chapel. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon Wednesday.
Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Contributions in Zumsteg-Telling's memory may be made to The Unique Place, a non-profit women's recovery home, at 713 Tupper St., Santa Rosa. 95404.
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 6 Dec 1983
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The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 30 Jun 1984
Telling Found guilty
Charge reduced to manslaughter
EXETER, England — Michael Telling, the wealthy Englishman accused of shooting and beheading his young American wife, was found guilty of manslaughter Friday and may spend less than 15 years in prison for the crime.
Rejecting a prosecutor's plea to convict Telling of murder, the jury instead found him guilty of the lesser charge in the death of 27-year-old Monika Zumsteg-Telling, whose parents live in Santa Rosa and who was a frequent visitor to the area.
Telling, 34, was sentenced to life in prison by the Exeter Crown Court judge, Sir Gervase Sheldon. But the judge told the defendant that British authorities will have the power to decide "if and when it would be safe and proper to release you."
A life sentence in Britain usually means 8 to 15 years in jail. It will be up to a future Home Secretary, the Cabinet official responsible, to decide when Telling is released.
The victim's mother, Elsa Zumsteg, contacted at her Lomitas Heights home Friday morning, declined to comment on the family's reaction to the verdict. Mrs. Zumsteg expressed concern about the uncertainty of the sentence, whether it means life in prison or a relatively quick parole.
She said she and her husband, Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg, had been advised by their lawyer in England to wait until Monday to make a statement.
Telling, second cousin of multi-millionaire meat tycoon Lord Vestey, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but innocent to the murder charge, arguing he was not fully responsible for his actions when he shot Monika in March 1983 after a stormy 16- month marriage.
During the eight-day trial, Telling's friends and neighbors testified that his wife had affairs with both men and women and taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess.
He is very pleased that his story has vindicated him and he is not branded as a murderer," Telling's attorney Paul Maslow-Tomlinson said outside the court.
Telling, smartly dressed in a gray pinstriped suit, showed no emotion as the jury of seven men and five women delivered their verdict after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation.
The jury rejected evidence of a state psychiatrist that Telling knew perfectly well what he was doing and went to great lengths to conceal his crime.
Police testified that Telling shot his wife at their country home near High Wycombe, 35 miles northwest of London. He kept her body there in a sauna for five months, then drove it to western England, chopped off her head, dumped her body in a field in Devon and returned home with the head, police said.
He was arrested in September after police found and identified her body, shot at least five times with a hunting rifle. They interrogated Telling and found the head at his home.
Telling had explained Monika's absence by saying his wife had gone to the United States. At least two women testified they had affairs with him in his home while the body apparently was in the sauna.
Telling's claim of diminished responsibility was based on testimony from friends that his wife had taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess while boasting of her own affairs with both men and women.
Monika's parents, in an interview with The Press Democrat, branded those allegations against their daughter as "lies and distortions." They described her as a warm, caring woman.
The couple married in November 1981 after meeting in California. Louis Zumsteg, who introduced them, told reporters after learning of her death and Telling's arrest that Telling "was like a son to me."
"Sometimes, I wonder, God, how could I have introduced him to my daughter, my joy?" Zumsteg said last September.
Fridays verdict, and the uncertain sentence that goes with it, "may be a final act of clemency to give Michael Telling some hope in the years to come," said George Carman, another defense lawyer.
"When those responsible feel able, there may be a point in time when he is able to assume his liberty and his life," Carman said.
Telling's mother, Joyce Strong, and his first wife, Allison Telling, 25, sat directly behind the defendant as the verdict and sentence were pronounced. Carman said Allison Telling, the mother of Telling's young son Matthew, had been "a staunch supporter" during the trial and would visit him in prison.
Carman said Telling recognized the terrible things he had done and his total lack of excuse for taking the life of his wife, whom the attorney said Telling had loved.
"That is the tragedy of the matter," Carman said.
The defense depicted a lonely boy who grew into an emotionally immature man. Telling, who never worked and lived off private money, was known for his extensive travels and entertaining at his country home.
Telling's second cousin, Lord Vestey, has a fortune estimated at $900 million based on 250 Vestey companies in 27 countries that make the Vesteys the world's largest meat retailers.
------------
Services set for woman shot to death in England
Funeral services have been set in Santa Rosa for Monika Zumsteg-Telling, 26, who was shot to death last spring in England.
Her husband, Michael Telling, a member of a family considered to be among the wealthiest in Britain, has been accused of her murder. He is in custody in Devon, awaiting trial.
Zumsteg-Telling was the daughter of Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg and his wife, Elsa. residents of Santa Rosa since 1976. She had been living in Britain since her marriage to Telling in November, 1981.
Zumsteg-Telling was working in Sacramento as a computer account representative for an Ohio firm when she met Telling. She was introduced to the vacationing Englishman by her parents who had met him when he asked directions from them in a Sausalito cafe, striking up a conversation that led to a friendship. Her marriage took her into the social circles of British nobility.
The couple lived at High Wycombe, a suburb of London. It was there that Telling was arrested in September after his wife's body was discovered on a country road near Exeter in Devon.
Besides her husband and her parents, she is survived by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Zumsteg of San Leandro, and her brother, Mark Zumsteg, and her sister, Erika Zumsteg, both of Santa Rosa.
Services will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at Eggen and Lance Mortuary, with Mass at 9:30 a.m. at St. Eugene's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Eggen and Lance chapel. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon Wednesday.
Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Contributions in Zumsteg-Telling's memory may be made to The Unique Place, a non-profit women's recovery home, at 713 Tupper St., Santa Rosa. 95404.
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 6 Dec 1983
------------
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 30 Jun 1984
Telling Found guilty
Charge reduced to manslaughter
EXETER, England — Michael Telling, the wealthy Englishman accused of shooting and beheading his young American wife, was found guilty of manslaughter Friday and may spend less than 15 years in prison for the crime.
Rejecting a prosecutor's plea to convict Telling of murder, the jury instead found him guilty of the lesser charge in the death of 27-year-old Monika Zumsteg-Telling, whose parents live in Santa Rosa and who was a frequent visitor to the area.
Telling, 34, was sentenced to life in prison by the Exeter Crown Court judge, Sir Gervase Sheldon. But the judge told the defendant that British authorities will have the power to decide "if and when it would be safe and proper to release you."
A life sentence in Britain usually means 8 to 15 years in jail. It will be up to a future Home Secretary, the Cabinet official responsible, to decide when Telling is released.
The victim's mother, Elsa Zumsteg, contacted at her Lomitas Heights home Friday morning, declined to comment on the family's reaction to the verdict. Mrs. Zumsteg expressed concern about the uncertainty of the sentence, whether it means life in prison or a relatively quick parole.
She said she and her husband, Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg, had been advised by their lawyer in England to wait until Monday to make a statement.
Telling, second cousin of multi-millionaire meat tycoon Lord Vestey, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but innocent to the murder charge, arguing he was not fully responsible for his actions when he shot Monika in March 1983 after a stormy 16- month marriage.
During the eight-day trial, Telling's friends and neighbors testified that his wife had affairs with both men and women and taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess.
He is very pleased that his story has vindicated him and he is not branded as a murderer," Telling's attorney Paul Maslow-Tomlinson said outside the court.
Telling, smartly dressed in a gray pinstriped suit, showed no emotion as the jury of seven men and five women delivered their verdict after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation.
The jury rejected evidence of a state psychiatrist that Telling knew perfectly well what he was doing and went to great lengths to conceal his crime.
Police testified that Telling shot his wife at their country home near High Wycombe, 35 miles northwest of London. He kept her body there in a sauna for five months, then drove it to western England, chopped off her head, dumped her body in a field in Devon and returned home with the head, police said.
He was arrested in September after police found and identified her body, shot at least five times with a hunting rifle. They interrogated Telling and found the head at his home.
Telling had explained Monika's absence by saying his wife had gone to the United States. At least two women testified they had affairs with him in his home while the body apparently was in the sauna.
Telling's claim of diminished responsibility was based on testimony from friends that his wife had taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess while boasting of her own affairs with both men and women.
Monika's parents, in an interview with The Press Democrat, branded those allegations against their daughter as "lies and distortions." They described her as a warm, caring woman.
The couple married in November 1981 after meeting in California. Louis Zumsteg, who introduced them, told reporters after learning of her death and Telling's arrest that Telling "was like a son to me."
"Sometimes, I wonder, God, how could I have introduced him to my daughter, my joy?" Zumsteg said last September.
Fridays verdict, and the uncertain sentence that goes with it, "may be a final act of clemency to give Michael Telling some hope in the years to come," said George Carman, another defense lawyer.
"When those responsible feel able, there may be a point in time when he is able to assume his liberty and his life," Carman said.
Telling's mother, Joyce Strong, and his first wife, Allison Telling, 25, sat directly behind the defendant as the verdict and sentence were pronounced. Carman said Allison Telling, the mother of Telling's young son Matthew, had been "a staunch supporter" during the trial and would visit him in prison.
Carman said Telling recognized the terrible things he had done and his total lack of excuse for taking the life of his wife, whom the attorney said Telling had loved.
"That is the tragedy of the matter," Carman said.
The defense depicted a lonely boy who grew into an emotionally immature man. Telling, who never worked and lived off private money, was known for his extensive travels and entertaining at his country home.
Telling's second cousin, Lord Vestey, has a fortune estimated at $900 million based on 250 Vestey companies in 27 countries that make the Vesteys the world's largest meat retailers.
------------
Monika Elizabeth (née Zumsteg) Telling
Services set for woman shot to death in England
Funeral services have been set in Santa Rosa for Monika Zumsteg-Telling, 26, who was shot to death last spring in England.
Her husband, Michael Telling, a member of a family considered to be among the wealthiest in Britain, has been accused of her murder. He is in custody in Devon, awaiting trial.
Zumsteg-Telling was the daughter of Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg and his wife, Elsa. residents of Santa Rosa since 1976. She had been living in Britain since her marriage to Telling in November, 1981.
Zumsteg-Telling was working in Sacramento as a computer account representative for an Ohio firm when she met Telling. She was introduced to the vacationing Englishman by her parents who had met him when he asked directions from them in a Sausalito cafe, striking up a conversation that led to a friendship. Her marriage took her into the social circles of British nobility.
The couple lived at High Wycombe, a suburb of London. It was there that Telling was arrested in September after his wife's body was discovered on a country road near Exeter in Devon.
Besides her husband and her parents, she is survived by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Zumsteg of San Leandro, and her brother, Mark Zumsteg, and her sister, Erika Zumsteg, both of Santa Rosa.
Services will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at Eggen and Lance Mortuary, with Mass at 9:30 a.m. at St. Eugene's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Eggen and Lance chapel. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon Wednesday.
Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Contributions in Zumsteg-Telling's memory may be made to The Unique Place, a non-profit women's recovery home, at 713 Tupper St., Santa Rosa. 95404.
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 6 Dec 1983
------------
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 30 Jun 1984
Telling Found guilty
Charge reduced to manslaughter
EXETER, England — Michael Telling, the wealthy Englishman accused of shooting and beheading his young American wife, was found guilty of manslaughter Friday and may spend less than 15 years in prison for the crime.
Rejecting a prosecutor's plea to convict Telling of murder, the jury instead found him guilty of the lesser charge in the death of 27-year-old Monika Zumsteg-Telling, whose parents live in Santa Rosa and who was a frequent visitor to the area.
Telling, 34, was sentenced to life in prison by the Exeter Crown Court judge, Sir Gervase Sheldon. But the judge told the defendant that British authorities will have the power to decide "if and when it would be safe and proper to release you."
A life sentence in Britain usually means 8 to 15 years in jail. It will be up to a future Home Secretary, the Cabinet official responsible, to decide when Telling is released.
The victim's mother, Elsa Zumsteg, contacted at her Lomitas Heights home Friday morning, declined to comment on the family's reaction to the verdict. Mrs. Zumsteg expressed concern about the uncertainty of the sentence, whether it means life in prison or a relatively quick parole.
She said she and her husband, Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg, had been advised by their lawyer in England to wait until Monday to make a statement.
Telling, second cousin of multi-millionaire meat tycoon Lord Vestey, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but innocent to the murder charge, arguing he was not fully responsible for his actions when he shot Monika in March 1983 after a stormy 16- month marriage.
During the eight-day trial, Telling's friends and neighbors testified that his wife had affairs with both men and women and taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess.
He is very pleased that his story has vindicated him and he is not branded as a murderer," Telling's attorney Paul Maslow-Tomlinson said outside the court.
Telling, smartly dressed in a gray pinstriped suit, showed no emotion as the jury of seven men and five women delivered their verdict after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation.
The jury rejected evidence of a state psychiatrist that Telling knew perfectly well what he was doing and went to great lengths to conceal his crime.
Police testified that Telling shot his wife at their country home near High Wycombe, 35 miles northwest of London. He kept her body there in a sauna for five months, then drove it to western England, chopped off her head, dumped her body in a field in Devon and returned home with the head, police said.
He was arrested in September after police found and identified her body, shot at least five times with a hunting rifle. They interrogated Telling and found the head at his home.
Telling had explained Monika's absence by saying his wife had gone to the United States. At least two women testified they had affairs with him in his home while the body apparently was in the sauna.
Telling's claim of diminished responsibility was based on testimony from friends that his wife had taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess while boasting of her own affairs with both men and women.
Monika's parents, in an interview with The Press Democrat, branded those allegations against their daughter as "lies and distortions." They described her as a warm, caring woman.
The couple married in November 1981 after meeting in California. Louis Zumsteg, who introduced them, told reporters after learning of her death and Telling's arrest that Telling "was like a son to me."
"Sometimes, I wonder, God, how could I have introduced him to my daughter, my joy?" Zumsteg said last September.
Fridays verdict, and the uncertain sentence that goes with it, "may be a final act of clemency to give Michael Telling some hope in the years to come," said George Carman, another defense lawyer.
"When those responsible feel able, there may be a point in time when he is able to assume his liberty and his life," Carman said.
Telling's mother, Joyce Strong, and his first wife, Allison Telling, 25, sat directly behind the defendant as the verdict and sentence were pronounced. Carman said Allison Telling, the mother of Telling's young son Matthew, had been "a staunch supporter" during the trial and would visit him in prison.
Carman said Telling recognized the terrible things he had done and his total lack of excuse for taking the life of his wife, whom the attorney said Telling had loved.
"That is the tragedy of the matter," Carman said.
The defense depicted a lonely boy who grew into an emotionally immature man. Telling, who never worked and lived off private money, was known for his extensive travels and entertaining at his country home.
Telling's second cousin, Lord Vestey, has a fortune estimated at $900 million based on 250 Vestey companies in 27 countries that make the Vesteys the world's largest meat retailers.
------------
Services set for woman shot to death in England
Funeral services have been set in Santa Rosa for Monika Zumsteg-Telling, 26, who was shot to death last spring in England.
Her husband, Michael Telling, a member of a family considered to be among the wealthiest in Britain, has been accused of her murder. He is in custody in Devon, awaiting trial.
Zumsteg-Telling was the daughter of Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg and his wife, Elsa. residents of Santa Rosa since 1976. She had been living in Britain since her marriage to Telling in November, 1981.
Zumsteg-Telling was working in Sacramento as a computer account representative for an Ohio firm when she met Telling. She was introduced to the vacationing Englishman by her parents who had met him when he asked directions from them in a Sausalito cafe, striking up a conversation that led to a friendship. Her marriage took her into the social circles of British nobility.
The couple lived at High Wycombe, a suburb of London. It was there that Telling was arrested in September after his wife's body was discovered on a country road near Exeter in Devon.
Besides her husband and her parents, she is survived by her grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Louis F. Zumsteg of San Leandro, and her brother, Mark Zumsteg, and her sister, Erika Zumsteg, both of Santa Rosa.
Services will begin at 9 a.m. Friday at Eggen and Lance Mortuary, with Mass at 9:30 a.m. at St. Eugene's Roman Catholic Cathedral. Rosary will be recited at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Eggen and Lance chapel. Friends may call at the funeral home after noon Wednesday.
Burial will be at Calvary Cemetery.
Contributions in Zumsteg-Telling's memory may be made to The Unique Place, a non-profit women's recovery home, at 713 Tupper St., Santa Rosa. 95404.
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 6 Dec 1983
------------
The Press Democrat (Santa Rosa, CA), 30 Jun 1984
Telling Found guilty
Charge reduced to manslaughter
EXETER, England — Michael Telling, the wealthy Englishman accused of shooting and beheading his young American wife, was found guilty of manslaughter Friday and may spend less than 15 years in prison for the crime.
Rejecting a prosecutor's plea to convict Telling of murder, the jury instead found him guilty of the lesser charge in the death of 27-year-old Monika Zumsteg-Telling, whose parents live in Santa Rosa and who was a frequent visitor to the area.
Telling, 34, was sentenced to life in prison by the Exeter Crown Court judge, Sir Gervase Sheldon. But the judge told the defendant that British authorities will have the power to decide "if and when it would be safe and proper to release you."
A life sentence in Britain usually means 8 to 15 years in jail. It will be up to a future Home Secretary, the Cabinet official responsible, to decide when Telling is released.
The victim's mother, Elsa Zumsteg, contacted at her Lomitas Heights home Friday morning, declined to comment on the family's reaction to the verdict. Mrs. Zumsteg expressed concern about the uncertainty of the sentence, whether it means life in prison or a relatively quick parole.
She said she and her husband, Santa Rosa business consultant Louis Zumsteg, had been advised by their lawyer in England to wait until Monday to make a statement.
Telling, second cousin of multi-millionaire meat tycoon Lord Vestey, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but innocent to the murder charge, arguing he was not fully responsible for his actions when he shot Monika in March 1983 after a stormy 16- month marriage.
During the eight-day trial, Telling's friends and neighbors testified that his wife had affairs with both men and women and taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess.
He is very pleased that his story has vindicated him and he is not branded as a murderer," Telling's attorney Paul Maslow-Tomlinson said outside the court.
Telling, smartly dressed in a gray pinstriped suit, showed no emotion as the jury of seven men and five women delivered their verdict after 2 1/2 hours of deliberation.
The jury rejected evidence of a state psychiatrist that Telling knew perfectly well what he was doing and went to great lengths to conceal his crime.
Police testified that Telling shot his wife at their country home near High Wycombe, 35 miles northwest of London. He kept her body there in a sauna for five months, then drove it to western England, chopped off her head, dumped her body in a field in Devon and returned home with the head, police said.
He was arrested in September after police found and identified her body, shot at least five times with a hunting rifle. They interrogated Telling and found the head at his home.
Telling had explained Monika's absence by saying his wife had gone to the United States. At least two women testified they had affairs with him in his home while the body apparently was in the sauna.
Telling's claim of diminished responsibility was based on testimony from friends that his wife had taunted him about his lack of sexual prowess while boasting of her own affairs with both men and women.
Monika's parents, in an interview with The Press Democrat, branded those allegations against their daughter as "lies and distortions." They described her as a warm, caring woman.
The couple married in November 1981 after meeting in California. Louis Zumsteg, who introduced them, told reporters after learning of her death and Telling's arrest that Telling "was like a son to me."
"Sometimes, I wonder, God, how could I have introduced him to my daughter, my joy?" Zumsteg said last September.
Fridays verdict, and the uncertain sentence that goes with it, "may be a final act of clemency to give Michael Telling some hope in the years to come," said George Carman, another defense lawyer.
"When those responsible feel able, there may be a point in time when he is able to assume his liberty and his life," Carman said.
Telling's mother, Joyce Strong, and his first wife, Allison Telling, 25, sat directly behind the defendant as the verdict and sentence were pronounced. Carman said Allison Telling, the mother of Telling's young son Matthew, had been "a staunch supporter" during the trial and would visit him in prison.
Carman said Telling recognized the terrible things he had done and his total lack of excuse for taking the life of his wife, whom the attorney said Telling had loved.
"That is the tragedy of the matter," Carman said.
The defense depicted a lonely boy who grew into an emotionally immature man. Telling, who never worked and lived off private money, was known for his extensive travels and entertaining at his country home.
Telling's second cousin, Lord Vestey, has a fortune estimated at $900 million based on 250 Vestey companies in 27 countries that make the Vesteys the world's largest meat retailers.
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