Gail Collins | |
|---|---|
| Born | Gail Collins (1941-02-02)February 2, 1941 |
| Died | December 6, 2013(2013-12-06) (aged 72) Ajijic, Jalisco, Mexico |
| Other names | Gail Collins Pappalardi |
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| Spouse | Felix Pappalardi |
Gail Delta Collins (February 2, 1941 – December 6, 2013) was an Americansongwriter,record producer, andvisual artist. She was convicted ofcriminally negligent homicide in the 1983 killing of her husbandFelix Pappalardi.
Collins marriedFelix Pappalardi on May 30, 1969.[1] She came to prominence (as 'Miss Gail Collins') co-producing, with Pappalardi, the self-titled debut album by Energy, a group featuringCorky Laing.[2] She also co-produced, with Pappalardi, theFelix Pappalardi and Creation album in 1976. Collins co-wroteCream's "World of Pain" with her husband and "Strange Brew" with Pappalardi andEric Clapton. Both songs are included on the albumDisraeli Gears. She contributed lyrics to manyMountain songs. Her artwork appears on many album covers by Mountain, includingClimbing!,Nantucket Sleighride,Flowers of Evil,Mountain Live: The Road Goes Ever On,Twin Peaks andAvalanche. She was associate producer on the 1978 album byHot Tuna,Double Dose.
On April 17, 1983, Collins shot Felix Pappalardi once in the neck in the fifth-floor apartment he shared with her at 30Waterside Plaza in New York City. He was pronounced dead at the scene, and Collins was charged withsecond-degree murder.[3][4] Collins claimed that the killing was an accident. During the trial, it was revealed that the couple had an open marriage and that Collins had shot her husband after he had returned in the early morning from seeing his girlfriend.[5] She was acquitted of second-degree murder andmanslaughter but found guilty of criminally negligent homicide[6] and sentenced to 16 months to 4 years in prison.[7] On April 30, 1985, she was released on parole.[8]
On December 6, 2013, Collins was found dead by her landlord in the Mexican village ofAjijic, Jalisco, a resort town with many American expatriate residents. She had been undergoing cancer treatments there. She was cremated. Her three cats were euthanized after her death and cremated so that their ashes could be mixed with hers.[9]
Mr. Pappalardi, who was 41 years old, had been shot once in the neck and was pronounced dead when the police arrived at the couple's apartment, at 30 Waterside Plaza on the East Side, according to authorities.
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