Arkansas - Mary ‘Lee’ Orsini Dead at 55

Arkansas Business ^ | August 11, 2003

[HAL9000]

Mary “Lee” Orsini, the North Little Rock woman who was serving life without parole for the 1982 murder of Alice McArthur of Little Rock, died of an apparent heart attack early Monday morning, Department of Corrections spokeswoman Dina Tyler confirmed.

She was less than a week from her 56th birthday.

Orsini, an inmate at the department’s McPherson Unit near Newport, complained of chest pains at about 1:45 a.m. In the prison infirmary, an EKG was performed and she was given nitroglycerin, Tyler said. When her symptoms worsened, she was taken to a hospital in Newport, where emergency room physicians pronounced her dead at 3:49 a.m.

An autopsy will be conducted by the state Medical Examiner’s Office. Tyler said Orsini had no history of heart disease.

Alice McArthur was the wife of Little Rock attorney William C. “Bill” McArthur, who had represented Orsini in a grand jury investigation of the 1981 shooting death of her husband, Ron Orsini. Alice McArthur was shot to death in her Pleasant Valley home on July 2, 1982, by Eugene “Yankee” Hall and Larry McClendon, who posed as florist delivery men. Orsini was convicted of hiring Hall and McClendon and was later convicted of her husband’s murder as well.

The sensational case was the subject of two books, “Widow’s Web” by Gene Lyons and “Murder in Little Rock” by Jan Meins.

Tyler said a photo of Orsini taken last Wednesday is posted on the Department of Correction’s Web site.

[princess leah]

You know, she's the same age as Bill Clinton...perhaps she knew something?

[lilylangtree]

Any connection to the Clintoons? I wouldn't be surprised.

[joey'smom]

Wow...for those of us living in Little Rock at the time, the Orsini case was soooooo major! Thanks for posting this.

[Eric in the Ozarks]

The moral to this story: Don't get sick in an Arkansas prison.

[HAL9000]

Any connection to the Clintoons? I wouldn't be surprised.

Gene Lyons wrote a book about both of them.

[lady lawyer]

Didn't James McDougal die in prison exactly the same way? A heart attack with no history of heart disease?

[Consort]

Gene Lyons sleeps with the Clintons. (He on my list as a possible Hillary goostwriter.)

[Hatteras]

"Alice McArthur was shot to death in her Pleasant Valley home on July 2, 1982, by Eugene “Yankee” Hall and Larry McClendon, who posed as florist delivery men. Orsini was convicted of hiring Hall and McClendon and was later convicted of her husband’s murder as well."

Why does that name ring a bell?

[ClearCase_guy]

Didn't James McDougal die in prison exactly the same way?

Ya know, this is the kinda thing that could maybe happen to anybody, right Lady? So don't go askin' too many questions. Capiche?

[HAL9000]

Didn't James McDougal die in prison exactly the same way? A heart attack with no history of heart disease?

"At McDougal's sentencing, physician Noland Hagood testified that McDougal suffers from many health problems, including vascular disease, heart trouble, arthritis and manic depression, also known as bipolar disease." - more...

[joey'smom]

Yikes! That picture on the prison website sure isn't the Mary Lee I remember. Of course, I also can't believe that was all 20 yrs. ago...

[MrConfettiMan]

Lots of questions here...Any connections? Do these names ring a bell?

[Republicus2001]

another Arkancide?

[martin_fierro]

Say "Cheese". Yeesh.

[Republicus2001]

state trooper?

[BluH2o]

Larry McClendon

Wasn't he tied into drug deals & other nefarious activity at Mena?

[Cultural Jihad]

Any connection to the Clintoons? I wouldn't be surprised.

Same callous disregard for the rights of others?

[Hatteras]

I think Larry Patterson was the state trooper that kept popping up and the only McClendon I've come across in searches involving WJC is the White House reporter, Sarah McClendon. Hmmmmm....

[Hatteras]

I believe that's Larry Nichols and Barry Seal.