Tetra-pak heir's wife found dead

[Sir Tokyo Sexwale]

a few days old this, but f***ing hell, read it, pretty tragic

 

money doesn't buy happiness

 

Detectives are investigating whether one of the heirs to the Tetra Pak drinks carton fortune lived with his wife's body for up to a week after her death in their Belgravia mansion in London.

 

Hans Kristian Rausing was being treated in hospital on Wednesday after being arrested when detectives discovered the body of 48-year-old Eva Rausing in a bedroom during a search of the couple's home.

 

It emerged on Wednesday that part of the investigation into what detectives are describing as her "unexplained" death is examining how long she might have lain in her home before police arrived. A postmortem on Tuesday proved inconclusive and further tests are being carried out to establish the cause of death, which could have taken place up to a week ago.

 

Police from the Met's homicide and serious crime command have yet to interview Mr Rausing, 49. Scotland Yard said he remained under arrest but had been transferred to a hospital for treatment, and police officers were present. His condition is not thought to be life-threatening and it is believed he is being treated in the Maudsley hospital for drug-related issues.

 

The couple have struggled for many years with drug addiction. They narrowly escaped prison in 2008 after heroin and £2,000 worth of crack cocaine were found at their home when Mrs Rausing was arrested after trying to smuggle several wraps of cocaine into a reception at the American embassy in Grosvenor Square.

 

Mr Rausing, an heir to the £4.5bn Tetra Pak fortune, was arrested on suspicion of possession of Class A drugs after being seen driving erratically in south London on Monday. When officers went to his home in Cadogan Place to search for more drugs, they discovered Mrs Rausing's body in an upstairs bedroom. They will want to question him about whether he was living with the body for up to a week without alerting the authorities.

 

At the couple's Belgravia mansion on Wednesday police stood guard at the door. A well-wisher left two red roses in Mrs Rausing's memory and neighbours spoke of the reclusive couple who were rarely seen outside their home.

 

But those who benefited from their philanthropic work paid tribute to Mrs Rausing, who supported a number of addiction charities, and was a trustee of the Prince of Wales's charity The Prince's Foundation for Building Community.

 

Nick Barton, the chief executive of Action on Addiction, said: "Everyone involved with Action on Addiction is devastated to hear the news of Eva Rausing's untimely death.

 

"Eva worked tirelessly for years, without any desire for public recognition and despite her own health issues, to help people and charities in the addiction field through her wonderfully generous support, both as a trustee and a donor."

 

An insight in into the Rausings' drug problems emerged in 2008 after Mrs Rausing was caught with drugs as she tried to enter the US embassy in London. Court documents revealed she was carrying about 10g of crack cocaine, 2.5g of heroin and 2.35g of diethylpropion, a banned stimulant and appetite suppressant.

 

A further drugs stash, 220mg of diazepam, used to treat anxiety, was also found in her Renault Clio car and during a search of the couple's home officers found 5.63g of crack cocaine, 2.9g of heroin and almost 52g of cocaine.

 

The couple faced drugs charges but the prosecution was formally discontinued and they both accepted conditional cautions.

 

After the hearing, the Rausing family said they "hope[d] with all their hearts" that the couple could "overcome their addiction", and that they would support them.

 

As part of their caution, the couple were required to attend a four-month drug rehabilitation programme.

 

In a statement following her arrest in 2008, Mrs Rausing said: "I have made a serious mistake which I very much regret. I intend to leave as soon as possible to seek the help that I very much need. I have made a grave error and I consider myself to have taken a wrong turn in the course of my life. I am very sorry for the upset I have caused. I thank my family and friends for their kindness and understanding."

 

The American-born Mrs Rausing, the daughter of a wealthy Pepsi executive, met her husband in the 1980s when they were both being treated at a US drug rehabilitation centre.

 

Though he was born into relatively modest middle-class circumstances in Sweden, Hans Kristian Rausing's life was transformed by the vast wealth generated by his grandfather's packaging invention, which permitted milk to be kept fresh without the need for refrigeration.

 

His father, Hans Rausing Sr, moved the family to Britain in the 1980s to avoid Sweden's higher tax regime, and in 1996 sold his half of the Tetra Pak company to his now late brother Gad for almost £5bn.

 

The company is now controlled by Gad Rausing's three children, Jorn, Finn and Kirsten, who are based in Sweden. Hans Rausing Sr, now in his 80s, lives in East Sussex and is thought to have a personal fortune worth almost £6bn.

 

Hans Kristian Rausing has two sisters, the older of whom, Lisbet, studied at Berkeley and Harvard and went on to be a research fellow at Imperial College. Sigrid Rausing, his other sister, owns the literary magazine Granta and the publishing firm Portobello books, and is a noted philanthropist.

 

In an interview in 2004, she said great wealth was something that was not always easy to come to terms with. "Be open about it and be active with it," she said. She has said that her philanthropic habit developed partly from guilt, "but I think it was probably shame, if I can make that distinction. People knew you had money, so you could never say: 'Come back next month.'"

 

Eva and Hans Kristian Rausing were well known philanthropists, supporting, among others, charities working in the arts, sport and addiction. She was a patron of one charity, the Mentor Foundation, which worked to help people out of addiction and also boasts the Queen of Sweden, Queen Noor of Jordan and Prince Talal bin Abdul-Aziz Al Saud of Saudi Arabia as honorary trustees.

 

Prince Charles, with whom Hans Kristian Rausing is said to be on first-name terms, has described him as "a very special philanthropist" because of his support for drugs charities.

[Jonesy]

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[Falconhoof]

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Edited July 11, 2012 by Tony Le Mesmer

[Swan Red]

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[Falconhoof]

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