EXCLUSIVE: New York widow in $250 million estate battle gave up another child from China

Christine Svenningsen, 55, adopted a baby boy from China after her husband died in May 1997, then changed her mind after she brought the child she named Eric home to Westchester County, court papers reveal.

BY STEPHEN REX BROWN AND DAREH GREGORIAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

PUBLISHED: SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2013, 12:01 AM
UPDATED: SUNDAY, MARCH 3, 2013, 12:01 AM

She's Cruella de Mom.

Death of Adopted Russian Boy Ruled "Accidental"

Posted: Mar 01, 2013 3:13 PM EST
Updated: Mar 01, 2013 3:15 PM EST

Staff Report
NewsWest 9

ODESSA - Ector County authorities have announced that the death of three-year-old Max Shatto has been ruled "accidental."

The decision was based on medical history and the autopsy itself.

The brusing that was reported on Shatto was consistent with self-injury and there is no evidence proving that he was drugged.

Authorities are continuing to investigate the case.

Texas adoption agency cleared after boy's death

Posted: Mar 01, 2013 2:44 PM EST
Updated: Mar 01, 2013 2:44 PM EST
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - State authorities say they found no violations at a Fort Worth agency that processed a West Texas family's adoption of a Russian boy who later died.

Autopsy: Russian adoptee's Texas death an accident

Posted: Mar 01, 2013 3:23 PM EST
Updated: Mar 01, 2013 3:53 PM EST

By BETSY BLANEY
Associated Press
ODESSA, Texas (AP) - The death of a 3-year-old Russian boy adopted by a West Texas couple has been ruled an accident, but an investigation is ongoing, officials said Friday.

The county's medical examiner determined Max Shatto's death Jan. 21 was not intentional, Ector County Sheriff Mark Donaldson and District Attorney Bobby Bland said.

Ukrainian diplomats intend to control the living conditions of other adoptees in the family, where an adopted Ukrainian boy was killed. "The Foreign Ministry welcomes the reaction of the American side, announced by US embassy in the statement of February 25, 2013 about the death of Andrew Butler," Ukrainian FM states.

Posted: Friday, March 1, 2013 2:07 pm
BY JON VANDERLAAN jvanderlaan@oaoa.com
Posted on March 1, 2013
by Jon Vanderlaan

Max Alan Shatto, a 3-year-old Russian boy who was adopted by American parents who live in Gardendale, died from an accident, officials said Friday afternoon in a press conference at the Ector County Commissioners Courtroom.

Google translation from Russian

U.S. social workers confirm that Maxim Kuzmin died because of domestic abuse - Astakhov

Ombudsman for Children Pavel Astakhov has found new evidence that adopted from Russia Maxim Kuzmin was killed in the U.S. caused by the adoptive parents. According to him, a social worker from Texas, told him that the boy was a victim of abuse in foster care.

February 28, 2013, 12:29

Texas Officials Deny Kremlin Account of Adopted Child Death
Topic: US Adoption Ban

Maxim Kuzmin, adopted by US natives Alan and Laura Shatto and found dead in their house in Texas Maxim Kuzmin, adopted by US natives Alan and Laura Shatto and found dead in their house in Texas

Attorney: Shattos did not kill child
Adopted Russian boy’s death still under investigation
Posted: Wednesday, February 27, 2013 2:45 am
BY JON VANDERLAAN jvanderlaan@oaoa.com

“They’ve been getting phone calls from people calling them baby killers, and that’s just a nightmare,” local defense attorney Michael J. Brown said about Alan and Laura Shatto.

Toddler death stirs Russian polemic over US adoption
By Daniel Sandford
BBC News, Moscow

Tuesday's meeting between the new US Secretary of State John Kerry and the Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov comes at the lowest point in the countries' relationship since President Obama first took office.

The "reset" was knocked badly off course by disagreements over the conflicts in Libya and Syria. Then, during last year's protests, Russia accused America of interfering in its domestic politics.

Posted: Tuesday, February 26, 2013 2:45 am
Odessa American oanews@oaoa.com
Posted on February 26, 2013
by Odessa American

The Ector County Sheriff’s Department distributed a news release Monday stating the department will continue to wait for the final autopsy results before releasing information in a case that’s captured international headlines.

Ohio child rapist: ‘I always wanted to protect kids’

Experts say case of adoptive father very unusual

By Dan Sewell | ASSOCIATED PRESS FEBRUARY 25, 2013

TROY, Ohio — The one-story, brick ranch-style home blends into the working-class neighborhood along Nutmeg Square in this western Ohio city, offering no signs of the terrible secrets it once concealed.

Agency involved in dead Russian boy's adoption on hot seat
Death of Russian boy, 3, has Texas officials looking for the possibility of abuse
By Terri Langford | February 25, 2013 | Updated: February 25, 2013 10:32pm

The Fort Worth agency that handled the international adoption of a three-year-old Russian boy who died in West Texas last month is under investigation by Texas licensing officials, the Houston Chronicle learned Monday.

February 22, 2013
All Eyes On Texas Town At Center Of Russian Adoption Drama
by Richard Solash

GARDENDALE, Texas -- Waldrop Drive used to be a road that even the locals hardly noticed. It is unpaved and uninhabited, except for a single house far at the end. Tumbleweed collects here, driven across the surrounding oil fields by a whipping wind. The street sign is barely legible, long faded by the Texas sun.

Morning Show → Russian Embassy Revives Interest in 2011 Adoptee Death
Tags: Culture, Russia, adoption ban, News, US, Russian adoptions, William Allan Butler, Andrew Arthur Butler
Crystal Park
Feb 22, 2013 09:48 Moscow Time

WASHINGTON -- The controversy surrounding the Russian ban on US adoptions has renewed interest in a case from 2011.

Voice of Russia's Crystal Park talks with Dmitri Babich: