By JIM FITZGERALDAssociated Press

BEDFORD, N.Y. (AP) – Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s estranged wife, Mary Richardson Kennedy, who had fought drug and alcohol problems, was found dead at the family property Wednesday.

An autopsy for the 52-year-old was scheduled for Thursday, and no cause of death had been released.

In a statement issued by Robert Kennedy Jr.'s chief of staff, the family said Mary Kennedy, an architect, “inspired our family with her kindness, her love, her gentle soul and generous spirit.”

“Mary was a genius at friendship, a tremendously gifted architect and a pioneer and relentless advocate of green design who enhanced her cutting edge, energy efficient creations with exquisite taste and style,” the family said.

The former Mary Richardson, a longtime connection of the Kennedy clan, married Robert Kennedy Jr., a prominent environmental lawyer and the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, in 1994. the couple had four children, the youngest born in July 2001. Robert Kennedy Jr. also has two children from a previous marriage.

Mary Kennedy also was a designer and had overseen the renovation of the couple's home into an environmentally advanced showpiece. her family cited her devotion to her children in remembering her.

“We deeply regret the death of our beloved sister Mary, whose radiant and creative spirit will be sorely missed by those who loved her,” the family said in a statement issued by attorney Kerry Lawrence, who had represented her in a drunken-driving case. “Our heart goes out to her children who she loved without reservation.”

Neighbor Leslie Lampert, who owns the Cafe of Love restaurant a short drive from the Kennedy home, said Mary Kennedy was “at all times just a lovely individual.”

“She was community oriented,” Lampert said. “She was always kind in our presence.”

Another neighbor, Kim Fraioli, a trauma therapist who lives a few houses down from the Kennedys, said the family was private.

“We left them alone,” Fraioli. “We didn't have any interaction. I think it's a tragedy. It's very sad for their family and the surviving children. My heart goes out to the family.”

At the home on Wednesday, a red brick mansion with a columned porch entrance set in a heavily wooded acreage, police kept media away.

Mary Richardson had known the Kennedys for years, through her friendship with Robert Kennedy Jr.'s sister, Kerry Kennedy, whom she met at boarding school. she had been Kerry Kennedy's maid of honor at her wedding in 1990.

She had had trouble with drugs and alcohol and had two high-profile arrests around the time her husband filed for divorce in 2010.

Kennedy was first arrested may 15 of that year on a charge of driving while intoxicated after a police officer reported seeing her drive her car over a curb near the family's Bedford home. her only passenger was a dog, and police said she had a blood-alcohol level of 0.11 percent; the legal limit is 0.08 percent. her license was suspended.

At the time of her sentencing, famous family and friends spoke out in support of her.

Her mother-in-law, Ethel Kennedy, wrote in a letter that she “is a caring, nourishing mother who has nursed her four children through lifelong bouts of debilitating allergies,” according to an account in Westchester's the Journal News at the time.

Kerry Kennedy, in her letter, said, “When I look at my three daughters, my wish for them is that they are as blessed as I have been to have a companion, a confidante, a friend, like Mary Richardson.”

Mary Kennedy was charged later that year with driving under the influence of drugs, but that charge was dismissed in July 2011 when a judge said the evidence showed she didn't know the medications she had taken would impair her ability to drive.

There were indications her troubles started earlier. In 2007, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. drove his wife to a hospital for treatment, but she resisted and ran from the car, according to the Journal News, which cited Mount Kisco police records.

“I remember she was acting kind of out of it, kind of crazy,” a witness, Rae Kesten, told the Journal News in 2007. “She was running into the street and flailing her arms around. he was trying to restrain her. I didn't know if they were fighting or not, but I was concerned.”

The unexpected death of another person connected to the storied Kennedy clan brought to mind the other sorrows the famous family has suffered, including the assassinations of RFK and JFK in the 1960s.

Shopping in Bedford, Diane Glokler said, “I've always just thought that family is very tragic. They keep having tragic things happening to them. It's heart-wrenching.”

Associated Press writer Verena Dobnik contributed to this report.

Copyright 2012 the associated Press. all rights reserved. this material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

KTRE.com

Let me paint a picture for you: Facebook prices its IPO above the expected range Thursday afternoon, say at around $40. the first trade takes place at an eye-opening $70, then the stock peaks out at a stunning price above $100, and closes the day with a comfortable double at about $80.

Seems like it would be pretty easy to get in and make some money given that type of frenzy right, even if you missed out on getting shares at the offering price. the reality may be far different though, particularly if the IPOs of companies in Facebook’s peer group over the last year-plus are any indication.

According to SigFig, which tracks more than $30 billion in retail brokerage accounts synced by its users, buy the time investors have gotten involved in stocks like LinkedIn, Groupon and Zynga on IPO day the price has already jumped and dashed hopes for a quick score.

In a look at six companies – LinkedIn, Groupon, Zynga, Pandora Media, Jive Software and Yelp! – SigFig found that the majority of investors who tried to flip the stock on IPO day did so at a loss. the vast majority of people who bought stock in these tech companies on IPO days have sold, the data show, and only investors in Jive averaged a positive return.

The clear culprit in the trends spotted by SigFig is that most investors are not getting in at the offering price. With LinkedIn, for instance, the average purchase price on IPO day of $98 was more than double the $45 price those who got access to the deal paid. While that premium is the extreme case, the average on most of the others was between 17% and 60% with Zynga, which actually closed below its offering price on its first day of trading, the only stock the average buyer got into without paying extra.

SigFig’s data also showed that first-day investors are not the buy-and-hold type. of the accounts synced to its service, which spread across more than 70 brokerage firms, no more than 41% of first-day buyers in any one offering are still holding their shares. they didn’t make out great by selling either: buyers at the average first-day price who sold that same day gained just 1% on LinkedIn and Yelp, the only two that garnered positive returns for the first-day flippers SigFig tracked, while losing 2% on Pandora, 3% on Groupon, 1% on Jive and 7% on Zynga.

It is important to remember that all of these companies are in their relative infancy — LinkedIn, which went public first on May 19, 2011, has been publicly-traded for less than a year — and the lack of success for first-day flippers does not necessarily cast any shadows on their ability to deliver for shareholders over the long term. the data do show, however, that for all the frenzy around a hot offering, flipping shares on the first day of trading is no guaranteed winner. Check out SigFig’s infographic below (click to enlarge).

Follow @SchaeferStreet on Twitter, or subscribe to updates on Facebook or Forbes at the top of this post. for full Forbes coverage of the Facebook IPO, click here.

Wannabe Facebook IPO Flippers Should Watch Out (Infographic)

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Trayvon Martin’s autopsy shows he had marijuana in his system the night he was killed by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman, and a gunshot to his chest came from close range, according to nearly 200 pages of previously undisclosed documents released Thursday.

At least one investigator wanted to charge Zimmerman with manslaughter but was overruled, according to the documents, which are shedding new light on a case that has raised questions about racial profiling and “stand your ground” laws. the investigator, who was on the scene after the shooting, wrote on March 13 that the confrontation should have been avoided. that report came nearly a month before Zimmerman was arrested.

The documents, photos and video were turned over by prosecutors to defense attorneys earlier this week before they were released to the media. Included in the many witness interviews were accounts by an acquaintance of Zimmerman’s who said he’s racist and a co-worker who said Zimmerman bullied him and mocked him with an exaggerated Middle Eastern accent.

The autopsy says medical examiners found THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, when they tested Martin’s blood and urine. a police report shows the 17-year-old had been shot once in the chest and had been pronounced dead at the scene. the autopsy says the fatal shot was fired from no more than 18 inches away.

Also in the package is a photo showing Zimmerman with a bloody nose on the night of the fight. a paramedic report says Zimmerman had a 1-inch laceration on his head and forehead abrasion.

“Bleeding tenderness to his nose, and a small laceration to the back of his head. All injuries have minor bleeding,” paramedic Michael Brandy wrote about Zimmerman’s injuries in the report.

Whether Zimmerman was injured in the Feb. 26 altercation with Martin has been a key question. the 28-year-old Zimmerman has claimed self-defense and said he only fired because the unarmed teenager attacked him.

Zimmerman was not arrested for weeks because he invoked the Florida’s law that does not require a person to retreat in the face of a serious threat. He was released on bail and is in hiding while he awaits trial on a second-degree murder charge. He has pleaded not guilty.

The investigator who called for Zimmerman’s arrest, Christopher Serino, told prosecutors in March that the fight could have been avoided if Zimmerman had remained in his vehicle and awaited the arrival of law enforcement. He said Zimmerman, after leaving his vehicle, could have identified himself to Martin as a concerned citizen and talked to him instead of confronting him.

He said there is no evidence Martin was involved in any criminal activity.

The lawyer for Martin’s parents seized on the investigator’s recommendation.

“the police concluded that none of this would have happened if George Zimmerman hadn’t gotten out of his car,” said attorney Ben Crump. “If George Zimmerman hadn’t gotten out of his car, they say it was completely avoidable. that is the headline.”

A separate report written by Serino at the crime scene says Martin had $40.15, Skittles candy, a red lighter, headphones and a photo pin in his pocket. a single 9mm shell casing was found near Martin’s body.

New witness accounts also emerged Thursday. a witness, whose name is redacted, told investigators he saw “a black male, wearing a dark colored hoodie,” on top of a white or Hispanic male who was yelling for help.

The witness, who was looking out the sliding glass door at his home about 30 feet away, said he saw the black male throwing punches “MMA (mixed martial arts) style.”

He said he told the fighters he was calling the police. He said that as he was making the call, he heard a shot. He looked outside and saw the person who had been on top laid out on the grass as if he had been shot. He said the other fighter was standing on the sidewalk, talking to another person with a flashlight.

The case has become a national racial flashpoint because the Martin family and supporters contend Zimmerman singled Martin out because he was black.

Two acquaintances paint an unflattering picture of Zimmerman in police interviews.

A distraught woman tells an investigator that she stays away from Zimmerman because he’s racist and because of things he’s done to her in the past, but she didn’t elaborate on what happened between them.

“I don’t at all know who this kid was or anything else. but I know George, and I know that he does not like black people. He would start something. He’s very confrontational. It’s in his blood. We’ll just say that,” the unidentified woman says in an audio recording.

A man whose name was deleted from the audio told investigators that he worked with Zimmerman in 2008 for a few months. It wasn’t clear which company it was.

The man, who described his heritage as “Middle Eastern,” said that when he first started many employees didn’t like him. Zimmerman seized on this, the employee said, and bullied him.

Zimmerman wanted to “get in” with the clique at work so he exaggerated a Middle Eastern accent when talking about the employee, the man said. the employee told investigators that Zimmerman made reference to terrorists and bombings when talking about him.

“It was so immature,” said the employee, who ended up writing a letter to management about Zimmerman.

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