Robert Morgenthau Dies At 99, Was Longest Serving New York D.A.

NEW YORK, NY – Robert Morgenthau, who spent 34 years as Manhattan District Attorney, died Sunday at Lenox Hill Hospital in Manhattan. He was 99 and just days short of his 100th birthday.

Morgenthau, who inspired the character of the district attorney on the "Law and Order" television show and prosecuted mobsters, rapists, murderers, large corporations and more, was the longest serving district attorney in New York. He announced his "early" retirement in 2009, saying that he would not seek a 10th term.

The New York Times first reported his death, quoting his wife, novelist and former reporter Lucinda Franks. Friends later confirmed his death to Patch.

As district attorney, Morgenthau ran an office that not only prosecuted local crimes but often took on cases involving banks and corporations whose connection to Manhattan was simply that they were based in Manhattan.

His stately manner, his legal expertise, and his decades-long prosecutorial record attracted not only people who wanted to become prosecutors but people who move on to greater glory including two governors of New York and one sitting Supreme Court justice.

John F. Kennedy, Jr., whose father had been close to Morgenthau, also worked in the office as an assistant district attorney.

He promoted the office's sex-crimes unit, which had been started a year before his arrival.

It was a sex-crimes case from 1990 that brought Morgenthau's name back into the news in recent months.

Trisha Meili had been jogging in Central Park when she was raped and beaten. Five black teens were quickly arrested and charged with raping Meili, who is white.

The case brought national outrage. Donald Trump, then just a businessman, took out an ad calling for the death penalty.

Years later, after most of the people had served their terms, someone else confessed. DNA evidence backed up the confession and Morgenthau ordered the convictions vacated.

As district attorney, Morgenthau oversaw numerous high-profile prosecutions including John Lennon's killer, rapper Tupac Shakur, mobster John Gotti and celebrities such as actor Russell Crowe.

Morgenthau also brought charges against subway gunman Bernie Goetz, despite widespread support for what Goetz had done.

One case of Morgenthau's stood out above others when it came to showing his vision of jurisdiction – the international corporation, the Bank of Commerce and Credit International.

Morgenthau was presented with evidence from an investigator from the United States Senate. His office used it as a blueprint to prosecute BCCI, which later collapsed. In the aftermath, his office received credit for breaking the case.

Robert Morgenthau was born on July 31, 1919, into a politically connected family. His grandfather, Henry Morgenthau, was a real estate tycoon who served as Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire under President Woodrow Wilson. The ambassador's son, Robert's father, was secretary of the Treasury under President Franklin Roosevelt.

After school, Morgenthau entered the Navy and served during World War II.

He was aboard the USS Lansdale when it was sank by German planes in 1944. He would later talk about how he promised himself to work to help people if he survived.

He went to law school, worked in corporate law, and followed his father and grandfather into politics.

Morgenthau served as Bronx chairman for the presidential campaign of John Kennedy, whom he knew.

Kennedy rewarded his loyalty by naming him the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York. Morgenthau resigned two years later when the New York Democrats urged him to run for governor against Republican Nelson Rockefeller.

Morgenthau lost and was reappointed as U.S. Attorney by Kennedy. He served in that job until Richard Nixon fired him.

He is survived by Franks, seven children from his two marriages, and many grandchildren and great-grandchildren.