The Union Leader
May 23, 1996
The Butler Not Allowed To Do It
He's Dumped as Co-Executor Of Billion-Dollar Duke Estate
By SAMUEL MAULL
Associated Press Writer
NEW YORK -- Doris Duke's butler, Bernard Lafferty, was removed yesterday as
an executor of her billion-dollar estate on the grounds he was using the late
tobacco heiress' money "to establish a profligate lifestyle."
The will is being challenged by Harry Demopoulos, who was Duke's doctor and
had been named co-executor in a previous will. Chandi Heffner, adopted by Duke
when Heffner was 35, has dropped her challenges to the will and settled with the
estate for some $65 million.
Demopoulos' lawyer, Don Howarth, said the surrogate's decision "validates Dr.
Demopoulos' interest in protecting Doris Duke's wishes and was also the right
thing to do in light of the public interest."
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