Eva Rausing’s Husband, Heir to Fortune, Charged

Husband may have lived with body for days

Alan Davidson / The Associated press

Eva Rausing, right, and her husband, Hans Kristian Rausing, in 1996. The couple met at a U.S. drugs rehab clinic in the early 1990s, but failed to overcome their addiction.

The heir to the Tetra Pak carton fortune, Hans Kristian Rausing, was charged on Monday with delaying the burial of his wife Eva Rausing, London’s Metropolitan Police said. Eva Rausing was found dead in the couple’s central London mansion last Monday, after her husband was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Her decomposed body was found under layers of bedding in a bedroom on the second floor.

Rausing, 49, was charged with preventing the lawful and decent burial of his wife’s body. The charge extends to “on or before” last Monday, July 9. The charge gives credence to British media reports that Rausing, son of Swedish packaging billionaire Hans Rausing, one of the world’s richest men, may have lived with his wife’s body for a week or more.

Rausing will appear at West London Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday. The Rausing family made their fortune making foil-lined drinks cartons, a business which became a global manufacturing empire worth billions.

Early photo of couple

The couple, who have four children all under 18 years old, met at a U.S. drugs rehabilitation clinic in the early 1990s but never conquered their problems with addiction, despite a host of connections with anti-drug charities to which they devoted millions. Police are treating the death of Eva Rausing, 48, as “unexplained” and a post-mortem examination held last week failed to establish a formal cause of death.

Update:

Hans Kristian Rausing bailed in wife body case

 

Multi-millionaire Hans Kristian Rausing has been given bail after appearing in court accused of preventing the lawful and decent burial of his wife.
District Judge James Henderson granted Mr Rausing conditional bail on two conditions. He was told he must reside at the Capio Nightingale Hospital and he is allowed to leave only if accompanied by a member of hospital staff. Mr Rausing was ordered to appear at Isleworth Crown Court on 26 July.

Rausing Family Statement:
After the hearing, Mr Rausing's parents released a statement which said: Hans [senior] and Marit Rausing and their families are mourning the death of their son's beloved wife, Eva.
"Her death and the details of subsequent events are a reminder of the distorted reality of drug addiction”
"They desperately hope that their dear son, Hans, may find the strength to begin the long and hard journey of detoxification and rehabilitation."
The statement ended with a plea for time to grieve in privacy.