Marriage to Media Heiress Was a Happy One, Widower Says

PHOENIX — Media heiress Margee Thorstenson’s drowning cut short a fun-filled and loving marriage, her widower said in his first interview since the couple’s fateful camping trip.

Collin “T.C.” Thorstenson, who married the wealthy, 65-year-old widow of former media magnate Dean Lesher six months ago, also said he is aware of suspicion directed his way. But he called it unfounded.

“Because of the money difference and the age difference, people jumped to conclusions, but they should know the facts,” he told the Contra Costa Times on Monday.

The 40-year-old Thorstenson, displaying a cowboy’s stoicism and betraying little emotion, insisted that he cannot explain his new wife’s drowning.

“I wish I knew” what happened, he said. “Whatever it was, it was an accident. Accidents are called accidents for a reason. You can’t choose who God picks to take to a better place.”

The camping trip was a last-minute idea, Thorstenson said. The couple had recently bought camping gear and had so enjoyed a brief Mother’s Day excursion to Bartlett Reservoir that they decided to do it again and bring their new boat.

Because the weather was warm, they decided not to erect a tent. They unrolled their sleeping bags, lighted a campfire and relaxed with a beer.

They cooked dinner and had a few more drinks: beer for him, champagne for her, he said. An autopsy later showed that Margee Thorstenson was legally drunk--although just barely--when she died.

The two went to sleep about 10:30 p.m., but at 3:30 a.m., he awoke to find his wife gone, he said.

Thorstenson thought she might have decided to sleep in the truck, then he realized that the boat was missing, he said.

A few hours later, sheriff’s deputies found the couple’s boat miles away. At 3:48 p.m., a television helicopter crew saw the body resting on the lake bottom in about eight feet of water, about 25 feet from shore.

“I sure wish it had been me instead of her, without a doubt,” he said. “I was very much in love with Margee and I think she was in love with me.