The 1980s had their own "trials of the centuries" and this was the time when CNN and other 24-hour news stations became part of the American culture. One of the most famous of the well-publicized crimes was the murder of a well-known and respected cardiologist, as well as the author of The Complete Scarsdale Medical Diet, who was shot to death by an almost 70-year-old headmistress of an upscale Washington, D.C. elite private boarding school for girls.