The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty (59 page)

The biggest problem with Francesca Hilton’s case was that it seemed—at least based on her answers at her depositions—that her lawyers had not fully prepared her for an intense examination. Said a frustrated Myron Harpole during his day of questioning, “I just want to know how, in her mind, she permitted this contest to be filed with these allegations in it? I want to know what was in her mind.”

In a more organized presentation to counteract Francesca’s theories, one of the first witnesses the estate called was Barron Hilton. Under oath, he testified that the paternity of Francesca had been for decades the subject of concern and speculation for his father and some members of his inner circle, such as his assistant Olive Wakeman. However, he said that the delicate subject was, by Conrad’s insistence, off-limits to him and his brothers. He testified that he, Nicky, and Eric were always encouraged by Conrad to “recognize, accept and love Francesca as our sister.” Not once, said Barron, did he and his father ever discuss whether or not Francesca was actually his biological daughter. Still, there was always “general discussion within the family that Francesca was not the daughter of my father. It was just generally understood that that was the case.” He testified that “my brother, Nick, for an example,” was someone with whom Barron often discussed the question of Francesca’s parentage, “as well as my wife and my father’s sisters.”

To prove that Conrad Hilton was of sound mind when he filed his final will in 1973, the estate called forth the witnesses to the signing of his will and an assortment of friends and employees who were with him during that time in his life. All would testify that Conrad was in good health, with no physical or psychological infirmity. For instance, he knew the people in the room; no one helped him sign or date the will; he was actively working; and so on. Barron Hilton, Frances Hilton, and Olive Wakeman would corroborate that testimony—all extremely forceful and credible witnesses. “Mr. Hilton always stated that he had no secrets from me, and I don’t know of anything he did not discuss with me,” testified Wakeman.

To rebut it, Francesca Hilton could offer only her and her mother’s opinions that something was “just not right” with Conrad Hilton, that he had slowed down and had shown signs of what they described as possible dementia.

It’s likely that Francesca really did feel that her father was slipping. After the verbal altercation with him at Casa Encantada, she was quite clear, according to Olive Wakeman’s own deposition, that she feared a possible loss of intellectual acuity. There was no other explanation she could come up with as to why Conrad would suddenly disavow her as he had that awful evening. After all, as far as she was concerned, he had always called her his daughter, had always signed his letters to her “Daddy,” and had always acted as if she were his offspring. Something had obviously happened. What was it? The answer to this question was basically the linchpin of her entire case. But—at least based on all of the available evidence—it would appear that the only thing that happened was that Conrad Hilton had completely lost his temper and, in a moment of heated emotion, blurted out something he had been concealing for many years.

Zsa Zsa’s Deposition

I
t was on June 14, 1979, that Zsa Zsa (Sari) Gabor Belge Hilton Sanders Hutner Cosden Ryan O’Hara was scheduled to give the first of three depositions, at 10 a.m. at the Beverly Hills Hotel, though she didn’t make it to the hotel until well after noon. “Of course, I remember Mrs. O’Hara’s depositions,” said attorney Myron Harpole, using Zsa Zsa’s married name at the time; she was married to Michael O’Hara. “Say what you will about her, one thing was true,” he recalled. “She had charisma and personality like no one I had ever met. She just vibrated with it. You could not take your eyes off her. She was absolutely magnificent. I hadn’t seen her in a few years, but she hadn’t changed at all.” Indeed, at sixty-two, Zsa Zsa was still a real beauty, with charm to spare. “Immediately, she captivated everyone’s attention,” said Myron Harpole.

“You will not believe the time I had getting here!” Zsa Zsa exclaimed as she took her seat at a round table in the middle of the small living room. Holding court, she then told a humorous story about being stuck behind a “Tour of the Stars’ Homes” bus in her Bel-Air neighborhood. Apparently the driver had been commandeering the middle of the road for miles, preventing Zsa Zsa from getting around him. Then finally he stopped and, according to Zsa Zsa, announced to his passengers on his bullhorn, “The great movie star Zsa Zsa Gabor is right behind us!” She exclaimed, “The next thing I know, all of these little Chinese people begin stampeding off the bus and surrounding my Bentley! It is a nightmare. They are putting their pieces of paper in my face, they are asking for autographs, they are taking pictures and they are shouting at me…
in Chinese
! Why, I barely got out of there
alive
!” Everyone burst into laughter at her story.

“Zsa Zsa, this is Ralph Nutter,” Myron Harpole told her with a smile. “He also represents the Conrad Hilton estate,” Harpole explained, “and he too will be asking you questions today.”

From her seat, Zsa Zsa took in Nutter, sizing him up from head to toe. He was a middle-aged man with a round face and horn-rimmed glasses, wearing a conservative gray suit, a white shirt, and a black striped tie. A former Los Angeles Superior Court judge and the author of the Los Angeles Superior Court Rules for Writs and Receivers, he’d seen pretty much all there was to see in the judicial system. “We then got to the business at hand,” said Myron Harpole. “Once the pleasantries were over, Zsa Zsa became very serious and focused. This was not child’s play for her. She started by producing Francesca’s birth certificate and baptism certificate. Constance Francesca Hilton was born on March 10, 1947, and it was Zsa Zsa’s immediate testimony that between April and August of 1946, she only saw Conrad one time, and that he telephoned her, as she recalled, ‘a couple of times.’ ”

After talking a bit about her early impressions of Conrad and touching on their marriage, the questioning got serious and Zsa Zsa talked about the night she conceived Francesca, which she said happened in July 1946.

After a brief recess during which Zsa Zsa conferred with her attorneys, the deposition continued.

Zsa Zsa further testified, “I did not have relations with any man other than my husband, Mr. Hilton, anytime in the summer of 1946, or even after, until long after Francesca was born.” She affirmed that Conrad was “very pleased” when she had the baby, and that he assisted in locating and purchasing a home in Manhattan for her because he knew she couldn’t live in a hotel with the baby.