NEW YORK -- Leona Helmsley, who ran her empire of luxurious Manhattan hotels with an iron fist and went to prison for tax fraud, has died. Helmsley, who was reviled as the "queen of mean," was 87. She died of heart failure at her summer home in Greenwich, Connecticut, the Associated Press reported.
Helmsley and her husband, Harry, ran a $5 billion real estate empire that included managing the Empire State Building. Although poor health spared him from facing charges, she was tried in 1989 for tax evasion. The sensational trial included testimony from disgruntled employees who said she terrorized both menial and executive help at her homes and hotels.
A former housekeeper testified that she heard Helmsley say: "We don't pay taxes. Only the little people pay taxes."
Evil bitch dead at 87
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