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Courtroom artist Mary Chaney dead at 77

LOS ANGELES, Oct. 16 (UPI) -- Los Angeles courtroom illustrator Mary Chaney, who covered a number of high profile cases over the years, has died at age 77.

Chaney -- whose sketches from the trials of "Night Stalker" Richard Ramirez, O.J. Simpson Hollywood madam Heidi Fleiss and Rodney King were part of international news coverage -- died of cancer at her home Wednesday, the Los Angeles Times reported Sunday.

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Through the years, Chaney provided sketches for ABC, NBC, CNN, Fox, KTTV, Court TV and other news outlets, the Times said.

Chaney's sketches of the King trial were exhibited at the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles and her drawings of a trial about Thai garment workers are included in the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

Chaney told the Times in 1989 she was haunted by nightmares during the gruesome Ramirez trial.

"He'd just be standing there," she said. Usually, nothing happened, she said, "but in another nightmare, he did kill me."

She said she was relieved when the serial killer was convicted.

Chaney is survived her brother, seven children, four grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

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