PHOENIX – CUNA Mutual Life Insurance Co. has asked a federal court for permission to deposit a $300,000 death benefit it owes with the clerk of the court while authorities determine whether the insured credit union member was murdered by his wife, which would make her ineligible to claim the payout.
CUNA Mutual told the court it cannot pay the policy’s death benefit without a decision regarding disputed facts in last year’s shooting death of David Johnson. Johnson’s wife, Cynthia Johnson, is considered by police to be a suspect in the slaying. Johnson was shot in the head on March 29, 2011 and police have ruled it a homicide.
Other potential beneficiaries in the case are the dead man’s son and daughter.
The credit union insurer “had to file an inter pleader because the slayer statue applies,” said Kristina Holmstrom, a Phoenix lawyer representing CUNA Mutual in the case. Holmstrom also represents Hartford Life, which has filed a similar motion over $112,500 in death benefits the widow could receive.
The slayer statue states that a killer cannot take benefits resulting from a death he or she has caused, Holmstrom told Credit Union Journal yesterday.
In its filing, CUNA Mutual asks to deposit the $300,000 death benefit with the court to protect it from liability should Mrs. Johnson be charged with the death of her husband. If Mrs. Johnson is deemed responsible for her husband’s death, then the dead man’s children may be entitled to the payments.
