An insurance company is asking a federal judge to tell it how to handle a $1.5 million claim in the case of a man accused of shoving his wife to her death at Rocky Mountain National Park.
American General of Texas on Thursday filed the suit in U.S. District Court in Denver seeking guidance after Harold Henthorn, 58, was charged with in the death of his second wife, Toni.
The lawsuit names as defendants insurance claimants Henthorn, Toni Henthorn’s “personal representative” B. Daniel Sanderlin and Toni Henthorn’s estate.
Colorado laws prohibit payment of life insurance policies to the deceased person’s killer, the suit says.
An autopsy report indicates that Toni Henthorn died of “multiple blunt-force injuries when she fell or was pushed down a cliff while hiking … and homicide cannot be excluded,” the suit says.
“By reason of actual and potential conflicting claims to the death benefit, American General does not know and cannot determine the person legally entitled to the death benefit,” the lawsuit says.
Henthorn claimed that his wife slipped off the edge of a cliff in the park while trying to take an anniversary picture, but authorities believe she was pushed.
Henthorn’s first wife, Sandra, died in 1995 on Colorado 67 near Sedalia. She was lying beneath their car on a country road while they were changing a flat tire. Sandra was crushed to death.
A federal prosecutor at a previous court hearing said officials believe Henthorn killed Sandra Henthorn, 37.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office is investigating.
, was covered by three life insurance policies totaling $4.5 million taken out between 2001 and 2005, according to federal records.
Kirk Mitchell: 303-954-1206, kmitchell@denverpost.com or twitter.com/kirkmitchell, denverpost.com/coldcases
