Ch: 18 Disinherited
Under Washington state law, a person who participates, as a principal or as an accessory, in the willful, unlawful killing of another is considered a “slayer” and therefore cannot benefit from the death. In the absence of a criminal conviction, which is considered proof someone is a slayer, a court can find, if there is a preponderance of the evidence presented, that someone can indeed be considered a “slayer.” Since the Grand Jury and the FBI were not moving forward with prosecuting Gary or Kerry, Larry filed a lawsuit against both of them to have them disinherited in September 1980. Little Jody and Bobbie joined the petition. It was really their hope that that Gary and Kerry would contest the petition and the family would finally get to hear what they had to say in court. If the district attorney would not provide them with justice, then hopefully the civil system would.
Petition to Disinherit Kerry and Gary
Later the three siblings sat down to discuss the progress of their petition. After talking with their attorney and amongst themselves they decided that the best way to compel Kerry to tell them what happened would be to include her in the petition against their brother. Finally, the truth would come out. No more stories. Perhaps the possibility of more money, which really wasn’t much, would entice Kerry to tell the truth – or so they hoped. They were right.
Kerry filed an affidavit attesting to the fact that Gary was indeed a “slayer” and should be disinherited under the statute. Her testimony provided sufficient evidence for Court Commissioner Jack Richey to order the estate of Loren and Jody to distribute their assets to their four children, disinheriting Gary. While Gary did not appear in court, his attorney did. His attorney stated that Gary did not contest the petition because he did not want “a ghoulish court battle.” Though Kerry’s affidavit wasn’t sufficient for a criminal conviction, the three siblings felt that justice had been served to some degree. Kerry had changed her story too many times, so no one could be sure if her affidavit was the absolute truth. She steadfastly refused to testify in a criminal hearing. Some speculated she would feel guilty if Gary were convicted of the murder of her parents because she played some role in their deaths.
Included here are Kerry’s and Larry’s sworn affidavits as to the events that occurred onboard the Spellbound. They each swore the events to be true to the best of their knowledge.