A Florida couple has filed a wrongful death lawsuit, not against the actual killer of their two relatives, but rather, another party they say enabled the events to take place on Thanksgiving of 2009.
The man and woman, from Jupiter, Florida, just north of Palm Beach, saw their daughter and the woman’s mother gunned down at a family gathering on the holiday. The man responsible was an estranged relative. The couple has targeted the man’s parents in the suit for inviting the man to the outing and doing nothing as the events unfolded. They say the parents knew he had a tendency to be violent. In legal terms, the events are a classic case of wrongful death by not warning.
The man’s parents emailed their son and invited him to the family gathering without informing the couple, who was hosting the party. They invited their son even though they had knowledge that he stopped taking medication to curb the effects of his mental issues. The mother and father also knew their son was unbalanced, the lawsuit claims. When the son lived under their roof, they slept with the door locked to be safe.
The alleged killer opened fire on the gathering, not only killing the elderly woman and the host couple’s daughter, but also killing his own twin sisters. The couple that filed the lawsuit said even when his gun jammed during the spree, the man’s father did nothing to stop him, even though he is an ex-CIA agent. The lawsuit also claims the alleged killer’s father was the only one equipped with a cellular phone, but he did not call 911.
The accused couple continues to stand by their son after the fatal incident. Jail records reveal his father often visits. The alleged shooter will face trial in January and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Source: The Palm Beach Post, “Lawsuit: Merhige’s parents did nothing to stop Thanksgiving slayings,” Jane Musgrave, Sept. 15, 2011
