Jury Deadlocks in Retrial of Man Accused of Killing 4-Year-Old Son

The retrial of a Burbank man convicted almost three years ago of killing his 4-year-old son by locking him in a suitcase ended Wednesday in a mistrial when the jury failed to agree on a verdict.

Pasadena Superior Court Judge Coleman A. Swart excused the jury after four days of deliberation in the case of Michael Francis Corrigan, 35, who was sentenced in early 1984 to 15 years to life in prison for second-degree murder in the death of his son, James. The retrial had started Oct. 6.

Nine members of the 12-member jury felt that Corrigan was guilty of second-degree murder, but three members felt that he should be convicted of the lesser crime of involuntary manslaughter.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Terry A. Green, who is prosecuting Corrigan, said he would seek a new trial. Swart ordered the case to come before him again Dec. 12., but other commitments may delay a new trial for several months.

Supreme Court Decision

Corrigan has been in custody since his first conviction. He had to be retried because of a state Supreme Court decision six months after he was sentenced that invalidated the conviction.

Although the ruling, which involved another case, did not affect the first jury’s finding that Corrigan had put his son in the suitcase, it said that a death resulting from child abuse could not be automatically categorized as murder.

The body of Corrigan’s son was found inside a 22-inch-long suitcase in the family’s Burbank apartment on April 30, 1982, two days after the father had reported the boy missing.

Green presented evidence during the first trial that Corrigan, a photoengraver, became angry with his son for waking him from a nap. He said Corrigan struck and kicked the boy, then stuffed him inside the suitcase and locked it to punish him. The boy died of suffocation.

Daughter Blamed

Corrigan had maintained in that trial that his daughter, Monica, who was then 15 months old, had accidentally locked her brother inside the suitcase during a game of hide-and-seek .

Green said Swart told the jury that they could find Corrigan guilty of second-degree murder if they felt that he had put the boy in the suitcase with a wanton disregard for life, or they could find him guilty of involuntary manslaughter by determining that he just meant to punish the boy.

Corrigan’s court-appointed attorney, Seymour Applebaum, argued that Corrigan had no motive to kill his son. “It’s totally inconsistent with the type of person he is,” Applebaum said. “He loved that boy.”