$9.4-Million Award in Death Tied to Magazine

Soldier of Fortune magazine was negligent in publishing a classified ad that led to the contract killing of a Texas woman and should pay $9.4 million to the victim’s family, a federal jury said Thursday.

Gary Wayne Black, 18, and Marjorie Eimann, 64, filed the suit seeking $22.5 million from the self-styled “Journal for Professional Adventurers.”

Sandra Black, Gary Black’s mother and Eimann’s daughter, was shot to death on Feb. 21, 1985, at her home in Bryan.

An attorney for the magazine said it would appeal the verdict.

Not Surprised by Verdict

“Considering the evidence the jury was presented, and the fact that we weren’t allowed to present all our evidence, we’re disappointed but not surprised,” attorney Larry Thompson said.

Jurors said the magazine should pay $1.5 million to Black and $400,000 to Eimann. The two received $7.5 million in punitive damages also.

“We wanted to send a message to publishers that they should investigate their ads carefully and really look at them,” juror Larry Ganey said.

Sandra Black’s husband, Robert, is on Texas’ Death Row for paying John Wayne Hearn $10,000 to kill her. Hearn was sentenced to a life term in the case and is serving two other life terms in Florida for slayings in that state.

Robert Black contacted Hearn through a personal services classified ad offering the services of Vietnam veterans. Hearn placed the advertisement in Soldier of Fortune in late 1984, and it appeared in four issues.

Ad for High Risk Jobs

The ad read: “Ex marines. ‘67-69 Nam vets. Ex-DI, weapons specialist--jungle warfare. Pilot. ME. High-risk assignments. U.S. or overseas.” It included a telephone number.

Attorneys for the magazine and its parent company, Omega Group Ltd., did not dispute that the ad brought Hearn and Black together but insisted that magazine executives had no way of knowing the ad was for an illegal activity.

Soldier of Fortune witnesses defended the publication as a legitimate military journal, saying the personal services classified ads were run to provide employment for Vietnam veterans who had difficulty finding work and wanted to do bodyguard work, security duty or mercenary fighting overseas.

Witnesses for the plaintiffs said the ad’s reference to “high-risk assignments” meant that Hearn and others using similar words in ads were making themselves available for criminal activity.