Local News in Brief : Game Victor Pleads Guilty

A fugitive who became the biggest one-game winner on the television game show “Super Password” pleaded guilty Monday in Los Angeles federal court to two counts of mail fraud in connection with a scheme to fake his wife’s death and collect on the insurance proceeds.

Kerry Ketchem, 36, who used an alias when he won $58,600 on the game show, was arrested Jan. 14 when he went to pick up his check after an Alaska viewer recognized him as a fugitive.

A federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Ketchem on charges of submitting a false claim to the Fireman’s Fund insurance company in San Rafael, with which he attached a fraudulent death certificate and accident report to make it look like his wife had been killed in an automobile accident in England.

The insurance company awarded Ketchem $100,000 in benefits.

The television show has refused to pay Ketchem his winnings, and his attorney, Jerry Newton, said he is considering a civil suit to collect the money.

“Our position is that he won that money fair and square and his name had nothing to do with his ability to answer the questions,” Newton told reporters.