ORANGE COUNTY IN BANKRUPTCY : BOND TICKER : Analyst, 24, Felled by Bad Heart

A financial analyst who collapsed in the county Hall of Administration and died Wednesday had suffered a ruptured aorta, an autopsy on Thursday found.

Barry Benge, 24, of New York was pronounced dead Wednesday at Western Medical Center-Santa Ana shortly after collapsing in an elevator. Benge was an analyst for Salomon Bros., the county’s financial adviser.

The underlying cause of the rupture was Marfan syndrome, an inherited tissue disorder associated with those who are unusually tall, said Rick McAnally, Orange County senior deputy coroner. Benge was 6-foot-9.

“He died of natural causes,” McAnally said. “He had an aortic aneurysm, meaning the major vessel coming out his heart had ruptured and he bled internally.”

Benge’s parents said that when he was about 11, he grew six to eight inches in three months, prompting them to take him to the doctor, according to Paul S. Nussbaum, an aide to county Chief Executive William J. Popejoy. That doctor said Benge did not have Marfan syndrome, Nussbaum said.

“The coroner said even if he was on the operating table they couldn’t do anything because it happened so quickly,” said Nussbaum, who was in a meeting with Benge just an hour before his collapse Wednesday.

Nussbaum said no funeral arrangements had been made as of Thursday evening.

Option B Group Join Forces to Sue

The 21 investors in the county pool who selected settlement Option B have formed a consortium to jointly pursue litigation against the county.

Under Option B, agencies will receive 77% of their pool money by the end of the month and are free to litigate for the rest.

Option B agencies--including Buena Park, Huntington Beach and several cities outside Orange County--had more than $400 million in the pool when the county filed for bankruptcy Dec. 6.

Representatives from the agencies met Wednesday and selected two law firms to represent them. They said pursuing litigation as a group saves money and will be less burdensome on the courts.

The vast majority of the nearly 200 pool participants selected Option A, which provides school districts with 90 cents on the dollar and all other investors with 80 cents on the dollar in cash and recovery notes. The return of the remainder of the money is promised at an unspecified date.

But Option A agencies sign away their right to sue.

Officials who selected Option B said that litigation offers them the best chance of recovering 100% of their money.

Compiled by Shelby Grad with Alan Eyerly and Russ Loar.