TimesOC: Family who buried a stranger wins $1.5 million from county in botched ID case
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Good morning. It’s Wednesday, April 20. I’m Carol Cormaci, bringing you today’s TimesOC newsletter with the latest roundup of news and events.
A man in his 50s found dead behind a Verizon store in Fountain Valley on May 6, 2017 resembled a known homeless individual with profound schizophrenia named Frankie Kerrigan, at least that’s what one of the beat cops told the coroner that day.
From there a series of missteps took place that temporarily cemented the identification of the dead man, who was mourned at an open casket funeral Mass days later and was buried at a cost of $20,000 by his family.
Frankie Kerrigan, however, upended what had been considered a resolution to his death when he turned up in the flesh at the home of a family friend — a man who had served as a pallbearer at his funeral — several days later.
Not surprisingly, a lawsuit was filed by Kerrigan’s family after it was discovered that the man who was in his grave was, in fact, John Dean Dickens who, like Kerrigan, was a transient. The two men apparently shared enough physical features that the family hadn’t known the difference on the day of the funeral.
Los Angeles Times writer Christopher Goffard covered the court case and reported yesterday the jury had reached a verdict: the coroner’s office committed negligence and intentional misrepresentation, and awarded the Kerrigan family $1.5 million in damages.
Goffard describes Kerrigan’s anguished father, Francis Kerrigan, a retired electrical engineer, and how he felt when he first learned of the mix-up:
“Consumed by grief, Francis Kerrigan attended an open-casket viewing of the body that was supposed to be his son and did not recognize it was the wrong person,” Goffard writes.
“‘I touched his hair, and I said goodbye,’ Kerrigan testified. When he received the call that his son was alive, he said, ‘I was overjoyed for about a minute.’
“Then he thought: ‘Oh my God, there’s a stranger in Frankie’s grave.’”
MORE NEWS
— Sally’s Fund, a Laguna Beach nonprofit organization, has added a second hybrid vehicle to its fleet that provides senior transportation services to the city’s senior residents.
— The Costa Mesa Police Department is seeking the public’s assistance in identifying possible additional victims of a youth soccer coach, Joshua Clever, a Santa Ana resident arrested on charges of child molestation and possession of child pornography. On Monday, Orange County prosecutors filed charges against Clever.
— A recent online trend called the Orbeez Challenge that appears to encourage people to shoot at random strangers with water pellet guns is not amusing officials in Huntington Beach, where one local minor was recently cited for battery. As of Monday, the H.B. Police Department reported having received 56 calls for service from people targeted by individuals shooting the pellets.
— A 29-year-old Chapman College student cinematographer was killed Friday when an off-road vehicle carrying a group of young filmmakers rolled over in Imperial Valley, authorities said. The group was taking pictures on a large sand dune in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, a California Highway Patrol spokesman said Monday.
— The Santa Ana Police Department is investigating officers’ attempt to stop a citizen from filming them by blasting copyrighted Disney music on a patrol car’s loudspeaker and waking up neighbors in the middle of the night.
— Opening arguments got underway Tuesday in the trial of Jamon Rayon Buggs, accused of the April 21, 2019 execution-style shootings of a man and woman in Newport Beach. My colleagues Hannah Fry and Lilly Nguyen are covering that trial, which has become controversial since it was reported that Orange County Dist. Atty. Todd Spitzer made racially charged comments in a meeting to consider whether to pursue the death penalty against Buggs, who is Black.
LIFE & LEISURE
— Perhaps if you were on the Balboa Peninsula Friday you saw 56-year-old Damon Brown when he staged a personal marathon to raise money for Thirst Project, a nonprofit organization that strives to solve the global water crisis. Brown raised approximately $10,000 that day alone; it’s the sixth such event he has undertaken on behalf of the project. “People, when they see that you’re willing to sacrifice and you’re willing to put your body where your mouth is, then people are a lot more moved to take you seriously,” Brown told the Daily Pilot.
— After 51 years (more than a half century!) of teaching Materials & Methods at ArtCenter College of Design, Costa Mesa resident Bob Schureman retired last week at the tender age of 93. Before joining the ArtCenter faculty, Schureman in 1965 established the state’s first high-school plastics curriculum at Costa Mesa’s Estancia High School.
— Tonight is opening night for “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” at the Laguna Playhouse, which is marking its 100th year. The play runs through May 8. “Being able to do this show, which I think might have been the biggest hit the playhouse ever had back in 1998, it just seemed right for what we’re calling our centennial season,” said Ellen Richard, producing artistic director of the playhouse.
SPORTS
— Several local boys’ tennis players will be heading north this week, as the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament returns from a two-year absence due to the coronavirus pandemic. Corona del Mar, Fountain Valley, Laguna Beach, Marina and Sage Hill high schools will be among the Southland campuses represented.
STAY IN TOUCH
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We want your help in making this the best newsletter it can be. Send your memory of life in O.C., news tips or comments to carol.cormaci@latimes.com or benjamin.brazil@latimes.com.
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