Reference no: EM133854333

Question

Jack and Jill, residents of Nevada, filed an action in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, against their former son-in-law, Damien, for wrongful death, alleging that Damien killed their daughter Mary and Mary's unborn child. Damien, a college professor in the Bay Area, alleged that Mary became despondent and committed suicide after Damien disclosed to Mary his affair with a student, Sally. Mary disappeared on New Year's Day, and joggers came upon her body and that of her unborn child two months later, floating in San Francisco Bay. Through his employer, Damien purchased life insurance from Federal Life Insurance Company, a Delaware Corporation, on Mary's life, naming Damien as beneficiary, with a $1 million death benefit. An insurance policy exclusion provided that a beneficiary who murders the insured may not recover the policy proceeds. Shortly after Mary's disappearance, Jack and Jill saw Sally speaking about her affair with Damien on television. Jack and Jill believed that Sally may have killed Mary, so they hired Carly, a well-known lawyer, to investigate. Carly hired a private investigator, Irving, who at Carly's direction, interviewed all of Mary's friends and neighbors, including Alison, Mary's best friend. Alison told Irving that the day after Mary disappeared, Allison received a note from Mary in her mailbox, indicating that Damien's mistress Sally had shown up at Mary's front door with Sally's new baby, Damien, Jr., in tow.