Mutual Life Insurance Co. Of New York v. Hillmon

Facts

Mutual (D) refused to pay Hillmon (P) the proceeds of insurance policies on her husband. The main issue, in this case, was whether a body that was found was that of Hillmon's (P) husband or that of Walters. P sued D. P introduced evidence tending to show that Hillmon and Brown left Wichita, in the State of Kansas, and traveled together through southern Kansas in search of a site for a cattle ranch; that on the night of March 18, while they were in camp at a place called 'Crooked Creek,' Hillmon was killed by the accidental discharge of a gun; that Brown at once notified persons living in the neighborhood, and that the body was thereupon taken to a neighboring town, where, after an inquest, it was buried. Ds introduced evidence tending to show that the body found in the camp at Crooked Creek on the night of March 18th was not the body of Hillmon, but was the body of one Frederick Adolph Walters. Upon the question of whose body this was there was much conflicting evidence, including photographs and descriptions of the corpse, the marks and scars upon it, and testimony to its likeness to Hillmon and Walters. To show that the body was that of Walters, the insurance company (D) offered letters written by Walters expressing his intention to go to Colorado, where the body was found, with P's husband. The defendants introduced testimony that Walters left his home at Fort Madison, in the State of Iowa, in March 1878, and was afterward in Kansas in 1878, and in January and February 1879; that during that time, his family frequently received letters from him, the last of which was written from Wichita, and that he had not been heard from since March 1879. There was additional testimonial evidence, which tended to show that Walters had left for Colorado. The trial court refused to admit the letters into evidence, and D appealed.

Issues

Rule of Law

Holding and Decision

Legal Analysis

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