Bill v. Farm Bureau Life Ins. Co.

• Decision Date: 12 February 1963
• Docket Number: No.50774,50774
• Citation: 119 N.W.2d 768,254 Iowa 1215
• Parties: Ernest BILL and Norma Bill, Appellees, v. FARM BUREAU LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant.
• Court: Iowa Supreme Court

Page 768

119 N.W.2d 768

254 Iowa 1215

Ernest BILL and Norma Bill, Appellees, v. FARM BUREAU LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant.

No.50774.

Supreme Court of Iowa.

Feb. 12, 1963.

Rehearing Denied April 8, 1963.

O'Donohoe & O'Connor, New Hampton, for appellant.

Donohue, Wilkins & Donohue, New Hampton, for appellees.

THOMPSON, Justice.

The plaintiffs are beneficiaries in a policy of insurance issued by the defendant upon the life of their son, LeRoy Leo Bill, who died on January 12, 1961. Liability being denied by the insurer, this action was brought by the plaintiffs. The defendant alleged that the death of the insured was the result of suicide, which raises the only substantial question in the case. There is no denial of the issuance of the policy or that it was otherwise in effect on the date of LeRoy Bill's death; nor is there any contention that the policy was not voided under its terms if death was brought about by suicide. The thial court held that the question of suicide was for the determination of the jury and submitted it accordingly. The jury returned its verdict for the plaintiffs, judgment was rendered on the verdict, and we have this appeal. The defendant contends it was entitled to a peremptory verdict; it raised the question in various ways, and also challenges certain rulings on evidence and instructions given the jury.

The evidence disclosed that LeRoy, a 17 year old boy approximately five feet eleven inches tall, weighing about two hundred and eight pounds, had been employed as a farm hand by Howard Niedert, a farmer residing near Riceville, Iowa, since September 21, 1960. He did chores and all types of field work, usually working with Mr. Niedert. He was furnished a room of his own and spent his weekends at home. He was a good and willing worker and was careful with machinery and good to the stock. He got along well with the Niedert children and was treated like one of the family. He appeared happy and content with his work. He was exceptionally strong, and liked to display feats of strength, such as breaking binder twine and boards with his hands. He sometimes tried to do tasks Mr. Niedert himself had been unable to do. While he did not have many close friends, no one disliked him and he enjoyed his family and friends. On the day of his death he stopped at a neighbor's home and asked them over to play cards. They could not come but made tentative arrangements to come over the next night. He had recently purchased his first automobile and, although it was a used model, was very proud of it. His health had been very good and he was not in debt. He had two or three guns and liked to hunt and fish. At a family gathering a few days before his death he made plans to do some ice fishing with his uncle.

On the late afternoon of January 12, 1961, he was engaged in doing the chores and, when Mrs. Niedert arrived home about five o'clock, she talked with him. She observed nothing unusual about him and he went on about his tasks. She later saw him riding a saddle horse driving the cattle from the pasture, and that was the last anyone saw him alive. Apparently all the chores had been done except for the task of throwing down some hay or straw from the barn loft.

When Mr. Niedert arrived home about six o'clock that evening, LeRoy had not returned to the house for his evening meal. When the lad had not appeared by 6:30 o'clock, Niedert went to look for him and observed a light on in the barn. Upon entering the door he saw LeRoy's legs extending through a small opening 22"' X 20"' in the floor of the hay mow, used to lower bales of hay and straw for the stock. He thought LeRoy was sitting on the loft floor asleep, until he climbed the ladder in another chute to the floor above. Then 'he could see the string to him and went over to him.' The 'string' was a piece of binder twine tied to an overhead two by eight inch beam some five feet and eleven inches above the floor, and attached to LeRoy's neck by a noose. Mr. Niedert felt the boy's neck, realized it was too late to give him aid and returned to the house. The authorities and LeRoy's parents were called and arrived a short time thereafter.

LeRoy's parents, the plaintiffs herein, arrived first but only Mr. Bill entered the barn. He went no closer than the top of the ladder to the second floor and then returned to the house. When Deputy Sheriff Don. L. Powers and Dr. Dankle, the county medical examiner, arrived they went to the barn loft and found LeRoy's body as Mr. Niedert had discovered it. They cut the twine and laid the lad on the loft floor to await the undertaker. When they did so there was a sudden expulsion of air from the lungs indicating LeRoy had held his breath until a stricture on the windpipe caused by the twine prevented its escape. The noose was tied with a square knot, not a slip knot. The body was almost straight with the legs extending through the opening in the floor, and the hands to the side on or near the loft floor as though he had pushed off from a sitting position. The body from approximately the knees up was above the bottom part of the opening. The noose around his head was 29 inches in circumference and the knot was against his cap which was still on, not against his head or neck. There was no indication of a struggle and the chaff around the hole was not disturbed.

It also appeared there was another piece of binder twine attached to the same beam. It had been broken, and nearby was a piece of twine with a noose tied with a slip knot, which plaintiffs maintain disclosed a prior unpleasant experiment terminated by LeRoy's ability to break the twine with his hands.

It further appeared many pieces of twine were hung in the loft, for the bales of hay and straw were usually opened there. No rope was kept in the loft but some was in the barn, and LeRoy knew where it was and how to use it. Thus plaintiffs contend if he had wished to hang himself he would not have depended upon small binder twine, but would have used a strong rope and a larger opening to have accomplished the deed.

The medical examiner testified the twine would have broken had LeRoy stepped off into the hole, and that he had to let himself down carefully, that death was caused by asphyxiation, that the asphyxiation was due to the constricting twine around the neck, that pressure on the throat applied in this manner 'could cause practically immediate unconsciousness', and that if the immediate unconsciousness had not ensued, there would have been a gradual strangulation, with a struggle resulting. This a resolute will could overcome, but normally a person would struggle. It was the examiner's opinion 'that the injury involved was self-inflicted.'

The evidence further disclosed that LeRoy had finished the eighth grade with some difficulty, that intelligence tests showed him below average, that he desired to follow farm work, was a member of the Alta Vista Lutheran Church, and drank neither beer nor alcohol. He was a happy-go-lucky fellow, liked to watch television, and seemed to all witnesses who observed him near the date of this tragedy to then be his normal self. Mr. Niedert and Mr. and Mrs. Bill testified they knew of no reason why LeRoy might intentionally take his life.

I. The defendant contends that the record facts make such a clear case of suicide that it was entitled to a directed verdict. The burden was upon it to support its affirmative defense, and it thinks it did so. We have held in proper cases that suicide may be so clearly shown that the trial court should hold it established as a matter of law. Inghram v. National Union, 103 Iowa 395, 72 N.W. 559; Beverly v. Supreme Tent, etc., 115 Iowa 524, 88 N.W. 1054; Gavin v. Des Moines Life Ins. Co., 149 Iowa 152, 126 N.W. 906; Warner v. Equitable Life Ins. Co., 219 Iowa 916, 258 N.W. 75.

But generally the question of suicide has been held to be for the jury. The plaintiffs' case is fortified by the presumption against suicide. We have said 'The presumption against suicide is a strong one.' Brown v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, 233 Iowa 5, 10, 7 N.W.2d 21, 24. We have also held that it has the effect of evidence. Brown v. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, supra; Allison v. Bankers Life Co., 230 Iowa 995, 999, 299 N.W. 889, 891; Reddick v. Grand Union Tea Co., 230 Iowa 108, 119, 296 N.W. 800, 805.

The presumption is based on inferences arising from the known love of life and the instinct of self-preservation, the fact that suicide is opposed to the general conduct of mankind and that it involves moral turpitude. While the presumption is not conclusive and may in exceptional cases be overcome as a matter of law, this is not ordinarily so; and it may be strengthened by other evidence tending to show lack of motive for suicide or other facts which would make it unlikely.

We have discussed this question often. Holloway v. Bankers Life Co., 248 Iowa 517, 527, 81 N.W.2d 453, 459; Brown v. Metropolitan Life Ins. Co., supra; Michalek v. Modern Brotherhood of America, 179 Iowa 33, 42, 43, 161 N.W. 125, 129; Tackman v. Brotherhood of American Yeomen, 132 Iowa 64, 68, 106 N.W. 350, 351, 8 L.R.A.,N.S., 974. In the latter case the facts were to a considerable extent similar to those in the case at bar. There the decedent insured was found hanging in the barn from a harness strap. There was some evidence that he had some financial and health difficulties; but we held the question of suicide was for the jury.

In the instant case, the facts would undoubtedly support a verdict of suicide; but they do not require it. No motive for suicide appears. There is evidence that LeRoy Bill was proud of his strength; that he had made plans for the ensuing evening; he had no worries, financial or otherwise; he seemed to enjoy or at least be satisfied with his work. An inference that he was trying some sort of experiment to test and prove his strength in breaking the twine placed around his neck, and that...