Strawhorne v. Atlantic Coast Life Ins. Co., 17759

• Decision Date: 24 March 1961
• Docket Number: No. 17759,17759
• Court: South Carolina Supreme Court
• Parties: Clyde Forrest STRAWHORNE, Respondent, v. ATLANTIC COAST LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant.

Page 101

119 S.E.2d 101

238 S.C. 40

Clyde Forrest STRAWHORNE, Respondent, v. ATLANTIC COAST LIFE INSURANCE COMPANY, Appellant.

No. 17759.

Supreme Court of South Carolina.

March 24, 1961.

Roddey & Sumwalt, Robert R. Carpenter, Rock Hill, for appellant.

Hayes & Hayes, Rock Hill, for respondent.

TAYLOR, Justice.

Appellant issued its policy of life insurance to the insured, Rebecca W. Strawhorne, the wife of the Respondent, on December 7, 1959, wherein it agreed to pay at her death benefits in the amount of $2,000 with double indemnity provisions for accidental death, the policy containing the following limitation with reference to death benefits:

'The liability of the Company hereunder shall be limited under the following conditions to a return of the premiums paid on the policy: * * * (2) If the insured shall die by his or her own hands, whether sane or insane, for the first two years after this policy is in force.'

The policy contains limitations applicable only to the double indemnity features of the policy, with which we are not here concerned, as all issues with reference to the liability of the Appellant by way of double indemnity were resolved by the Court during the trial favorably to the Appellant, from which no appeal has been taken.

The insured died as a result of a gunshot wound on February 23, 1960, while the policy was in full force and effect. This action was instituted by the Respondent, the husband of the deceased, as beneficiary, for the recovery of the amount allegedly due under the policy. The Appellant denied liability for any amount, except for a return of the premiums paid, alleging that the insured came to her death by her own hands and its liability was, therefore, limited, under the above quoted policy provision.

The case was tried and resulted in a verdict by the jury for the Respondent in the amount of $2,000. During the trial timely motions were made by Appellant for a nonsuit and directed verdict, which were denied. The appeal to this Court is from such rulings by the trial Court and presents only the question of whether or not all of the evidence, considered in a light most favorable to the Appellant, is susceptible of any reasonable hypothesis other than that the insured came to her death by her own hands. It is conceded that the death of the insured occurred within the first two policy years.

While the policy provision limits liability to a return of the premiums if the insured shall die 'by his or her own hands,' the phrase is synonymous with 'suicide' and was so regarded and construed in the trial of this case. See: Gibson v. Reliance Life Insurance Company of Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, 172 S.C. 94, 172 S.E. 772; 45 C.J.S. Insurance, § 844, p. 923.

Where the defense of suicide is interposed by the insurer to defeat recovery under a policy of insurance, the burden is upon the insurer to prove the fact of suicide by the preponderance of the evidence. It is true that where death by violent injury has occurred, unexplained, there is a presumption against suicide, but this is a presumption of law and not of fact. When evidence as to the fact of suicide is introduced, the presumption against suicide vanishes and the question must be resolved upon the evidence. McMillan v. General American Life Insurance Company, 194 S.C. 146, 9 S.E.2d 562.

There is no substantial dispute as to the facts and circumstances surrounding the death of the insured. She was a young woman about 20 years of age and had been married to the Respondent for about 2 years. They lived in an apartment adjoining that of Respondent's mother. The two apartments were connected by a door between the bedrooms and they shared a common bath with his mother. On the evening of February 23, 1960, Respondent returned to the apartment from work, changed clothes and left to go to the home of one Florence Fincher. When he left the apartment, the insured and his mother were sitting in the living room. Shortly thereafter, the insured went into the apartment of Respondent's mother to take a bath, and the mother went to her own living room to watch television. The mother heard the water running in the bathtub and later heard the insured go back into her own apartment. Within a few minutes, Respondent's mother heard a noise as though a heavy object had fallen. She heard no gun shot or other noise. Upon going into the insured's apartment, she found the insured lying on her back on the floor in the living...