Warren v. Pilot Life Ins. Co
| Decision Date | 03 November 1937 |
| Docket Number | No. 316.,316. |
| Citation | 212 N.C. 354,193 S.E. 293 |
| Court | North Carolina Supreme Court |
| Parties | WARREN. v. PILOT LIFE INS. CO |
Appeal from Superior Court, Pitt County; F. A. Daniels, Emergency Judge.
Action by Rena Warren against the Pilot Life Insurance Company. From a judgment on a verdict for plaintiff, defendant appeals.
New trial.
Action to recover on policy of insurance.
On July 1, 1935, defendant issued and delivered to Alexander Warren a policy of life insurance for $2,500, in which the plaintiff was named as beneficiary. The policy provided, among other things, that: * * *''
Warren, the insured, was shot to death on the night of February 28, 1936.
Plaintiff contends that the death was "through external, violent and accidental means, " and within the meaning of the said provision of the policy. Defendant pleads as defense and bar to the right of plaintiff to recover that the death "resulted from bodily injuries inflicted intentionally by another person."
The evidence tended to show that: Warren, accompanied by the young lady to whom he was engaged, had parked his automobile on a road near the Fair Ground at Greenville. As he was in the act of dialing the radio in his car, the right-hand door of the automobile was suddenly opened by a man who grabbed the young lady around the neck with his left arm. The man had a pistol in his right hand pointed in the car, and almost instantly the pistol fired; the bullet struck Warren in the right breast, and he died instantly. The man dragged the young lady out into a field, threatened her, went back and looked in the car, then returned to where she was, dragged her further into the field, partially disrobed her, and ran away when the lights of an approaching automobile shone on the spot. It was contended that the man was bent upon criminally assaulting the lady. Later, the man was arrested, identified as Willie Tate, and indicted for murder. In the trial, the young lady was a witness for the state. On the trial of the instant case, she testified as to what occurred at the time Warren was shot. She was examined as to the report of her testimony given in the murder trial. She admitted the correctness of the report.
The court...
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...death resulting from firearms. Insured heard a noise at the barn, walked out to investigate and was shot. In Warren v. Pilot Life Insurance Co., 212 N.C. 354, 193 S.E. 293 (1937), also reported on subsequent appeals at 215 N.C. 402, 2 S.E.2d 17 (1939), 217 N.C. 705, 9 S.E.2d 479 (1940), and......
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