Woman Who Killed Husband Could Inherit $1.2 Million

From the Stamford, CT Advocate, news of a ghoulish probate case in the offing:

Although a jury found Mary Ann Langley guilty of killing her husband by throwing gasoline on him and lighting him on fire, she could still inherit his $1.2 million estate, family members and attorneys said.

This turn of events was made possible by a jury of eight women and four men who did not convict Langley of murder two weeks ago after a seven-day trial at state Superior Court in Stamford. The jury was unable to find beyond a reasonable doubt that Mary Ann Langley intended to kill her husband by throwing the gasoline on him, and instead found her guilty of intentional first-degree manslaughter in the December 2006 death of her husband, James, 55.

State statutes prohibit only murderers from inheriting from their victims, not individuals convicted of manslaughter.

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Known in legal circles as a "slayer statute," the law in Connecticut and in 42 other states prohibits murderers from inheriting from their victims' estates, according to a state Office of Legislative Research report on the topic from February.

Because Mary Ann Langley, 59, was convicted of manslaughter and not murder, the question of whether she is eligible to receive proceeds from the estate is set to play out in Norwalk Probate Court or in state Superior Court in Stamford.