News Release
For Immediate Release
March 22, 2001
 

Murder for Insurance Bill Approved by Senate

HARRISBURG – A measure that would add murder for insurance proceeds to the list of aggravating circumstances under which a prosecutor may seek the death penalty has been approved by the State Senate.

Prime sponsor Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf said that Senate Bill 223 would address a significant loophole in the current law because "committing murder to collect on the victim’s insurance policy is as premeditated, calculating and cold-blooded as homicide can get." He likened the crime to contract murder, which is an aggravating circumstance under current law. "But murder for insurance is especially horrible because usually it is a family member or close associate whose trust is totally betrayed by the insurance beneficiary," Greenleaf said.

He noted that in recent memory there have been two noted Montgomery County cases in which victims were killed so that the perpetrator could collect the insurance proceeds and pay off debts. However, because the murder for insurance circumstance was not on the list of aggravating circumstances, the district attorney did not seek the death penalty.

Greenleaf said that, according to the insurance industry publication, Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, there appears to be an increase in the United States of the incidence of parents murdering their children for insurance money. Three actual cases of this type of crime were profiled on the television show 20/20 not long ago. "It is difficult to imagine the ruthlessness involved in this crime, and it is time to accord it the status it merits. I am hoping that the House acts quickly to approve the bill," Greenleaf said.