Mo. Supreme Court allows lawsuit in suicide pact

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (AP) -- The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that the grandmother of an eastern Missouri teen killed as part of an alleged suicide pact with a friend can continue with her wrongful death lawsuit.

Heather Thorson was shot in the head in 2002 in Cuba -- a small town on Interstate 44 between Rolla and St. Louis. Thorson's friend, Elizabeth Connelly, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and armed criminal action. She had faced first-degree murder charges.

An attorney defending Connelly said in 2004 that the teens had been passing a gun between themselves. He said Connelly was holding it when Heather Thorson put her head to the barrel while grabbing at Connelly, causing it to fire.

During the trial, there was evidence that the friends had tried to kill themselves three times that week, including by sitting on railroad tracks and overdosing with pain medication.

Connelly is serving a 20-year prison sentence in Vandalia. She was denied parole last year and has another hearing in May 2009.

In a 2005 lawsuit filed just days before the legal deadline, Eleanore Thorson accused Connelly of being involved in her friend's death by shooting Heather Thorson, pointing a .357 handgun at her when it accidentally fired or grabbing the weapon while it was pointed at Thorson.

The suit also names Connelly's mother, Betty Palmer, and Palmer's husband, Ronald, of negligence by either giving Connelly the gun or not stopping her from getting it.

Stephen Paulus, an attorney from Cuba representing Thorson, said he is pleased with the ruling because it lets them continue with the lawsuit. He said a trial could begin within a year.

An attorney from Rolla who is representing the Palmers said he plans to ask the state Supreme Court to rehear the case.

"Sometimes the court makes law rather than interprets it," said attorney Mark Turley.

A Dent County judge had tossed out the lawsuit on procedural grounds. And the Missouri Court of Appeals, Southern District upheld that decision last year.

The high court's ruling, without dissent, overturns those rulings and instead lets the case go forward.

Writing for the court, Judge Michael Wolff said it is fair to allow the lawsuit.

"Connelly and the Palmers, the defendants, suffer no prejudice or unfair surprise as they knew from the beginning what the claim was," he said. "They are not deprived of the opportunity to investigate timely and prepare their defenses."

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Case is Eleanore Thorson v. Elizabeth Connelly, Ronald Palmer and Betty Palmer, SC88594.

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Judiciary: http://www.courts.mo.gov