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The Eighth Circuit recently upheld a plan administrator's denial of life insurance benefits in a bizarre scenario in which the participant, Mark Foster, apparently planned his own murder. Phillips-Foster v. UNUM Life Ins. Co., 2002 U.S. App. LEXIS 18147 (8th Cir. 2002). The life insurance policies at issue included a basic life insurance benefit of $100,000 and accidental death and dismemberment (AD&D) coverage in an equal amount.
At the time of the participant's death, Sarah Phillips-Foster was his wife (of four months) and his designated beneficiary for both coverages. Mr. Foster was found, entirely dressed in white, with a gunshot would to his chest. Subsequent investigations by the police turned up evidence, including a farewell videotape, indicating that Foster had planned to die and that Phillips-Foster and two other men were involved in the plan. Apparently, Foster had been involved in a variety of fringe religious cults, including Tantra, voodoo, and Santeria, and regularly participated in related rituals. It further appears that Foster believed that he was a voodoo priest and that his powers would be passed to his student (not...