A man accused of murdering his wife is fighting to retain control of the $1.5 million he stands to receive from American General Life Insurance Company, which issued a policy on the woman who died in 2012.
Harold Henthorn was charged in November with the murder of his wife, Toni Bertolet, whom he claimed fell 140 feet while hiking with Henthorn in Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado. An autopsy carried out on Bertolet concluded she died “as a result of multiple force injuries when she fell or was pushed down a cliff,” and the coroner did not rule out homicide.
The circumstance is not new for Henthorn, who was also the sole witness to the death of his first wife, Sandra Rishell, who was crushed under the front of his Jeep when she allegedly reached under the vehicle while changing a flat tire at night.
In both cases, Henthorn was the sole beneficiary in a number of life policies; the policies totaled $500,000 on the death of Rishell and $4.5 million on the death of Bertolet.
Police have since reopened the investigation into Rishell’s death.
Now, Henthorn is fighting to gain access to a $1.5 million policy taken out on Bertolet with American General Life after the insurer filed a suit in U.S. District Court in Denver, seeking guidance from a judge on how to best handle the policy.
Under Colorado law, insurers are prohibited from paying out on life insurance policies that benefit the deceased person’s killer.
“By reason of actual and potential conflicting claims to the death benefit, American General does not know and cannot determine the person legally entitled to the death benefit,” the insurer said in the lawsuit.
