Atkinson v. Life of Virginia

*209Frances Kirby Atkinson, plaintiff, brought this action against The Life Insurance Company of Virginia (insurer) to recover as beneficiary under the accidental death provisions of a life insurance policy issued to her husband, Darrell Lee Atkinson (decedent or Atkinson).1 The case was tried without a jury, and the trial judge, in a letter opinion, found that Atkinson’s death was not caused by accidental means, as contended by the plaintiff, but resulted from self-destruction or self-inflicted injury within the terms of one of the policy exclusions. Judgment was accordingly entered for the…