Gordon v. State Farm Life Insurance

Opinion by

Mr. Justice Musmanno,

Larry Robert Gordon, 21 years of age, carried an accident insurance policy which would entitle the named beneficiary therein, in the event of his death, to $10,000 plus $10,000 additional if his death was the result “directly and independently of all other causes, from bodily injury effected solely through external, violent and accidental means as evidenced by a visible contusion or wound on the exterior of the body.”

At about 4:00 a.m. on September 30, 1959, the insured was found dead to the rear of his automobile in a muddy field. The insurance company, after…