American Family Mutual Insurance v. Savickas

Michael Savickas stands convicted of the first degree murder (720 ILCS 5/9 — 1(a)(1), (a)(2) (West 1992)) of Thomas S. Vinicky (Thomas). Elizabeth Vinicky, the administrator of Thomas’s estate (Elizabeth), has sued Savickas for wrongful death and survival. Savickas tendered the defense of his suit to his insurer, American Family Mutual Insurance Company (American Family). American Family filed the instant declaratory judgment action to determine whether it must defend or indemnify Savickas. American Family contends that it should be excused from doing so because the policy did not apply to…