Dean Hales v. Green Colonial, Inc., a Corporation v. Harold Munroe, Third Party

LAY, Circuit Judge.

This is an appeal from money damages awarded for the destruction of a building and its contents by a fire allegedly caused by a defective heater. The trial court submitted the cause to the jury on the theory of strict liability under Missouri law. The jury awarded plaintiffs $102,594.00. The trial court overruled defendants’ motion for a judgment notwithstanding the verdict and their alternate motion for a new trial. We affirm.

Plaintiffs, Dean Hales, Bernadine Hales and James Mogg, were the owners and operators of a Ben Franklin Store in Hamilton, Missouri. In June of 1970,…