Smith v. John Hancock Mutual Life Insurance

OPINION

WEBER, District Judge.

This is a suit under the accidental death benefit clause of a life insurance policy. The insuring agreement provided for payment to the beneficiary for death “as a result of bodily injury sustained solely through external, violent and accidental means, directly and independently of all other causes * * * The defendant insurance company alleges that plaintiff’s proof fails to measure up to the terms of the insuring contract.

On April 17, 1964, at about 6:30 p. m., Stewart Smith, the insured, was found dead in his automobile at a point alongside Pa. Route 22, about…