Posted on 01/25/2010 7:26:47 AM PST by raccoonradio
The brother of former Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan is being charged with assaulting their 70-year-old father in Stoneham following a fight over a telephone where police say the younger man thought his dad was “faking it” when he fell to the ground.
The father, Daniel Kerrigan, died from a massive heart attack, his wife tells the Herald.
Mark Kerrigan, 45, now faces one count of assault and battery on a person over 60, according to Woburn District Court Clerk John Teeven.
The criminal complaint lists Daniel Kerrigan of Stoneham as the assault victim, Teeven added. Mark Kerrigan is expected to be arraigned today in the Woburn court.
Nancy Kerrigan’s mother, Brenda Kerrigan , told the Herald this morning her husband died of a massive heart attack.
“My husband had a massive heart attack,” Brenda Kerrigan said. “This is a very difficult time for me.”
A five-page police report of the alleged assault at the Kerrigan Cedar Avenue home in Stoneham states both father and son were yelling and pushing “back and forth” until the elder Kerrigan fell over.
The police report states Brenda Kerrigan told police the two were battling until her husband fell. Police also report Mark Kerrigan put his “hands around his father’s neck” and he said he thought his dad was “faking it” when he fell to the floor.
Mark Kerrigan had to be subdued with pepper spray, the police report states. He also appeared intoxicated, the report adds.
Police also report spotting blood on the kitchen floor and the elder Kerrigan was found on the floor in the basement. It is not clear why the two men were arguing over the use of the telephone.
Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone and Stoneham Police Chief Richard Bongiorno said yesterday they were probing the death of a man who was found unresponsive at a Cedar Avenue home in Stoneham. The man, who was found unresponsive at 1:30 a.m. yesterday, was taken to Winchester Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, Leone said in a statement.
Kerrigan said earlier today there is nothing suspicious about her husband’s death.
“My God. He had a heart attack,” she said. “That’s what it was.”
She declined further comment.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/
WOBURN — The brother of skating star Nancy Kerrigan is in court today, charged with assaulting their father, who was found unresponsive in his Stoneham home early Sunday morning and later died, Stoneham police said today.
“He [Mark Kerrigan] stated that he wanted to use the phone and his father would not let him,’’ according to a Stoneham police report filed in court. “He said that he struggled with his father and put his hands around his father neck and his father fell to the floor. He said that his father was faking it.’’
The death of 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan remains under investigation, and police said this morning that his son, 45-year-old Mark D. Kerrigan, has not been charged with murder. The cause of death for the elder Kerrigan is undetermined pending an autopsy by the state medical examiner’s office.
MY condolences to Nancy Kerrigan and to the family and friends of her father.
I will not comment furthur out of respect to the dead and family, but I think there is more to this than is being reported.
45 years old and living at home...
Wow! What an anachronistic law!
My health club is filled with 60+ and 70+ y/o athletes who could whip a younger person with one hand tied behind their backs.
I couldn’t understand this at first: I thought it said the death was the result of a fight over the telephone, not over “a” telephone. It looked like one of those bizarre new PC laws we see show up spottily all over the West, where lawsuits are flyin’ and the long arm of hate crime legislation is applied willynilly to anything and everything, mostly involving the new “protected class”, Muslims.
And apparently intoxicated.
His father was probably trying to stop him from calling his dealer.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see this bumped up to manslaughter
I agree there appears to be more to the story. BTW, Nancy Kerrigan’s Foundations has supported vision research - a worthwhile cause.
has pic of Mark Kerrigan
It doesn’t say he lived there, just that that’s where the fight occurred.
Double tragedies for Nancy and her mom. Their husband/dad gone and the son/brother being arrested? Gosh. What dark day for them.
Thanks for setting a good example.
Ever see the movie Secondhand Lions? There’s a scene where a 70+ Robert Duvall singlehandedly beats the snot out of four young punks in a bar and then brings them over to his house and makes friends with them. Just priceless.
Sounds like somebody needs to go after Mark with a steel pipe.
What dumbed down news writers....says they fought over the telephone.
Only after you get very deep into the article do we find out it was an argument over the use of the telephone.
Why do they say “Massive Heart Attack” it was a heart attack, that is all, we don’t get massive cancer, massive diabetes, massive anything else, a pet peeve granted, but still ...
45 years old ? I’m 45 and look half his age....
Yeah! I love that movie...and Duvall is always great!
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