Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan and her mother Brenda have been in court each day to support their brother and son Mark Kerrigan, who has been on trial on a manslaughter charge in the death of his father.
Daniel Kerrigan died on January 24, 2010 after fighting with his son over the use of a telephone in the family kitchen. The younger man punched his father so hard that the 70-year-old died of heart failure.
Mark, 46, was acquitted of manslaughter charges but was convicted of a lesser charge of assault and battery. He will face a maximum sentence of 2-1/2 years behind bars when the judge rules in that matter on Thursday.
Prosecutors referred to the accused as “angry, mean, nasty, and a drunk.” The defense case strongly suggested that the death of the elder Kerrigan was the result of long term heart disease.
Brenda Kerrigan testified that her son and husband got into an argument that only lasted a few seconds. She claims that she saw them embraced in a “bear hug” and that at no time did she see her son’s hands around his father’s neck.
She recalled, under oath, that she saw Mark’s hand around her husband’s waist and then she watched him collapse onto the floor, “like a feather coming right out of the sky.”
Photos: WENN