Life Insurance Dispute Pits Daughters Against Father

Two weeks after his wife’s mysterious death, retired Ventura pastor Robert Herrington submitted a claim for her $50,000 life insurance policy.

But before the company sent the check, a representative contacted one of Herrington’s three adult daughters. She and her sisters then decided to contest the claim, accusing their father of killing their mother, Sharon, according to court documents.

Now the insurance company has handed over the money to Ventura County Superior Court, asking a judge to decide who should receive it.

After 58-year-old Sharon Herrington died the evening of Sept. 2, 1998, an autopsy revealed that she had ingested a lethal amount of carbofuran, a commercial pesticide restricted in most states.

The coroner never declared a manner of death for Herrington, because he could not determine if she had been poisoned or if she voluntarily swallowed the pesticide.

And Ventura police have not made any arrests, but are investigating the case as a possible homicide. Ventura Police Department Lt. Skip Young said Robert Herrington is a suspect, but that police don’t have enough evidence to arrest him.

Police have said they do not believe Sharon Herrington was suicidal.

The papers, filed by Minnesota Life Insurance on Jan. 30, 2001, state that the sisters, 33-year-old Susan Colley, 39-year-old Ruth Droullard and 36-year-old Karen Colburn, “contend that their father . . . killed their mother.”

Herrington’s attorney, Frances Diaz, said her client is “extraordinarily heartbroken that his daughters would treat him in such a manner.” Diaz said there is “absolutely no truth to the malicious statement” in the court document that Herrington killed his wife.

The Beverly Hills attorney said she believes the daughters contested Herrington’s insurance claim because they were angry about his relationship. “I feel these children are misguided and motivated by a vendetta for him moving on with his life,” she said.

A few months after his wife’s death, Robert Herrington, a retired Ventura Missionary Church pastor, moved with the church secretary to the Palm Springs area.

Executive Pastor Bob Klamser said Herrington’s actions affected the entire congregation at Ventura Missionary, an evangelical Christian church where Herrington had worked for four years. “Bob was in a respected position of trust,” he said. “That’s hard when they feel there has been a breach of that trust.”

Herrington had picked up his wife from Los Angeles International Airport just before 8 p.m. Sept. 2, 1998. She was returning from a visit with Colburn, who lives in Casper, Wyo.

When they arrived at their Ventura home, Herrington called a friend who was a doctor and said he thought his wife was dead, according to the court papers. He then drove her to the emergency room, where he told hospital staff that Sharon did not want “heroic measures” performed, the papers state. She was pronounced dead at 10:25 p.m.

Colley said she was devastated and surprised when her mother passed away. Although Sharon Herrington had battled breast cancer in the past, she had been healthy for more than a decade. “His story didn’t fit,” said Colley, who lives in Alabama. “It is my hope that justice could be done.”

When their father said he didn’t want an autopsy conducted, Colley said she and her sisters became suspicious.

The court papers filed by Minnesota Life said the company “does not know and cannot determine to whom the policy payments should rightfully be paid.” Robert Herrington is listed as the beneficiary on his deceased wife’s life insurance policy, and their daughters are named contingent beneficiaries.

According to law, a named beneficiary who intentionally kills the person is not entitled to any benefit under the bond. Along with the complaint, the company deposited to the court the total amount with interest, $56,401.

Diaz said Herrington intended to use the money to pay legal bills and debt she said was incurred by his wife from medical bills and department store purchases. Diaz proposed settling the case by paying those bills and dividing what’s left of the claim among Herrington and his daughters.

But the daughters refused, saying they did not want their father to profit at all from their mother’s death, Colley said.

“We don’t want him to receive anything,” she said.

Herrington is still living in the Palm Springs area, according to his niece.