Wvw Booster Club's Value Shortchanged; Columnist Should Check His Facts

Aldo Giovannini

By DAVID WEISS dweiss@leader.net
 Thursday, November 08, 2001 &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Page: 9A 





SCRANTON - The husband of a woman whose death had been called suspicious
has been awarded more than $1 million from her life insurance company, an
attorney said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Attorney Arthur Rainey, who represented Transamerica Occidental Life
Insurance Company, said Wednesday the money was awarded to Dr. Robert Adkins
earlier this year in the 1999 death of his wife, Delinda. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Delinda Adkins, Adkins' second wife, died Jan. 17, 1999. Luzerne County
Coroner Dr. George Hudock initially said the 30-year-old Dallas woman died of
pneumonia from the flu. But former District Attorney Peter Paul Olszewski Jr.
later labeled the death ``suspicious'' because of numerous unanswered
questions. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Dr. Cyril Wecht, a nationally known forensic pathologist from the
Pittsburgh area, was called into the case, but he too was unable to determine
the cause or manner of death. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Wecht also investigated the death of Adkins' first wife, Mary, who died in
1990 in Delaware County. Based on Wecht's reports, Delaware County Medical
Examiner Dr. Dimitri Contostavlos ruled the manner of Mary Adkins' death as
undetermined and said there ``was some suspicion'' surrounding her death also. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Luzerne County District Attorney David Lupas on Wednesday said the
investigation into Delinda Adkins' death remains open, but no new information
has been brought to his attention. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Robert Adkins filed suit against his insurance company in February in the
U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania after the company
failed to pay the proceeds from Delinda's life insurance policy, which also
covered him for $1 million. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The insurance company initially refused to pay the claim because
authorities were investigating the death and, although it was not ruled a
homicide, authorities named Adkins as a suspect in the death, according to the
company's reply to the suit. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 The company said they could not disperse the funds because if Adkins was
found to be a ``slayer'' in the case, Delinda's estate could seek the funds
that were paid to Robert Adkins. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 But U.S. Judge A. Richard Caputo ruled against the company in August,
forcing it to pay Adkins the $1 million plus interest, Rainey said. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 In his ruling, Caputo said Robert Adkins was never considered a suspect in
the death, and the death was never ruled a homicide. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Adkins, who has a last known address of West Grove Street in Nanticoke,
could not be reached for comment. His attorney, Scott Schermerhorn of
Scranton, said he could not comment on the case because it is pending. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 A settlement conference is scheduled for January on the remaining counts of
suit, which include a ``bad faith'' claim against the insurance company for
initially denying the claim. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 Adkins also has a pending suit against Luzerne County Children and Youth.
In that suit, Adkins claims the agency and several police officials took his
two children in March, 1999 without a search warrant and before conducting an
investigation. Because no evidence of abuse or neglect existed, the children
were returned to their father four days after being removed, the suit says. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
 David Weiss, a Times Leader staff writer, can be reached at 831-7397. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; 
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Adkins Gets $1 Million From Policy On Wife