Mississippi Requires Willful Conduct To Trigger Slayer Statute

One day, upset that his mother was leaving, John Armstrong took a mallet and attacked his mother which resulted in her death. He confessed to the killing and, as a result, saw his siblings seek to exclude him from his mothers will under the Mississippi Slayer Statute. However, Armstrong is a diagnosed schizophrenic which created a question whether his act satisfied the "willful" mental state required in the statute. The trial court declared, based on his confession and other evidence, that he willfully caused the death of his mother and was excluded from inheriting.

 

In In re Estate of Armstrong, the Mississippi Supreme Court held the willfulness requirement in the statute was not satisfied if Armstrong's mental state at the time of the murder precluded him from controlling his own actions. The court relied on precedents when manslaughter plea bargains were held not to show a willful intent to kill without additional evidence to support a finding that the person caused the death intentionally. The case was remanded to the trial court to determine if Armstrong had the proper mental status at the time of the homicide with the court adding that "all evidence which will throw light on the issue.. is competent and admissible."

 

Special thanks to Brandon Dixon for bringing this case to my attention.