Erie Ins. Exch. v. Moore

Opinion

 [*260]  JUSTICE DOUGHERTY¹  

We consider whether the alleged conduct of an insured, Harold Eugene McCutcheon, Jr. (McCutcheon), as described in a personal injury lawsuit filed against his estate by Richard A. Carly (Carly), obligates McCutcheon's insurer, appellant Erie Insurance Exchange (Erie) to defend the estate against Carly's complaint. We hold Carly's allegations were sufficient to trigger Erie's duty to defend and accordingly affirm the order of the Superior Court.

The following material facts are alleged in Carly's complaint. On the evening of September 26, 2013, McCutcheon broke into the home of his ex-wife, Terry McCutcheon, in order to shoot and kill her, and then kill himself. He communicated these intentions in a note he left for his adult children. McCutcheon [**2]  succeeded in executing this plan, first shooting and killing Terry and, eventually, shooting and killing himself. However, after McCutcheon killed Terry but before he killed himself, Carly arrived on the scene. Carly, who had been dating Terry, approached the front door of her home, rang the doorbell and received no answer. Carly became concerned, placed his hand on the doorknob "in order to enter and the door was suddenly pulled inward by [McCutcheon] who grabbed [Carly] by his shirt and pulled him into the home." McCutcheon was "screaming, swearing, incoherent, and acting 'crazy.'" Then, "a fight ensued between the two and at the time, [McCutcheon] continued to have the gun in his hand" which he apparently had used to kill Terry. During this "struggle" between the two men, McCutcheon was "knocking things around, and in the process [he] negligently, carelessly, and recklessly caused the weapon to be fired which struck [Carly] in the face," causing severe injuries. In addition, "other shots were carelessly, negligently and recklessly fired" by McCutcheon, "striking various parts of the interior of the residence and exiting therefrom." Carly Complaint, 2/20/2014 at ¶¶5-21.

Carly filed [**3]  suit against McCutcheon's estate, and the estate — administered by McCutcheon's adult children — sought coverage of the lawsuit under two insurance policies issued by Erie to McCutcheon: the Erie Insurance Home Protector Policy (homeowner's policy) and the Erie Insurance Personal Catastrophe Liability Policy (personal catastrophe policy).

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