Durio Collects Disputed Death Benefits on Behalf of Widow
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On December 13, 2010 Robert Brown "Bobby” Chastant, DDS had been brutally murdered by one of his stable hands. Buzz Durio represented Laurie Futral Chastant, his widow, the plaintiff, in a suit for payment of life insurance and other death benefit proceeds for which she was the named beneficiary. Paul T. Chastant, the executor of his brother’s estate, disputed Laurie’s qualification as beneficiary, alleging that she colluded with the man who had admitted to killing her husband and was subsequently sentenced to life in prison for his heinous act. After a three day trial, on May 23, 2012 the seven member federal jury unanimously concluded that Laurie did not participate in the intentional, unjustified killing of her husband, Robert Brown Chastant in the case of Laurie Futral Chastant v. Prudential Insurance Company of America, Et Al, United States District Court, Western District of Louisiana, Lafayette Division, Civil Action Number 11cv00626, the Honorable Richard T. Haik, Sr., presiding. On behalf of Laurie, Buzz successfully collected approximately $2.1 million in benefits which had been wrongfully denied to her.