GUILTY PA - Jessica Padgett, 32, Northampton County, 21 November 2014

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I can't get this case out of my mind - I know today had to be so very hard for them. Praying for peace for all of them and a healthy delivery for the new baby.
 
shelbar53 said:
Can the victim's husband sue for "wrongful death? Just wondering because are either business's he has are in his name or him and his wife? The Pa fence business and the Florida outdoor hunting business, also are the homes in both the husbands and wife's name. Can he use a public attorney or must he sell what he has to pay for an attorney.
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PA wrongful death statutes:
§ 8301. Death action.
(a) General rule.--An action may be brought, under procedures prescribed by general rules, to recover damages for the death of an individual caused by the wrongful act or neglect or unlawful violence or negligence of another if no recovery for the same damages claimed in the wrongful death action was obtained by the injured individual during his lifetime and any prior actions for the same injuries are consolidated with the wrongful death claim so as to avoid a duplicate recovery.
(b) Beneficiaries.--Except as provided in subsection (d), the right of action created by this section shall exist only for the benefit of the spouse, children or parents of the deceased, whether or not citizens or residents of this Commonwealth or elsewhere. The damages recovered shall be distributed to the beneficiaries in the proportion they would take the personal estate of the decedent in the case of intestacy and without liability to creditors of the deceased person under the statutes of this Commonwealth.
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http://www.legis.state.pa.us/cfdocs...ype=HTM&ttl=42&div=0&chpt=83&sctn=1&subsctn=0 (more at link, including special damages explanation)

Her husband, children, and parents could recover a portion of what they would have inherited had Jessica passed naturally intestate (without a will). Usually wrongful death actions allow for recovery of all future earning potential and any other foreseeable income would be recoverable. Special damages of funeral and administrative expenses are also usually recoverable.

The problem here would be GG's legal assets. If a lot of his money is from or tied up in illegal activity, the court system may not be able to reach it. And then, if Jessica's mother shares any assets with GG, depending on the property law in PA (which I am unfamiliar with), Jessica's mother may be at risk for losing those joint assets if GG does not have many legal assets of his own. But yes, it seems they definitely have a claim.

As for attorney fees, a lawyer could take the case on a contingency fee, meaning they get a percentage of the recovery amount (usually 1/3rd), rather than getting paid hourly. Of course I'm sure some attorneys would take these cases on an hourly fee. And, given the tragic situation, there may be an attorney willing to take the case pro bono. A public attorney would not be appointed through the government free of charge though because wrongful death is in civil court and counsel is only appointed when a person's liberty is at risk (i.e. jail time).
 
Thank you all for the thoughtful messages.
Knowledge is power. That's a reason to share our experiences with others.
Great group on Jessica's thread. It's refreshing to know in a world amongst the crazies there are caring, loving people.
 
heartgoesout said:
nah, sexual frustration does not make a rapist and murderer. Heck I would have taken out a small village by now. ((giggle giggle))
Mental disorder, rage, fear could. This is deeper and more sinister. A sickness beyond any comprehension.
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I can only imagine the level of rage, if this was done in anger. Rage that wasn't satiated by killing her, he had to defile her corpse as well. I can't imagine somebody that rises to that level of rage going through life unnoticed or not feared before now.
 
MOO, but I believe it was more than sex in that he didn't want to be exposed as a child molester/sex offender. If word got out that he had abused his stepdaughter in the past, his name would be ruined and his wife would hate him, not to mention jail time. In my opinion, fear of exposure is why he had this level of rage. I hope he suffers like the animals he so joyfully murdered..
 
Per his FB, he was in Edgewater, FL Oct 14. Looks like he than went back to PA. So, what happened between the time he got back and Jessica went missing?

ETA: her mother left PA Nov 19 and was in New Smyrna Beach the night of Nov 19, and Jessica went missing Nov 21.
 
I had a feeling it would be him ... I wonder if he drank a lot and when he did if another side of him came out... The only reason I'm suggesting this is because I have an older brother who is an alcoholic and a functioning one at that, growing up he often would try to do sexual things to me and I would always run in fear, when I got married to my ex husband I went to get something from the car and he followed me and tried to force himself on me but my ex husband and cousin had stepped out and heard me yelling and pulled him off of me, my mom and step father(who was a deputy sheriff at the time) calmed me down and promised they would help me take care of the issue they did by telling everyone I lied and swept it under the rug... A few years later his step daughters said he was molesting them but somehow someway he passed a lie detector test... My mom and step dad drove him to Florida to live in a house they owned... Me and my husband drove down several years ago on our honeymoon and I didn't know he was still in the house so we made plans to go to a hotel the next day, he got so drunk that day and started making comments to me as he had before and my husband put him in his place, then as we were getting our stuff to leave because we weren't about to stay there he started banging on the bedroom door asking me how inwanted to die saying "would you like to be stabbed, shot, or choked to death" my husband said how would you like to be picking yourself up off of the floor and we took off because we had no idea what weapons he had on him or stashed around... This has been a few years and he called my phone (thanks mom for giving him my number) and asked if he could stop by on his way from Florida to illinois... I just hung up and armed myself very well... This man who murdered her reminds me a lot of my brother in the pictures and his posts, I hope someone didn't know of previous instances and didn't stop them before it came to this... May she rest in peace... :(
 
OMG. What a disgusting pig. I'm seriously at a loss for words.
 
What a disgusting piece of $h!t! I hope he gets the DP. This makes me sick!
 
OMG! I don't know what to say.
 
Sparky said:
What a disgusting piece of $h!t! I hope he gets the DP. This makes me sick!
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Sparky, the sickest thing of all is that now he does not qualify for the DP. PA's DP does not account for assaults (even sexual) of a person after they have died.
 
What if it was premeditated, Would that trump, abuse of a corpse? So the death penalty apply should apply, one would think.
 
How could people fail to see that there was something weird about this guy?

Not that anyone would have expected something as degrading as what he did to Jessica, but surely this didn't come out of nowhere?
 
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