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The brother of figure-skating Olympic medalist Nancy Kerrigan was arraigned today, charged with assault on their 70-year-old father. As ABC News reports, Daniel Kerrigan died on Sunday shortly after police were summoned to the Stoneham, Mass., home where Nancy grew up.
When the police arrived on the scene, they found Daniel Kerrigan, 70, "in need of medical attention." He was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement from Middlesex County District Attorney Gerry Leone.
Nancy's brother, Mark Kerrigan, 45, was charged with assault and battery with a dangerous weapon on an elderly person and causing serious bodily injury. He was not charged with murder; he pleaded not guilty.
According to the police report, Mark Kerrigan claimed the altercation began when he “wanted to use the phone, and his father would not let him.” Also from the report, Kerrigan said “he struggled with his father and put his hands around his father's neck, and his father fell to the floor. He said that his father was faking it.''
According to ABC News, the report also stated that Mark Kerrigan appeared intoxicated, smelled of alcohol and was seen trying to conceal a bottle of whiskey. Police said he was belligerent as they tried to help his father, and that pepper spray was used to control him. Police also observed blood near where Daniel Kerrigan was found and pictures knocked off the walls.
When reached by phone, Brenda Kerrigan, Nancy's mother, told ABCNews.com that her husband died from a heart attack. "I'll tell you something, it's a shock. It was a massive heart attack. That's how he died, that's it," said Brenda Kerrigan.
The life of Nancy Kerrigan, 40, has been touched by both beauty and brutality. As a world-class skater she wowed audiences with her elegance and agility. But one month before she was scheduled to compete at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, she was attacked by the ex-husband of U.S. skating rival Tonya Harding. Kerrigan went on to recover from her injury (a blow to her right kneecap) to win a silver medal. About the notorious crime, Kerrigan said on Good Morning America last February, "I just don't think back on all the negativity, because it's such a waste of time. My life has moved on."
Here's hoping Kerrigan taps some of that positive thinking as she and her family deal with this latest heartbreak.
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