ST. LOUIS – Safeco Insurance Co. of America will not have to provide coverage under a home insurance policy in a case against a group of men who allegedly kidnapped and held an individual for ransom, a federal judge has ruled.
On April 23, U.S. District Judge Henry Edward Autrey granted Safeco's motion for judgment on the pleadings in a case involving defendants Blake and Caleb Laubinger and Zachary Smith.
According to the ruling, Blake Laubinger, Rodney and Christine Laubinger (parents of Caleb Laubinger) and William and Donna Cook (mother of Zachary Smith) made a demand under a Safeco homeowner's insurance policy. The claim was made in response to a civil suit filed by the family of Ellis Athanas III, who allegedly was kidnapped and held for ransom by Blake and Caleb Laubinger and Smith.
Autrey granted Safeco's request, finding that "there is no coverage under the policy for the claims against the Laubingers and Smith"
The judgment comes in response to the alleged November 2016 kidnapping of Ellis Athanas III. According to the ruling, the three defendants allegedly agreed to kidnap Athanas from his St. Louis home, then tortured him demanding ransom from his family. The ruling states the men "beat him, bound his hands, and then took him by force and against his will to the home of Blake Laubinger."
They then "took Ellis Athanas III, by force and against his will, to property owned by Todd Beckman, where they confined him in an empty shipping container," the ruling states.
The men allegedly contacted his son, Ellis Athanas Jr., by telephone and demanded a ransom for his release. All three men later pleaded guilty to criminal charges. Smith has already served his sentence while the Laubingers remain in jail serving their sentence, the ruling states.
In response, Athanas III's family filed a civil suit against the men.
"Safeco maintains that by the unambiguous terms of the insurance policies at issue, there is no coverage," the ruling states.
Autrey found that "... coverage is excluded by the violation of criminal law exclusion. ... Moreover, another exclusion in the policy excludes from coverage bodily injury for physical, mental or sexual abuse. The cause of the harm alleged in the petition arose from the alleged physical abuse of Athanas III."