Ex-Engineer Gets Life in Prison for Wife's Poisoning Death

A former nuclear engineer was ordered Friday to spend the rest of his life in prison, with no possibility of parole, for the financially motivated 1994 poisoning death of his wife in San Clemente.

Paul Marshal Curry, 58, was convicted Sept. 30 of first-degree murder and insurance fraud, and jurors found true special circumstance allegations of killing for financial gain and murder by poisoning.

Orange County Superior Court Judge Patrick Donahue ordered Curry to pay his sister-in-law, Patricia Rycraft, $424,538.75 -- the amount of insurance he collected on the victim.

Curry must also pay $116,198.42 to Southern California Edison for benefits he collected from the utility and $9,108 to State Farm insurance for a bogus theft claim on the victim's Rolex watch.

Curry met his wife -- he was 13 years her junior -- in 1989 while both were working at the San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station in northern San Diego County, which is part-owner of the now-shuttered plant. After Linda Curry's June 9, 1994, death, the defendant collected $547,695 in life insurance and other benefits, Assistant District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh said.

One of the victim's best friends told Donahue how much she misses her shopping and dining companion and, referring to Curry, said she "never had a doubt who could do such a horrific thing to such a sweet soul."

Even after all these years, Merry Seabold, who worked with the victim at San Onofre, said she feels "angry and torn up inside" that Curry "enjoyed the luxury of Linda."

Seabold said she and Linda were "like sisters who never fought." The victim was her "confidant" when she was having marital problems, Seabold said, adding she wishes she could have returned the favor.

"My greatest sadness is Linda did not let me dote on her when I was positive she was being slowly poisoned by her husband," Seabold said. "If only she had taken up my offer to let me be a big sis to her."

The victim's niece said her family "tolerated'' Curry, who "thought highly of himself."

Rickianne Rycraft said she suspected, like many others, that her aunt was ``dying by inches'' at the hands of her husband.

The victim's "fatal flaw" was being too trusting, Rycraft said.

"She always gave everyone the benefit of the doubt," Rycraft said.

"She was taught and believed that everyone had a conscience and a heart." Rycraft added, "We lost Linda 20 years ago. She was priceless to us ... We are forever damaged by that loss."

Curry's attorney, Lisa Kopelman, told jurors that his client's late wife suffered from a variety of maladies such as chronic fatigue syndrome, anxiety, depression and stomach pain.

Baytieh countered that the victim herself pointed to her husband as the likely culprit during one of her multiple trips to hospitals to determine what was ailing her.

"Well, the only person I could think of that would do it would be Paul, and the only motive I can think of is money," Linda Curry told investigators, according to Baytieh.

She told investigators her husband was acting "sneaky" and that the two had not had sex since they were married, the prosecutor said.

During one hospital stay, the victim nearly died and there was evidence that her IV bag had been tampered with, Baytieh said, but the defendant was emailing their friends that she was receiving good medical care.

The prosecutor also pointed to the testimony of Curry's wife prior to his marriage to Linda.

"She started getting sick, they can't tell what's wrong, she can barely get out of bed and then he says, 'Hey, honey, let's get some life insurance policies,' Baytieh told the jury. "He gets accepted, she gets rejected and shortly after that he leaves her, and quickly after that she's fine. That's his M.O., his plan, his scheme. She got lucky because she got rejected."

Copyright CNS - City News Service
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