Accused murderer sues his victims
By PAUL MILLER
Published: June 15, 2007
JOHN KENNEY is accused of shooting his neighbors to death. But Mel and Elizabeth Grimes, who lived next door, owe him at least $25,000 in damages for an incident that occurred 18 months before the murders.
That’s the claim made in a lawsuit filed in Monterey County Superior Court Monday. The suit could be the first time a person awaiting trial on murder charges has sued his alleged victims, legal experts say.
According to Kenney, Mel and Elizabeth Grimes caused him “pain and suffering, disability and severe emotional distress” by assaulting him and trespassing on his property at 80 Southbank Road in Carmel Valley. When Kenney photographed Mel Grimes during a trespassing incident in June 2005, Elizabeth Grimes “grabbed the camera and with great force repeatedly yanked on it” until the strap, which was around Kenney’s neck, broke, the lawsuit says.
These actions were part of an effort by the couple to “vex, annoy and harass” him and were done out of a conscious sense of “ill will and spite,” Kenney maintains.
The suit makes no mention of the murder charges. It also does not mention that the Grimes’ are dead.
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