Indiana Woman Found Guilty of Insurance Fraud and Murder

Tami Duvall was accused of murdering her husband back in August of 2007 by poisoning his dessert with morphine and muscle relaxants. The jury in her trial began deliberating at about 9am yesterday morning, the 10^th day of the trial, after hearing final instructions from the judge. Six hours later they had reached a decision.

According to The Republic, Duvall was found guilty on all counts; six counts of insurance fraud, three counts of obstruction of justice, and murder. All charges are felonies.

The 12-member jury, comprised of five men and seven women, believed the prosecutors, who alleged that Duvall poisoned a “dirt pudding” dessert that she served to her husband. Alan Duvall later died from a morphine overdose.

It is said that the reason for this murder was so she could collect on the $100,000 life insurance policy she bought for him a month before his death.

The instructions that the judge, Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Stephen Heimann, read to the jury included the charges against Duvall and the laws that pertain to the case. They also stated the basics of the charges, and that the jurors must determine whether the state proved the defendant’s knowledge and intent beyond a reasonable doubt. If they were unable to do so, the defendant needed to be found not guilty of the charges.

Several observers watched, including Alan Duvall’s cousin and one of his friends, both of whom testified in the trial.

Tami Duvall did not have any relatives that came to watch the trial, although her parents did come to hear the attorneys’ closing arguments.

According to an earlier article from The Republic, Duvall’s father and son were present to testify at the trial however.

Duvall’s son, Jannson Engleman, was called on to discuss her relationship with Alan.

Engleman said he heard from a younger sister that Tami Duvall talked about purchasing a life-insurance policy on her husband, which he found odd because they were separated at the time. When she called her son to tell him about Alan Duvall’s death, she seemed calm, but he could tell from her voice that she was upset.

At Alan Duvall’s memorial service, she also seemed upset, but at a dinner afterward she did not seem to take the memorial seriously.

Tami Duvall smiled widely when her son was called to the stand and seemed to pay close attention to his testimony.

Once Tami’s son was finished, it was time for her father to take the stand. He was asked about Duvall’s relationship with Alan, $25,000 he gave her after Alan’s death in 2007, and what Tami told him about the morning she found Alan dead in her backyard.

Her father, Lowell Smith, noted that Tami told him that Alan had foam coming out of his mouth when she found him on August 24, 2007. She also mentioned that she wiped the foam away, thus getting her charged with obstruction of justice.

He also stated that the $25,000 he gave her was because she told him she needed help with her home’s mortgage payments.

The jury was also played a videotaped interview with Bartholomew County Prosecutor Bill Nash, which he conducted with Duvall in October 2008. He is shown confronting her with evidence –which includes phone records– and tells her she has lied about how her husband died and what happened on the days surrounding his death.