Judge throws out $22 million wrongful death claim against woman

<p>A Troup County judge has thrown out a $22 million claim for wrongful death and fraud against a woman convicted for the 1987 death of her former boyfriend.</p><p>Superior Court Judge Allen Keeble threw out the claim against Connie King Quedens, saying the claim was barred by a two-year statute of limitations. Quedens, 61, is serving a life sentence in prison for the killing of Fred Wilkerson of LaGrange.</p><p>Prosecutors said Quedens lured Wilkerson to her home in November 1987, shot him in the head and then dumped his body in a well near her house. She was arrested when Wilkerson's skeletal remains were found nearly 16 years later, in September 2003.</p><p>But Keeble let stand a claim under Georgia's Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act, saying there were "genuine issues of material fact remaining."</p><p>Six days after Wilkerson's body was found, his son, Tim, and daughter, Tracie Campbell, filed the lawsuit against Quedens and her husband, Gary, seeking $22 million in damages for wrongful death and fraud. The suit was amended to include a claim under Georgias Racketeer Influenced Corrupt Organizations Act.</p><p>LaGrange attorney Peter Alford, who represents Wilkerson's family, said the judge granted a certificate of immediate review by the Georgia Court of Appeals.</p><p>The RICO claim alleges that the Quedens couple and possibly others conspired to kill Wilkerson so they could steal his 14-acre property on Ware's Cross Road. It says Wilkerson had been duped into signing over the property to Gary and Connie Quedens and was killed because he filed a lawsuit challenging the title transfer.</p><p>"We contend (Gary Quedens) has always been part of the disappearance and death of Mr. Wilkerson, and now we'll let a jury decide whether he was," Alford said.</p><p>Gary Quedens, who denies any participation in the murder, testified against his ex-wife at the murder trial in November 2004 after he was granted immunity from prosecution.</p><p>He had been charged with tampering with evidence for selling a Walther PPK .38-caliber pistol he had found cocked and loaded in the basement of the house on Ware's Cross Road on Nov. 29, 1987. He believes Connie Quedens tried to frame him by leaving the pistol in the basement for him to find and get his fingerprints on.</p><p>Alford contends the statute of limitations shouldn't have started until "we knew a homicide had been committed and thats when they found the body."</p><p>"How were we to know it was homicide?" Alford said. "People were saying they saw him in California and Texas. How can you prosecute a wrongful-death claim until you have a body?"</p><p>Defense attorneys argued the suit should have been filed within two years after May 24, 1994, when then-Probate Judge Gwen Prescott issued an order establishing a presumption of death because Wilkerson had been missing more than seven years.</p><p>In criminal law, theres no statute of limitations for murder. Alford said it should be that way in a civil case, although "clearly that's not what the law says."</p><p>The appeal could be groundbreaking because the suit "could change the law in Georgia. Its such an injustice that it screams for the Court of Appeals to fix it," Alford said.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x1cdc5d0)</p>