Nurse Who Found Bodies Sues Estate

A home health nurse who discovered the bodies of a Minnesota businessman and his wife in a murder-suicide case is suing their estate and seeking damages for emotional trauma. Lisa Ann Hayes walked in on a grisly scene in April 2019 at the Lake Minnetonka mansion of Irwin and Alexandra Jacobs. Irwin Jacobs had fatally shot his wife and then himself, the AP reports. He was facing and financial troubles, according to investigators. Irwin once held a stake in the Minnesota Vikings and was a nationally known investor who made a fortune as a corporate raider in the 1980s and '90s.

Hayes' lawsuit seeks unspecified damages, claiming Irwin Jacobs' actions were injurious to her health and "constituted willful, wanton and malicious conduct." Jacobs family lawyer Steven Sitek called the lawsuit "a grotesque betrayal" by a once-trusted caregiver who was treated like family and an attempt at extortion. "Ms. Hayes threatened to publicly file her lawsuit filled with unnecessarily lurid and sensationalized details unless the estate paid her $12.5 million," he said in a statement. Hayes' attorney, Brian Stofferahn, said she has been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder by two doctors and has been unable to work since the killings.

(More post-traumatic stress disorder stories.)