A Topeka attorney has filed letters with five different agencies seeking $1 million in damages for the family of a convicted killer who died in March while at the El Dorado Correctional Facility.
Roger Hollister, 61, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Patricia Kimmi, 58, died shortly after noon March 20 at the prison.
Richard Benson, a Topeka attorney, sent the letters through certified mail in December.
The demand letters were sent to the Kansas Department of Corrections, the Nemaha County Attorney’s Office, the Atchison County Sheriff’s Office, the Kansas Bureau of Investigation and Correct Care Solutions LLC, which handles medical, dental and behavioral health services for inmates.
The demand letters are fashioned after a notice of claim, Benson said, meaning the attorney gave the recipients time to investigate before responding. Oftentimes, demand letters give recipients a small window of time to respond, such as 10 days. In this case, Benson gave recipients 30 days to respond.
The letters state the claimants are the estate of Roger Hollister, Hollister’s widow, Rebecca Hollister, of Topeka, and Jennifer M. Norman, the surviving daughter.
“Claimants are seeking $1,000,000 in damages,” the letters state. “If this claim in the amount of $1,000,000 is not satisfied or denied within 30 days, a lawsuit will be filed that will make every claim allowed under the law.”
An Atchison County jury found Hollister guilty of capital murder March 1, 2011. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole in April 2011.
Hollister’s wife, Rebecca, was charged in March 2013 in Nemaha County with aiding a felon. The complaint alleged that between the day Kimmi went missing and the day Roger Hollister was convicted, Rebecca Hollister aided her husband with the intent to avoid arrest, trial, conviction or punishment for the conviction of a felony. Those charges were dismissed in June.
The demand letter states that former Atchison County Undersheriff Larry Myer and retired KBI special agent Bill Delaney took Rebecca Hollister from her home in Topeka to the Nemaha County Jail.
“While transporting Mrs. Hollister to Seneca, Undersheriff Myer and senior special agent Delaney were quite aggressive and visibly angry,” the letter states. “They were very loudly in Mrs. Hollister’s face, telling her how much trouble she was in, and insisting that the only thing she could do to alleviate harsh consequences would be to telephone Mr. Hollister and tell them she was in big trouble and very insistently, aggressively, and loudly tell him that the only way out for her would be for him to withdraw his appeal.”
Roger Hollister’s appeal is scheduled for oral argument at the Kansas Supreme Court on Jan. 31.
The letter also outlines, based on 10 inmates’ sworn statements, what happened the day Roger Hollister died. It states that on March 17, Hollister was having trouble breathing and trouble walking. He was admitted to the infirmary for observation and treatment. Hollister was kept overnight and was sent back to his unit in a wheelchair.
The letter states that Hollister was still in “a great deal of pain” on March 18 and 19. Hollister was found “in a crumple on the concrete floor of his cell adjacent to the toilet,” on March 19. He was taken to the clinic, where he was told there was nothing else that could be done for his pain.
“Mr. Hollister was returned to L Unit — Pod 2, still having trouble breathing, still in pain, and still unable to walk,” the letter states.
Hollister again was taken to the clinic the morning he died and “personnel refuse to even see him at all,” the letter states. Inmates tried to let DOC staff members know what was happening. Later that day, Hollister was once again wheeled to the clinic, where at first he was “again turned away.” An inmate who had assisted Hollister to the clinic refused to wheel Hollister back to the unit.
“A clinic staffer finally tilted Mr. Hollister’s head back, and freaked out,” the letter states. “Mr. Hollister had died in front of the three health care providers after he and other inmates had begged them all morning long for help.”
Benson’s next step will depend upon the actions of the recipients of the letters, he said.
“I would like Mr. Hollister’s survivors to be compensated in some way,” Benson said.
should be given to Kimmi's family, instead, on the odd chance it is awarded.
It's funny how criminals have this demeanor about them. You know, the kind that they are above the law, no regret for their crimes, are big ole thugs with no feelings... cold to the world. BUT, they are the first to cry baby when bad things happen to them! What? Thought you all were HARD.. Thought you all were ABOVE the law.
Now they want some kind of compensation? Really? How about getting off on aiding a fugitive. How about getting off on murder? How about we just don't give a d**n what you want??!!!
They should be disqualified to get any compensation due to the circumstances as to why Mr. Hollister got to where he was to begin with. As far as the staff is concerned, they should most likely look over or their protocols to see what could have been or should have been done differently.
Karma.
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Lawsuit tossed out, hopefully.
for his worthless hide?
“I would like Mr. Hollister’s survivors to be compensated in some way”?
Well then, get right on that, richie, but leave the rest of us out of it!
And while he's at it, he should definitely get fair and proper compensation
for Patricia Kimmi and her children!
Don't you just LOVE that?!?
Hey, this guy means BUSINESS!!
I'm shaking and quaking in fear!!!
Cannot imagine this lawsuit going anywhere.
Sounds like the attorney knew where this is going to go from the beginning but is going through the process "just in case".
I think the wife was already compensated by not being tried as an accessory to the crime, apparently, before she died. The rest of the family is just looking for an easy payday, at the cost of Mrs. Kimmi's life. Kind of like the lottery....you can't win unless you buy a ticket!
If they do get money for this, it should be awarded to the murdered woman's family.
Opinionated Pinhead, Rebecca Hollister, I believe is still alive. She was the one not tried as an accessory because of the murderer's death. Obviously she was not pleased with not having to owe up to her part of anything and wants compensation for her husband not having to serve a longer time to fulfill a life sentence. Guess if tax payers didn't have to pay more to keep him she wants any savings there might be.
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would be served by figuring the average life expectancy of a lifer Mr. Hollister's age. Then the cost of imprisonment for those years .Now since Karma has saved the state of Kansas this amount of money, send the sum to the Kimmi family.
The Hollister's deserve zilch.
According to the complaint, three medical personnel failed to notice that their patient, whom they tried to send back to his cell, was in fact already dead.
Is this the quality of medical care you want yourself or your family to experience?
Remember, these folks are not just licensed to work in prisons; they can and do take jobs in the civilian world. They might be the nurse you see the next time you seek care; they might be the people taking care of your parents in the nursing home, or working as a school nurse.
The fastest way to get to an administrator's heart is through his wallet: a slap on the wrist for tolerating this level of incompetence or disinterest means little, but having to explain to the boss why the boss's money has to be paid to somebody else tends to get a little more attention.
If we tolerate shoddy and incompetent medical care for anybody (good guy, bad guy, *anybody*), we are no better than the thugs who don't give a rat's posterior about others. Hollister was not one of the good guys, but allowing him to die merely because some nurse couldn't be bothered to do his/her job doesn't make us good guys.
I think what we are saying is that the family deserves no compensation. If awarded it needs to go to his victims family. No one said anything about the conduct of the medical personnel. I think that is because we all were taken back by the lawsuit. Yes, things weren't handled professionally. So why not fire, suspend w/o pay.. something along those lines.
The Kimmi family should file against the Hollister family, estate, etc so any awards received can possibly go to the Kimmi's. Don't know the options but it's hard to say we think they deserve anything when they took the life of someone else and got away with it and/or other charges. Soo..... just not feeling much for these folks, sorry.
Slash I don't think we are missing any point here at all.
While I think it is wrong and something needs to be done to make sure inmates get the medical treatment I would at least make sure my pets received, I don't think the family of a person that probably ground up or sawed up a neighbor should be given one red cent let alone a million dollars for DAMAGES.
Do what ever to the people involved in removing them as employees. But costing Kansas tax payers more money then this convicted murderer cost us with his behavior getting him to prison is not going to correct anything either.
The real point is if you want medical treatment and every thing you could get outside of prison then don't do things to get you put in prison.
Relatives of the victim simply have no standing to bring an action for damages. The only people who have the right to petition the court are Hollister's heirs. If they don't ask for damages, nobody else can ask. (This is the same rule that says I can't sue for something that happens to you, because I'm not you and not related to you.) Patricia Kimmi's heirs were not *further* injured by Hollister's death, so any action they bring would be thrown out immediately.*
Hollister's heirs, however, have no incentive to bring an action where they derive no benefit.
If Hollister's family doesn't sue, and Kimmi's family can't sue, what's left? The folks at Correct Care Solutions certainly have zero incentive to admit if they hire lazy, incompetent, or shiftless employees; the Dept of Corrections has no compulsion to tell the world they don't supervise their contractors. Absent a lawsuit or some other substantial outside influence, there will be no investigation or suspension of anyone. Any malpractice would be swept under the rug, and who does that serve?
*The only way the Kimmi family could obtain anything would be if they had a judgement against Hollister or his estate, and could collect that judgement against anything paid to the estate in this lawsuit. However, that ship has likely already sailed; if they don't have a judgement already, I think the statute of limitations has run out.
Definitely what I am thinking too. His life wasn't worth 1 million. Was it worth it to his family? I don't think he thought so otherwise he wouldn't have chosen to be a cold blooded murderer, you know?!!
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