Utah Nurse Charged with Murder in Alleged Life Insurance Scheme
By David K. Li
A Utah nurse has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder and obstruction of justice in connection with the death of a friend who she allegedly tricked into believing she had cancer so the nurse could collect on a life insurance payout.
Meggan Randall Sundwall, 47, was taken into custody Thursday following the death of 38-year-old Kacee Lyn Terry on August 15. Emergency responders found Terry unconscious and struggling to breathe at her Highland, Utah, home three days prior, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The medical examiner determined that Terry died from an overdose of insulin and the sedative promethazine. Importantly, Terry was not diabetic. Police stated that her blood-sugar level had plummeted to a dangerous low of 14; a level of 40 is considered dangerously low, they added. Sundwall, a licensed registered nurse, was aware that administering insulin to a non-diabetic individual would be fatal, the affidavit alleged.
Authorities allege that Sundwall orchestrated a years-long scheme to convince Terry she had cancer, thus allowing Sundwall to administer medication. Investigators uncovered evidence suggesting that Sundwall was struggling financially and desired to cash in on a life insurance policy.
“Sundwall believed she was the beneficiary of a rumored $1.5 million life insurance policy held by Kacee,” the affidavit stated.
Text messages between Terry and Sundwall, dating back to December 2019, indicated that Terry believed she was seriously ill. In the text exchanges, Sundwall provided various ways she could “help” Terry die and also discussed how “Meggan’s money problems being solved by Kacee dying and Meggan receiving her life insurance payout,” according to court documents.
On the day first responders arrived at Terry’s home, Sundwall texted Terry at 9:47 a.m. saying: “Do you want to take some promethazine when I get there so that you are asleep when this is happening?” police said.
The two women were alone together in Terry’s home from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., police said. Terry’s uncle, Mark Farnsworth called 911 after he found his niece at her home on August 12 with Sundwall. Sundwall told her uncle “that Kacee had a DNR and she did not want to go to the hospital,” the affidavit said.
The uncle told police that Terry had “major, major health issues.” At the hospital, the victim’s sisters said Terry “had terminal cancer for 4-5 years but had been doing better,” according to the affidavit.
However, Terry was in perfect health. The affidavit plainly stated that she had “no cancer and no health problems.”
Sundwall was being held at the Utah County Jail as of Friday. It was not clear if she had hired or been assigned a criminal defense lawyer. Sundwall’s home landline and her husband’s cell phone went unanswered. The affidavit contained no proof indicating that Terry had taken out a life insurance policy with Sundwall as the beneficiary. The affidavit also noted, “A DNR was never located and there was no paperwork designating Meggan power of attorney.”
Highland is a city approximately 30 miles south of Salt Lake City and 18 miles northwest of Provo.
