Pension Fund Wants to|Know If It Must Pay Killer

CHICAGO (CN) — A union pension fund asked for court guidance as to whether it must pay survivor's benefits to a wife who stabbed her husband to death, or to their child.

Anka Miscevic killed her husband Zeljko in 2014 by stabbing him in the chest while he was sleeping, then hitting him in the head with a bat when he tried to call 911, according to court records.

She was found not guilty by reason of insanity after a psychological evaluation found she was driven by delusional thoughts to kill her husband, whom she believed was a secret agent planning to kill her and her son. Her imagined plot reportedly involved the FBI, CIA, and Italian Mafia.

Miscevic contacted the police 13 times between 2009 and 2013 about her husband and others she thought were planning to harm her, according to a Daily Herald report. She had been diagnosed with a delusional disorder before she killed her husband, but took her medication irregularly.

Zeljko was a union laborer with vested rights in a union pension plan, but had not begun taking his monthly annuity at the time he died.

Federal law provides that when a participant dies, their spouse shall receive the annuity instead, or absent a surviving spouse, their child shall receive the benefits.

However, "the fund's governing documents do not specifically address whether a claimant who intentionally kills a participant is entitled to a benefit from the fund," the Laborers' Pension Fund says in an interpleader lawsuit filed Friday.

Miscevic applied for a surviving spouse pension, which would pay her $3,595 per month until her death.

However, her child's guardian also applied to the fund for a minor child benefit, which would pay $3,772 per month until his 21st birthday.

The fund asked the Northern Illinois Federal Court to "require Anka and the Estate [of M.M.] to interplead and settle between themselves the question of what benefits the Fund should pay to either Anka or the Estate."

It is represented by Jeremy M. Barr with Dowd, Bloch, Bennett, Cervone, Auerbach & Yokich in Chicago.

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