During opening statements, their lawyer requested the family leave the courtroom before she described the gruesome details of the death.
The family of a newlywed who was beheaded by a swinging gate at Arches National Park is suing for $140 million in damages, which their attorney said is the largest federal award ever asked.as she and her husband of three months drove out of the park, in southern Utah. As they passed a gate near the visitor center, the wind blew it closed across the road; it smashed into the passenger side of the car, decapitating the young woman.
Federal attorneys do not dispute that park officials shoulder some blame, but they argue that the amount the family is seeking is excessive. Attorney Randi McGinn, representing Nakajjigo’s family, suggested the young woman would have gone on to become a non-profit CEO who could eventually have netted an annual income in the hundreds of thousands of dollars — or millions.
She moved to Boulder, Colorado, to attend the Watson Institute, a program for young entrepreneurs and innovators. In Colorado, she met Michaud, who had moved there from France. The pair married in March 2020; the trip to Utah was their COVID-delayed honeymoon.
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