wfn.org | Settlement Excused by Court

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"UNITED METHODIST DAILY NEWS" by SUSAN PEEK on Aug. 11, 1991 at 13:58 Eastern,
about FULL TEXT RELEASES FROM UNITED METHODIST NEWS SERVICE (3425 notes).

Note 3423 by UMNS on Feb. 10, 1997 at 16:30 Eastern (2194 characters).

SEARCH: Walker Railey, Peggy Railey, assault, coma, agreement 
Produced by United Methodist News Service, official news agency of
the United Methodist Church, with offices in Nashville, Tenn., New
York, and Washington.

CONTACT:  Ralph E. Baker                       69(10-21-71B){3423}
          Nashville, Tenn.  (615) 742-5470           Feb. 10, 1997

Court approved settlement excused
Railey from paying $18 million

                 by United Methodist News Service

     The multi-million-dollar civil judgement against a former
Dallas United Methodist minister, accused of attempting to kill
his wife, was dismissed after an agreement was reached between the
parties in the case.
     According to an account in the New York Times, dated Feb. 9,
under a court agreement, Walker Railey was excused from paying $18
million awarded in a civil action to the family of his wife Peggy,
who lies in a permanent vegetative state in a Texas nursing home. 
The judgement was endangered when Railey was granted bankruptcy by
a Los Angeles court.
     Peggy Railey was found choked and left comatose in the garage
of the family's east Dallas home about 10 p.m. April 22, 1987. 
Railey, then pastor of Dallas' First United Methodist Church, one
of the largest congregations in the denomination, was accused of
the assault, but acquitted in a 1993 trial when the prosecution
failed to prove guilt beyond the shadow of a doubt.
     According to the recent agreement, Railey will get the
divorce from Peggy he sought in 1990.  Twice a month for 20 years
he will write a $168.50 alimony check to Mrs. Railey.
     The Times article quotes Peggy Railey's brother and legal
guardian, Ted Nicolai, as saying, "It will be some small
satisfaction that he [Railey] will have to remember Peggy at least
twice a month."
     Railey withdrew from the United Methodist ministry under
pressure a few months after the assault, having admitted to an
affair with the daughter of a former United Methodist bishop, and
moved to California.  An Arkansas couple adopted the Railey
children who were 2 and 5 at the time their mother was attacked.
                              #  #  #

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