Thomas vs. Ford Motor Company
Represented Ford Motor Company successfully in the defense of a product liability action. The case became nationally known and resulted in a book (Cape May Courthouse: A Death in the Night) by New York Times best-selling author Lawrence Schiller, author of American Tragedy, Perfect Murder Perfect Town, and Into the Mirror. The defense of this matter resulted in the plaintiff withdrawing all claims without any form of compensation.
Update – Thomas v Ford Motor
A Cape May County dentist who is embroiled in a legal battle with the Ford Motor Co. over the death of his first wife has acknowledged that he was having an affair at the time his wife was found dead at the wheel of their 1996 Ford Explorer, according to court documents filed yesterday.
The admission by the dentist, Eric V. Thomas, came during a new round of depositions sought by Ford’s attorneys, who have transformed the product-liability case into a murder investigation by casting suspicion on the dentist.
The Ford attorneys contend that Tracy Rose Thomas, who was six months pregnant, died of “manual strangulation” – not, as Eric Thomas alleges in a federal lawsuit, from injuries caused by the air bag that deployed when the Explorer struck a utility pole in Cape May County in February 1997…
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“I can honestly tell you that I did not kill my wife,” Thomas said in an interview with The Inquirer in September.
Ford attorneys said that Tracy Thomas’ injuries, which included tiny hemorrhages in her eyes, were consistent with strangulation and that the air bag would not have caused such injuries…
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“I decided to admit to the private affair with Stephanie . . . because it seemed that a big deal was made of something that was irrelevant to the case,” Thomas said in the deposition.
Stephanie Thomas also acknowledged the relationship in a deposition the next day. During questioning by Ford attorney Glenn Zeitz, she said Thomas had made it “clear that he was not going to leave Tracy.”
The Story Continues
C A M D E N, N.J., Oct. 26 — It began as a product liability lawsuit by adentist who claims his pregnant wife was killed by a deploying airbag. But the case has since taken a new twist, bolstered byallegations of adultery, conflicting medical reports and suspicioustelephone records.
Now, the prosecutor’s office has reopened the investigation intoher death.
Dr. Eric Thomas, of Cape May County, maintains his first wife,Tracy, was killed by a deploying air bag when she drove their FordExplorer into a pole on a snowy night in 1997. He has sued FordMotor Co., alleging wrongful death.
But the automaker, citing forensic experts the company hired forthe case, contends Tracy Thomas, 37, was strangled.
Ford: Evidence of Affair
Ford alleges the 35-year-old New Jersey dentist was having anaffair at the time of his wife’s death. Company lawyers William J.Conroy and Glenn A. Zeitz say telephone records show Thomasreceived more than 140 calls from his high-school sweetheart inAustin, Texas, in the three months before his wife died Feb. 9,1997. At least seven of the calls came the day of the accident, thelawyers say.
Eric Thomas married Stephanie Arrington, 34, a year and a halflater.
Urged by Tracy Thomas’ family, prosecutors reopened theinvestigation last week, when the phone records came to light.Acting Prosecutor David Blaker said he wants to review the records.
Suspicious Behavior
According to court records, Eric Thomas’ actions after hiswife’s death caused her parents to become suspicious. He had askedthem not to talk about Tracy and to take down any photographs ofher when the couple’s daughter, Alix, went to visit them at theirhome on Cape Cod, Mass.
Ford’s lawyers have asked U.S. Magistrate Joel B. Rosen to letthem re-interview Thomas. But his lawyers on Wednesday asked thejudge for more time, saying they needed to review records.
“It’s a large case, there are a lot of documents,” said JohnEastlack, one of Thomas’ lawyers.
