Bodee Peterson’s Parents File Claim Against Attorney’s Estate

Parents of a Hudson boy who died in a 2011 water skiing accident said they were cheated by their former attorney. 

When nine-year-old Bodee Peterson died following an accident on Eagle Lake in Evansdale, attorney David Alan Roth represented the child’s estate to settle claims with the Waterhawks ski team.  Now, the parents claim Roth misled them regarding the amount of settlement and subsequently kept most of the money. 

Roth committed suicide in September, and last Thursday Bodee’s father, Ryan Peterson, filed $794,900 in claims in Roth’s estate. 

According to the claim, the ski team settled for $600,000, however, Roth told the family the settlement was for $750,000.  Of that, $44,900 was to be placed in conservatorships for the boy’s brother and sister until they turned 18.  Roth indicated he would purchase annuities for structured settlements to fund the conservatorships.  “No annuity or structured settlement was ever purchased, and David A. Roth has misappropriated the funds that were to be paid to the siblings.”  Furthermore, much of the money that was to go to Bodee’s estate is unaccounted for. 

See Jeff Reinitz, Bodee Peterson’s Parents File Claim Against Roth Estate, WCF Courier, Feb. 8, 2015.