RALEIGH, N.C. — Nortel Networks defends paying out death benefits to Mike Peterson. The Research Triangle Park firm paid out close to $400,000 in benefits to the Durham novelist after his wife was murdered.
Kathleen Peterson was an executive at Nortel. Her daughter, Caitlin Atwater, filed suit last spring to try and recover the money.
Atwater claims the company paid out the benefits after Peterson was indicted on murder charges and therefore he was not entitled to the money. Nortel said it did nothing wrong.
Peterson is serving a life sentence for killing his wife.
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