Nancy Kerrigan’s father dies, brother arrested for assault

Daniel Kerrigan, 70, father of Olympic silver medalist Nancy Kerrigan, has died in Stoneham, Massachusetts.

Kerrigan’s brother, 45-year-old Mark Kerrigan, has been arrested on a count of assault and battery on a person over 60 following his father’s death. Nancy Kerrigan’s mother, clearly distraught, spoke to press this morning about the incident during which her husband suffered a “massive heart attack” and subsequently died, and the Boston Herald quoted a police report describing the alleged assault:

A five-page police report of the alleged assault at the Kerrigan Cedar Avenue home in Stoneham states both father and son were yelling and pushing “back and forth” until the elder Kerrigan fell over.

The police report states Brenda Kerrigan told police the two men were battling until her husband fell. Police also report Mark Kerrigan put his “hands around his father’s neck” and he said he thought his dad was “faking it” when he fell to the floor.

Mark Kerrigan had to be subdued with pepper spray, the police report states. He also appeared intoxicated, the report adds.

Kerrigan is perhaps best known for the attack on her by rival Tonya Harding’s camp in 1992. She later went on to take the silver medal in women’s figure skating.