Medical Expert: Daniel Kerrigan May Have Had A "Defective Angina Warning System"

With the defense wrapping up its case Friday morning, closing arguments in the Mark Kerrigan manslaughter trial begin Monday in Middlesex County Superior Court in Woburn.

Mark Kerrigan, 46, of Stoneham, is on trial for involuntary manslaughter and assault and battery on a person over 60. He is accused of causing the death of his 70-year-old father Daniel Kerrigan at the family's home in Stoneham.

Olympic figure skater and Lynnfield resident Nancy Kerrigan, who did not testify during the trial, sat with family members behind her brother, Mark Kerrigan, Friday and have attended all the court proceedings. The figure skater had a close call Thursday afternoon leaving the courthouse, as she was involved in a .

The final witness for the defense Friday was Dr. Warren Manning, a cardiologist who works at Beth Deaconess Medical Center. During his testimony, he claimed that Daniel Kerrigan's heart was ischemic (e.g. a condition when the muscle of the heart does not get enough blood) as a result of waking up during the middle of the night because his son was making noise, putting pants on, going downstairs and getting upset prior to the physical altercation with Mark Kerrigan and that combination of factors led to his heart failure.

"Ischemia can be life-threatening so if you have prolonged ischemia... then that itself can precipitate a heart attack... or an arrhythmia," Manning said. "Because the heart's not getting enough blood, the metabolites build up and then you can precipitate an irregular rhythm."

Manning said that most people have angina or chest pain during ischemia, and in 2002 Daniel Kerrigan did experience some chest pain which led to his 2003 treadmill stress test. However, "he subsequently never complained of chest pain again," Manning said, which he believes could have been attributed to "a defective anginal warning system."

A defective anginal warning system is "when the heart isn't getting enough blood, they don't have a cessation that that's happening in their chest so they don't know when they have to stop, they don't know to slow down, they don't know to take nitroglycerin... those are the most concerning patients because they have no warning system," Manning said, adding that older people and diabetics are two types of people at risk for developing such a condition.

During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Keeley asked Manning if he review the Stoneham Police Department reports about the physical altercation between Mark Kerrigan and Daniel Kerrigan, to which he replied, "I don't recall seeing the police report."

The prosecution claims that it was the struggle between a drunken Daniel Kerrigan and Mark Kerrigan that caused the onset of heart failure in the elder Kerrigan. 

Police officers have testified that Mark Kerrigan allegedly told them he grabbed Daniel Kerrigan around the throat, and medical experts for the prosecution have provided testimony that Daniel Kerrigan suffered a small cartilage fracture in the left side of his larynx.

The jury is expected to begin deliberations after closing statements, which could be as soon as Monday.