DOYLESTOWN, Pa. – A man charged with his wife with taking part in a multimillion-dollar insurance scam amid a series of mansion fires and repeated reports of jewelry theft has committed suicide.
Bucks County coroner Dr. Joseph Campbell says an autopsy Friday shows Tom French died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head. Campbell says French was found Thursday in his vehicle in the driveway of his home in Doylestown, an hour's drive north of Philadelphia.
French and his fundraiser wife, Claire Risoldi, and others were charged Jan. 22 by the state attorney general's office following the third fire in five years at their mansion.
Prosecutors say the family financed a luxurious lifestyle with more than $20 million in fraudulent insurance claims.
Lawyers for the family say they'll fight the charges.
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