Hanrahan v. Horn

The opinion of the court was delivered by The trial court granted summary judgment for the defendants on Mr. and Mrs. John Hanrahan's claims of slander, outrage, defamation of character, and invasion of privacy. This is an appeal from summary judgment. The sequence of events relevant to this action began on May 20, 1979, when twelve-year-old John Jack Hanrahan disappeared, having last been seen at Gage Bowl in Topeka. His body was found 10 days later and William R. Gautney was charged with murder. Almost 70 news stories appeared in Topeka newspapers through August. The names of the murdered boy's parents, appellants, or references to the Hanrahan family, were mentioned in virtually every story.