DES MOINES, Iowa -- An out-of-court settlement was reached Tuesday in the $24 million civil suit over the deaths of two boys who were killed three years ago when 25,000 pounds of dynamite exploded in a central Iowa bunker.
Lawyers for the families of Jeffrey Wadell, 13, and Clint Woodard, 14, said their clients were satisfied with the settlement. All parties involved have agreed not to disclose the amount, they said.
Mark Pennington, one of the lawyers representing the two families, said the settlement protects his clients from the 'gruesome' task of reliving the accident. Testimony in the trial was to have begun Wednesday.
'They would have had to go through the whole thing again -- what happened, how the boys were blown apart, that sort of thing,' Pennington said. 'It would have been very painful and it's just as well the trial was ended this way.'
The families had filed suit against Polk County, Laverty Supply of Indiana, owner of the dynamite, and Hercules Inc. of Delaware, owner of the bunker and the land it was on.
The two firms were accused of negligence in the care and maintenance of the bunker and dynamite. Polk County was cited for allegedly failing to inspect the bunkers.
Pennington said if the trial had proceeded as planned, it probably would have lasted at least eight weeks. Jury selection alone took a full two days because District Judge Joel Novak had trouble finding potential jurors who had not heard pre-trial publicity about the case, Pennington said.
Chester Woodburn, a Polk County defense lawyer, said all the attorneys involved were prepared for the trial, but 'the opportunity for settlement that arose (Tuesday) afternoon was the best thing for everybody involved.
'It would have been a long trial and a painful trial,' he said. 'It wouldn't have been a pleasant experience for anybody.'
Waddell and Woodard had been hunting in a wooded area near the concrete bunker in Pleasant Hill on Nov. 19, 1983, when one of the youths allegedly fired a shotgun blast into the door of the structure, triggering an explosion that damaged more than 40 homes.
The blast also sent shock waves that could be felt in Marshalltown, nearly 50 miles away, and knocked some homes off their foundations.
No trace of the boys' bodies was found, but pieces of their clothing were recovered.
Waddell's parents were seeking $14 million and Woodard's parents $10.6 million. Dozens of Pleasant Hill homeowners filed separate property-damage suits.
