Ukiah doctor suspected in wife’s death dies of cancer

Who killed Susan Keegan? The world may never know.

A Mendocino County judge on Friday dismissed the case against the only suspect, Susan Keegan’s husband, prominent Ukiah doctor Peter Keegan, after the man died of bladder cancer last month.

Keegan, 65, was indicted by a grand jury in August, nearly seven years after his wife was found dead in a bathroom in their Ukiah home.

Prosecutors believe Keegan bludgeoned her during an argument related to their pending divorce. Keegan maintained she fell and hit her head after a night of drinking and taking prescription drugs.

The case was set for trial later this month. Keegan died Nov. 13.

His lawyer, Chris Andrian of Santa Rosa, said prosecutors knew Keegan had only six months to live when they pursued the case against him five years after the investigation was done. Now, Andrian said his client has to “go to his death under the cloud of a grand jury indictment.”

“It was a weak case,” Andrian said Friday. “It was prosecuted in a mean-spirited way to appease people who wanted to feel like justice was being done.”

District Attorney David Eyster did not return a call to his office Friday seeking comment.

His trial prosecutor, Tim Stoen, said the indictment was “just.” He was expected to argue detectives bungled the initial investigation and was to introduce photos of wounds consistent with bludgeoning and attempts to defend herself.

“It’s in God’s hands,” Stoen said. “What can I say? I was prepared to take the case to trial and this happened.”

Eyster spokesman Mike Geniella said prosecutors did not know of Keegan’s illness until grand jury proceedings were being arranged. The 19-member panel returned a murder indictment.

“So he got to tell his story and they indicted him anyway,” Geniella said. “Does that mean he’s guilty? No. But the public knows his story because he told it and it’s in the form of grand jury transcripts.”

For many years, Peter and Susan Keegan were Ukiah luminaries. He was a Harvard-educated doctor who expressed early support for medical marijuana. She was a popular college English teacher and community theater actor.

That changed suddenly on Nov. 11, 2010, when Peter Keegan called 911 to report he found his wife, 55, dead in the bathroom. At first, investigators concluded she’d died from a fall after drinking and taking painkillers.

But after learning the couple had been in a bitter divorce and reviewing forensic evidence, prosecutors reopened the case.

A key prosecution witness was Santa Rosa forensic pathologist, Jay Chapman, credited with developing the three-drug protocol for lethal injection.

They put the evidence before grand jurors, who handed down a murder indictment. Ever since, the town had been buzzing in anticipation of the trial.

Keegan, who was free on $300,000 bail, had been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. His condition worsened to the point where he attended pretrial hearings in a wheelchair, his head slumped over, and was unable to assist in his own defense, Andrian said.

Stoen countered that Keegan had testified “vigorously” to the grand jury.

In his 35 years as a family doctor, Keegan practiced out of a Ukiah office, at the Potter Valley Health Clinic and as the medical director of the Round Valley Indian Health Service Center in Covelo, according to his obituary.

Keegan is survived by his second wife, Elizabeth “Libby” Crawford, and two adult sons, Simon and Luke. His memorial service is 2 p.m. today at Ukiah Methodist Church.

You can reach Staff Writer Paul Payne at 707-521-5250 or paul.payne@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @ppayne.