Homicide ruling in Ukiah woman's death roils family

For almost two years Linda Puls has struggled to cope with her sister's death, which she had believed was accidental.

Now, she must come to grips with a new reality: The death of her sister, prominent and much beloved Ukiah resident Susan Keegan, has been deemed a homicide.

"That's pretty shocking. We're being asked to now accept what's unthinkable. What in normal terms would be unimaginable," Puls said.

Mendocino County Sheriff's officials this week announced they had classified the death as a homicide but did not name a suspect. It had been listed as inconclusive since Keegan's death was reported the morning of Nov. 11, 2010 by her physician husband, Peter Keegan. He told authorities he found her on the bathroom floor, bloodied by an apparently accidental fall.

The couple was going through a bitter divorce, but living in the same home, according to friends and family. Their two grown sons live outside the county.Peter Keegan has declined to comment on the new death classification.

The original autopsy results, released Tuesday, concluded Susan Keegan, 55, had died from inhaling vomit, caused by blunt force trauma to the head. She also had high levels of alcohol and hydrocodone in her system.

Puls, a nurse in Atlanta, said she was notified a month ago about the Sheriff's Office decision. She's still struggling to digest the information.

"It was much easier to accept an accidental death," Puls said.

But many of Susan Keegan's friends and other family members never believed Keegan's death was accidental. They are hopeful justice will be done now that the death is officially categorized as a homicide.

"We just want to know the truth," said Mary Pierce of Santa Rosa, a close friend of Keegan's. Keegan had visited Pierce the night before she died, seeking advice on the financial aspects of her impending divorce.

"For us to get news she stumbled in the bathroom, it just didn't make sense," Pierce said. She said Keegan had one glass of wine with dinner, a typical amount for her to consume.

She and Keegan's other friends and family members said they had never seen her intoxicated. "It's not her," Puls said.

"The story just seemed too unlikely," said Keegan's cousin, Karyn Feiden, a New York freelance medical writer and author. "I did not believe Susan Keegan's death was an accident."

She was among those who stayed in contact with law enforcement officials, urging on their investigation.

Mendocino County District Attorney Office investigators have been helpful, Feiden said.

Puls said she was not altogether unprepared for the homicide ruling. As she learned more about her sister's death, she said it seemed increasingly odd for an accident.

Her sister was level-headed, intellectual, self-sufficient and had a strong, supportive group of friends. She was not the type to fall apart over a divorce and start consuming excess amounts of alcohol or drugs, Puls said. "It did not make sense," she said. Nevertheless, she's still reeling from the homicide ruling. "It's like being in a bad, B-rated, made-for-TV movie and not being able to wake up from it," she said.

You can reach Staff Writer Glenda Anderson at 462-6473 or Glenda.anderson@pressdemocrat.com.