A judge says a couple who bought a south side Ottawa house the month before the 2017 Naplate-Ottawa tornado aren’t liable for two lives lost when the storm knocked over a tree. Seventy-six year old Wayne Tuntland and 31-year old David A. Johnson died. Tuntland’s children, one of whom was Johnson’s husband, sued Joseph and Nicole Leslie, accusing them of not taking down a rotting, aging tree.
The Leslies said the tree coming down was an act of God and no one could have foreseen it. Martha Newkirk and Toby Johnson felt otherwise, saying tree damage was obvious and quoting a home inspection report warning about the tree.
Newkirk and Johnson could appeal Judge Joseph Hettel’s decision. But that can’t happen until a case the Leslies have against the people who sold them the home is handled.