Family stands behind French after suicide

The family of Thomas French, a Bucks County man who killed himself amid allegations that he and his wife, a prominent Republican fund-raiser, committed a $20 million insurance fraud, maintained his innocence Friday and said, "The facts will prove him right."

The statement was the family's first comment since French's suicide Thursday afternoon at the Buckingham house he shared with wife Claire Risoldi.

Bucks County Coroner Joseph Campbell said Friday that French died from a gunshot wound to the head. Bucks County detectives are investigating. District Attorney David Heckler's office released a statement Friday night backing up the coroner's conclusion.

A source close to the situation said Thursday that French, a former Bucks County deputy sheriff, left suicide notes declaring his innocence and blaming his death on pressure from the investigation.

The Pennsylvania Attorney General's Office last month charged French, Risoldi, her two adult children, and others with bilking insurers out of $20 million in false claims after Risoldi's Solebury mansion caught fire three times in five years.

French was a minor player in the 43-page grand jury presentment, which focused mostly on Risoldi. He was accused of backing up Risoldi's allegedly fraudulent claim that she lost $10 million worth of jewelry after a 2013 fire.

Aaron Sadler, a spokesman for the Attorney General's Office, released a brief statement saying its prosecutors would continue to pursue the case through the justice system.

"Our thoughts and prayers are with Mr. French's loved ones during their time of grief," Sadler said.

French and Risoldi had been living on Danielle Drive in Buckingham while their 5,000-square-foot mansion, known as Clairemont, undergoes repairs from the 2013 blaze.

Risoldi, 67, is renowned in Bucks County political circles for the lavish fund-raisers she threw at the estate. She and French, 64, were married at a 2013 fund-raiser there.

The attorney for Carl Risoldi, Claire's adult son, who is also charged, blamed French's death on state investigators. He said the charges were born out of a political vendetta against Risoldi by the state's Democratic attorney general, Kathleen G. Kane.

The family's statement, released Friday through Claire Risoldi's attorney, Matthew Haverstick, took a softer stance against the Attorney General's Office.

"Whether Tom was the victim of overzealous, overreaching prosecutors ultimately will be decided by the courts," the statement said.

A preliminary hearing to review the fraud case is scheduled for March 10.