Radio legend Casey Kasem’s wrongful death investigation wraps up, Gig Harbor police say

More than a year after Casey Kasem’s wife accused his children of playing a role in their father’s death, Gig Harbor police say there’s no evidence of wrongdoing.

Kasem, the popular “American Top 40” host, died June 15, 2014, at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor. He was 82.

His wife, Jean Kasem, argued with the radio personality’s three adult children over his care and eventually accused them of killing Kasem.

Gig Harbor police found no evidence of that.

“There was no evidence of collusion between parties that would construe any part of this incident to be considered a homicide,” Police Chief Kelly Busey wrote in a news release.

Despite that, Busey said, he will forward the investigation to the Pierce County Prosecutor’s Office for review next week.

Police opened an administrative investigation into Kasem’s death Oct. 24, several weeks after the Kitsap County Sheriff’s Department forwarded a report by a private investigator alleging Kasem’s children killed him.

Police looked at the standard of care Kasem got before his death, who was in charge of the medical decisions and whether there was any sign of collusion between medical personnel and Kasem’s family members.

In the days before his death, all decisions and medical care given to Kasem — who suffered from a condition called Lewy Body dementia — were “appropriate,” Busey said.

Jean Kasem sparked the feud with her husband’s children when she moved Kasem out of California and to Silverdale the year he died.

That started a series of legal maneuvers that ended with a court appointing Kasem’s daughter, Kerri, authority over his health-care decisions.

Kasem hosted “American Top 40” from 1970 until his retirement in 2009. He was also the voice of teenage “Shaggy” on the cartoon TV show “Scooby-Doo.”

Casey and Jean Kasem were married for 35 years and had a child together. Kasem had three adult children from a previous marriage.

The radio legend’s fortune, reported to be as much as $100 million, is at stake in two wrongful death lawsuits filed by Kasem’s children. Jean Kasem filed a counter suit.

“It’s not about money, it’s not about any of that,” Kerri Kasem told KOMO News. “It’s about getting justice for my dad and Jean is making it about money.”

This story was originally published November 30, 2018 at 10:42 AM.