Marcus Hale, 42, was once a construction worker in Riverside, California. In 2012, he suffered a severe accident in a scaffolding collapse that left him with spinal injuries and permanently unable to work. Without money or adequate insurance, he turned to the renowned law firm Girardi Keese for help. Attorney Tom Girardi — once hailed by the media as a “warrior for justice” — took on the case, promising to fight for Marcus and secure a future for his family. But instead of becoming the hero of Marcus’s story, Tom became the beginning of a long, dark chapter.
According to exclusive internal records obtained by DailyMail, in 2014, an insurance company agreed to pay $1.2 million in compensation to Marcus Hale after Girardi Keese reached a settlement. But the family never saw a single dollar.
“He kept saying the paperwork was being processed. That more signatures were needed. That there was a banking delay. We believed him. Marcus believed him,” Marcus’s sister Lena Hale said through tears.
For the next two years, Marcus lived in a cramped rental apartment in Pomona. The electricity was shut off. He had to ask neighbors for water. His old pickup truck was repossessed. He sold his wedding ring — the last keepsake of a marriage that had already broken under the weight of the accident — to afford painkillers and basic needs. The man who once stood tall and proud on job sites became a shadow of himself, slowly falling apart under the weight of hope.
In November 2015, Marcus Hale died by suicide. His body was found alone on the floor of his apartment. There was no power. On the kitchen counter, a single handwritten note read: “I waited, I trusted, and I lost.”
The coroner ruled the death as suicide by self-inflicted overdose of alcohol and prescription medication. Police said there was no sign of foul play. The case appeared closed — until the family demanded answers about the promised settlement.
That’s when they were told the case had been officially closed by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office. The signature on the final denial? Prosecutor Lisa Navarro, who, according to multiple sources and social media posts, is a longtime close friend of Erika Jayne, Tom Girardi’s wife and a reality star on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. Photos from 2013 posted by Erika show the two vacationing together in Palm Springs with the caption: “My sister from another mister 💋💋 LA queens unite!”
A source from Girardi Keese confirmed Navarro’s regular presence at the firm’s private events. “She was always on the VIP list. Erika used to brag, ‘Lisa’s got Tom’s back till the grave.’ None of us were surprised when the Hale case got swept away like it never happened,” the source said.
A leaked accounting report shows the $1.2 million settlement from the insurance company was disbursed into a secondary Girardi Keese trust account in late 2014. Within six weeks, the account executed three transfers, including a $310,000 payment marked as an advance for stage production — part of Erika Jayne’s “XXPEN$IVE” tour in Chicago in 2015.
To this day, Marcus Hale’s family has received no apology, no restitution, and no explanation from Girardi, the DA’s office, or Erika Jayne. When approached by DailyMail for comment, Erika’s representatives declined. Lisa Navarro’s office did not respond to requests for confirmation of her relationship with the Girardis.
While Erika continues to appear weekly on Bravo, posing in designer heels and private jets, the man her husband failed is buried in a modest cemetery outside of Los Angeles, in a grave barely marked. Tom Girardi, once celebrated as a hero of the people, is now awaiting sentencing for orchestrating one of the largest client fraud schemes in legal history. But for the Hale family, justice is too late. No punishment will bring Marcus back. No dollar amount will undo the betrayal that broke his faith, and ultimately, his will to live.
