‘Would he not want to lie next to his first and last love?’
state of health, she will never be able to visit the grave. If he is buried in the UK, not only can she visit the grave during the remainder of her life but she can lie next to him for all eternity.”
The barrister added: “In the ordinary course of events, a person would be expected to want to be buried with their spouse rather than other family, even adult children.
“The US family want him to be buried with them, in order that they can visit the grave.
“While it is accepted that these are considerations for the court, it is submitted that they are outweighed by the wishes of the widow.
“The wishes of the US family are unrealistic. Don Murphy heard directly from Olive Murphy what Paul Morigi’s wishes were.”
The row exploded after Mr Murphy arranged for him to be buried in Durrington-on-Sea, West Sussex, in a plot chosen by Olive, 92.
Mr Morigi’s daughter, financier Karolyn Morigi-Armstrong, and his four grandchildren were granted an injunction preventing the burial from going ahead.
They want him flown back to the US and buried with full military honours in their family grave plot in Greenwich, Connecticut, selected and paid for by the ex-Navy man himself.
Mr Murphy is seeking to have the injunction discharged so they can go ahead with the British burial. Ms Morigi-Armstrong told the court: “He obviously moved across the pond, but he wanted to be buried next to my brother on the site he prepared himself. We would have a military funeral for him. He was a war-time commanding officer and that was very important for him.”
She said the issue was particularly sensitive because Mr Morigi’s son, Steven, who died in 2009, is buried in the family plot. Admitting to “some animosity” towards her father’s first and final wife, she added: “I wasn’t happy about a lot of things.
“I didn’t want my elderly father overseas. I didn’t want him leaving the family to go off with somebody we’d never met at the age of 92.”
Mr Swirsky told her: “We don’t dispute that when the grave site in Connecticut was purchased, it was intended that all members of the family, including him, would be buried there.
“But things change, relationships change. When your father died, he and your mother were divorced and living on different continents. He chose Olive.” He added: “Isn’t the important factor who this person wanted to lie with for all eternity?
“You don’t think your father would want to lie next to Olive, his first and last love?”
She replied: “I think we are honouring my father’s wish to be buried next to my brother in a plot he created himself.”
The case continues.