Truck driver found negligent in women's deaths
Sentencing is June 20
Staff reporter
"Guilty of aggravated battery."
"Guilty of two counts of vehicular homicide."
"Guilty of reckless driving."
Those were the words truck driver J.B. Miser heard Thursday afternoon in a Harvey County courtroom regarding his negligence that claimed the lives of two Marion residents and severely injured a third.
A jury heard testimony for four days which led to the decision that the Emporia semi driver on May 10, 2004, did unlawfully, feloniously, and recklessly cause great bodily harm to Ashley Billbe, then 16, unlawfully and unintentionally killed Ashley's mother, Brandi Billbe, 40, and friend Lori Leeders, 43, and drove his tractor-trailer in a willful or wanton disregard for the safety or others.
Miser, who was 61 at the time of the crash, suffers from diabetes and high blood pressure. Following the collision, he reportedly told authorities and others that he had not taken his medication that day which could have contributed to the incident.
The construction zone, which was located west of Peabody near the Marion/ Harvey County line, had traffic stopped which included the Billbe vehicle. Miser, who never took the stand during the trial, had told witnesses that he had fallen asleep.
Miser's fully-loaded rig crashed into the rear of a 1996 Ford Econoline van driven by Brandi Billbe which caused a deadly chain reaction. Ashley Billbe was in the back seat of the van. The Billbe vehicle then struck a 2003 International Fed-Ex truck driven by Ryan Kugler of New Cambria, and the Kugler vehicle struck a 1996 Chevrolet Lumina passenger car that was driven by Katherine Boesker of Peabody.
Boesker was an eyewitness to the crash and provided emotional testimony during the trial.
According to Kansas Highway Patrol reports, Boesker was westbound on U.S.-50 and had stopped for construction. Boesker observed a Fed-Ex truck behind her.
She testified that she had looked away from her rear-view mirror and then felt a strong jolt which caused her glasses to be knocked off her head. When she looked in the rear view mirror again, she saw a fire ball coming over her vehicle and thought a semi was coming over the top of her and other vehicles that were stopped.
Boesker said she watched as the burning semi veered to the left and came to a stop in a ditch.
Being a registered nurse, Boesker then attended to the injured, primarily in the Billbe vehicle.
She testified on the stand that Ashley Billbe was hanging from her seat belt in the back seat and was moaning. The teen was transported by Eagle-Med helicopter to Via Christi Medical Center-St. Francis Campus, Wichita.
Blankets from a nearby resident were used to cover Brandi Billbe and Leeders. Boesker testified that she watched the two women become more pale. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Ashley Billbe testified that she had no recollection of anything that happened the day of the crash and for several weeks after.
The Marion High School sophomore spent seven months in the Wichita hospital. As a result of the collision, three-quarters of Ashley Billbe's pancreas was removed which resulted in her becoming a diabetic, a kidney, spleen, and a portion of an intestine also were removed. Her arm was shattered and she had nerve damage which makes it difficult to control her foot.
Ashley Billbe would return to Marion High School and graduate with her classmates in 2006 but still suffers from the crash that occurred nearly three years ago.
Miser was severely injured in the collision but escaped death because he was rescued by truck driver Virgle Watterson, 37, of Lubbock, Texas. Watterson was among those in the line of traffic at the construction site and told authorities that he saw the Miser semi hit the rear of the Billbe van.
When Miser's vehicle hit the van, the semi caught fire. Watterson said he pulled Miser from the burning wreckage just before it exploded. Watterson also told authorities at the accident scene that Miser told him he had fallen asleep at the wheel and woke up after hitting the van.
Miser was transported by a Newton ambulance to Wesley Medical Center, Wichita.
Sentencing for Miser is scheduled for 10 a.m. June 20. Also at that hearing, a bench trial will be held for a fifth charge of failure to comply with traffic regulations in a road construction zone.
Aggravated battery is considered to be a level five person felony with possible imprisonment of 31-136 months and a fine not to exceed $300,000. Vehicular homicide is a class A person misdemeanor with jail time to not exceed one year and a fine of $2,500 for each count. Reckless driving is an unclassified misdemeanor and disregarding traffic regulations in a construction zone is a traffic infraction.
This collision was the first of three deadly crashes that occurred in the summer of 2004 and claimed nine lives on U.S.-50 in construction zones.
In other cases, semi driver Michael Hardwick was found not guilty of two counts of vehicular homicide in a collision that claimed the lives of two men — one from Canada and one from Mexico.
Richard Duncan Jr. pleaded guilty to five counts of vehicular homicide. Through plea bargaining, the defendant and Marion County Attorney Susan Robson agreed to a six-month sentence for each count instead of a possible maximum penalty of one year for each count.
At the time of sentencing )November 2006), and at the current time Duncan is serving six years in an Illinois prison on an unrelated charge.
Eighth Judicial Chief Judge Michael Powers ordered Duncan to serve counts one, two, three, and four, a total of 24 months, in the Illinois prison. The six-month sentencing for count five, however, will be served in Marion County when Duncan finishes his prison sentence in Illinois.
