A drunk driver who drove the wrong way on a Wisconsin highway was sentenced Friday to more than 35 years in prison for a crash that killed four siblings in another vehicle.
“It is incomprehensible for this court to imagine losing four children,” Judge Raymond Huber said.
Scott Farmer, 48, of Neenah had pleaded no contest to murder by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle in the crash last December in Waupaca County.
Police said Farmer was driving the wrong way when his truck crashed into an SUV in Weyauwega, about 100 miles northwest of Milwaukee.
The crash killed Daniel Gonzalez, 25, his brother Fabian Gonzalez, 23, and their sisters, Lilian Gonzalez, 14, and Daniela Gonzalez, 9. The four were the children of Kurt Schilling, a pastor at Emmaus Lutheran Church in Waupaca, and his wife Paulina.
“This court is certain that there are a number of wrong-way drivers on Highway 10,” the judge said. “While the Department for Transport should look at possible improvements, this does not remove Mr Farmer’s culpability.”
Boer had a blood alcohol level of 0.34, more than four times above the legal limit. His legal threshold was even lower because of previous alcohol-related convictions, Huber said.
Defense attorney John Miller Carroll said Farmer drank an excessive amount of vodka at home before getting into his truck — “the worst decision of his life.” He said Farmer didn’t see any headlights coming toward him on a tricky highway.
The children were buried in Ecuador, their mother’s home country.