A Morinville man was sentenced to three years in jail for his role in a crash that took the life of a young woman.
After pleading guilty Monday in St. Albert Provincial Court to one count of impaired operation of a motor vehicle causing death, Curtis Trevor Winsor, 34, received a three-year penitentiary sentence, as well as a five-year driving prohibition for his role in the February 2009 crash that killed Sarah Alice Euler, 29. Winsor must also submit a sample of DNA to the national registry.
Winsor was driving a Dodge Ram pickup truck on Highway 28 just south of Highway 37 on the night of Feb. 19, 2009. According to Crown prosecutor William Wister, an off-duty Edmonton Police Service (EPS) officer first notified the RCMP of a possibly impaired driver prior to the crash, due to an erratic driving pattern including speeds of approximately 160 km/h.
Shortly afterwards the same officer came across the scene of a collision between the Dodge Ram and a green Honda Civic, which had been travelling southbound around 11:30 p.m.
According to Wister, the Ram driven by Winsor unexpectedly crossed the centreline of the highway, crashing head-on into Euler’s Civic. Euler was declared dead at the scene. According to the RCMP, Winsor displayed “strong signs of impairment.” He was taken to hospital but released the following day.
Winsor was not charged until July of 2009 because the Morinville RCMP detachment was waiting on blood samples to come back from the national laboratory.
Wister said Euler played no role whatsoever in the crash.
“She was completely innocent in this,” he said.
Both Euler and Winsor grew up in Morinville.
Samples of Winsor’s blood did show signs of impairment, but the exact level of intoxication was not required to prove the charge in court.
This was the third time Winsor has been charged with impaired-driving related offences. His record shows convictions for driving offences related to alcohol in 2000, then again in 2004.
Wister said the sentence imposed on Winsor was a joint submission agreed to by both the Crown and defence. Victims’ Services advocates read 12 of 16 victim impact statements to the court. Four family members and friends read their own.
According to Euler’s father Dan, Winsor did not address the family in court, only telling the judge he felt remorseful.
Outside court, Dan said a man he believed to be Winsor’s father approached him to shake hands and apologize.
“I wasn’t too happy about it. I told him it was a little late, you know,” Dan said, acknowledging he did shake the man’s hand.
