Posted February 19, 2008 Menasha woman gets 15 years in prison for drunken-driving crash that killed bicyclist By Dan Wilson for The Northwestern OSHKOSH-Sheila Burr never took off her coat as she was sentenced for killing one bicyclist and injuring two others in a drunken-driving crash.
Her attorney, Mark Fremgen, explained later: "She expects after court today that she will be on a bus to Taycheedah," the state's main women's prison. That proved to be the case. Burr, 47, a Menasha mother of three, was sentenced to 15 years in prison with 10 more years of extended supervision by Winnebago County Circuit Judge Karen Seifert for the July 1 crash on the Wayne Bryan Bridge in Neenah in which she ran down a group of bicyclists out for a Sunday outing. One, Robert Melzer, 52, was killed and his wife, Ruth, 46, was severely injured. A third bicyclist, Joanne Grobe, received minor injuries. Burr had a blood-alcohol content of 0.246 percent after the crash, more than three times Wisconsin's legal limit for intoxication. There were about 100 people in the large courtroom roughly split between family and friends of the victims and family and friends of Burr. At the end, there were tears shed on both sides of the aisle. "I am angry that my husband was taken from me in the blink of an eye," Ruth Melzer said. She showed a slideshow of photos of her husband, who worked as an employee of the Neenah School District and was a camp counselor for the Boys and Girls Brigade. Melzer called her late husband "my protector" and ironically, he bore the full impact with Burr's vehicle that day, cushioning his wife. Burr, in her statement to the court, said, "There is nothing I can do to change that day, that day that I got into a vehicle intoxicated, but it is real." She apologized for the pain she has caused and vowed to educate others about the risks of drinking and driving. The sentence followed the recommendation of Dist. Atty. Christian Gossett, who acknowledged Burr was cooperative with police and had shown remorse and completed an inpatient drug and alcohol program. "But this incident devastated the victims as well as our community," Gossett said. "She was driving more than twice the speed limit." Gossett also noted her prior drunken-driving conviction in 2002 could have served as a learning experience but that she continued to abuse drugs and alcohol. Fremgen stressed her success in her treatment program and said that five years in prison, with the sentence stayed assuming she didn't get in further trouble, would serve the same purpose. Seifert disagreed. "Our citizens were not safe on a Sunday afternoon bike ride," said Seifert. "Sheila Burr did not learn to not drink and drive the first time around." Steve Meiers Safety educator (608) 267-1102 [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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