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Marble Rock man gets deferred sentence in traffic fatality

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

A Marble Rock man who was later seriously injured as a passenger in a traffic accident in which three people died, has pleaded guilty and received a deferred sentence in an earlier traffic accident where he was the driver and a passenger was killed.

Thomas John Parcher, age 29, was charged in Cerro Gordo County District Court in December 2017 with homicide by vehicle while operating under the influence, for a single-vehicle traffic accident in which the Dodge Ram pickup he was driving rolled several times on a county road west of Rockford.

Thomas Parcher
Thomas Parcher

A passenger in the vehicle, Tonya Martin, 50, of Rockwell, was ejected from the truck and died at the scene, police reports said. Parcher and two other passengers in the vehicle were not listed as injured.

Parcher submitted to a field sobriety test that showed he had a blood alcohol content of 0.136 percent. The legal limit in Iowa is 0.08 percent.

The Cerro Gordo County Attorney’s Office in November reduced the charge from the original homicide by vehicle while operating under the influence, a Class B felony, to homicide by vehicle by reckless driving, a Class C felony.

Assistant County Attorney Steve Tynan wrote in the motion to change the charge, “The victim’s family asked the county attorney for leniency for the defendant even before the defendant was paralyzed in a separate accident. In fact, her family wants the charge dismissed.

“After this case was filed, defendant became paralyzed in a different collision in which this defendant was not a driver. So, the prosecutor decided to honor the family’s request for leniency,” the motion said.

“This amendment is conditioned upon a plea agreement in which the defendant will plead guilty.”

Parcher pleaded guilty to the reduced charge on Monday and was given a deferred judgment.

District Court Judge DeDra Schroeder said a deferred judgment should be granted, taking into consideration the facts in the case. She ordered that Parcher be placed on probation for three years, obtain a substance abuse evaluation and complete any recommended treatment and pay court costs. She suspended a $1,000 civil penalty.

If Parcher successfully completes the three years of probation and the other requirements, the conviction will be removed from his record.

Parcher was seriously injured in another accident in April east of Charles City. Three other people, including the driver, were killed in that accident.

According to the Iowa State Patrol, Jacob Allen Mahnesmith, age 28, of Nashua, was driving a pickup and failed to stop at a stop sign, striking another pickup truck driven by Douglas Mack, age 60, of Charles City.

Mahnesmith died as a result of injuries received in the crash, as did a passenger in his vehicle, Shane Allen Wiltse, age 28, of Charles City. The other driver, Mack, was also killed.

Parcher was transported by Mercy Air Life to Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa in Mason City, then transferred to St. Marys Hospital in Rochester, Minnesota, where he was initially listed in critical condition.

 

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