Drunk Driver in Crash That Took 3 Lives Found Guilty

A 26-year-old Sunset Beach woman who was driving on a restricted license for drunk driving when she killed three Mission Viejo women in a head-on collision on Pacific Coast Highway was convicted of three counts of vehicular manslaughter in Orange County Superior Court on Friday.

Kym Murphy, now in a wheelchair because of her injuries in the accident, cried softly after the verdict was read. She faces a maximum sentence of 12 years in prison.

One of the jurors, Barbara Schlosberg of Los Alamitos, said after the verdict: “I hope she gets some help. She needs it.”

Ron Slemmons, a father of one of the victims, said he was upset that the prosecution did not seek a murder conviction against Murphy. But Don and Diane Utterback, parents of another of the victims, said they were just glad it was over.

Struck Head-on

“I hope this girl (Murphy) really thinks about what she did, and can change her ways,” Mrs. Utterback said through her tears.

Killed in the car collision were Diane Mae Druckrey, 21, Deborah Lee Slemmons, 20, and Dawn Joy Utterback, 18, whose sports car was struck head-on by Murphy’s car on Pacific Coast Highway in Seal Beach on Sept. 10, 1984, at 3 a.m.

Tests showed Murphy had a .11 blood alcohol content, just above the .10 the law recognizes as too drunk to drive. Tests also showed she had cocaine in her system.

She had been convicted of drunk driving in Ventura County just three months before the Seal Beach accident. She was given probation after that incident, but her driver’s license was restricted to driving back and forth from work and an alcohol treatment center.

Jurors were unaware of the previous conviction. After five hours of deliberation, which began late Thursday, they found Murphy guilty of the three manslaughter counts and two counts of driving under the influence (one to cover the alcohol, the other for the cocaine). Outside the presence of the jury, Judge Phillip E. Cox also found her guilty of the misdemeanor of violating the conditions on her driver’s license.

Murphy had testified she was blinded by car lights coming at her.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. John Lett said after her conviction: “Sure she was blinded by car lights, a millisecond after she crashed into those girls’ car.”

One eyewitness testified that Murphy failed to follow the road as it curved to the right and veered into the lane of oncoming traffic, and that she was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Caltrans workers recently installed a concrete highway divider in that section of Pacific Coast Highway to prevent future head-on collisions.

‘She’s Sorry’

Murphy’s attorney, Scott Gailen, said after the verdict that his client “had hoped for a better outcome.”

Asked if she were remorseful, Gailen answered: “She’s sorry that it happened. But she does not believe she was responsible for what happened, no.”

Murphy said she was returning from a photo modeling assignment where she had two glasses of wine and consumed some cocaine.

The three women in the other car were close friends, all graduates of Capistrano Valley High School. They were returning from a restaurant when the collision occurred.

Have Become Close

The parents of Diane Mae Druckrey attended part of the six-week trial, but chose not to come for the verdict.

Ron Slemmons said the parents all had known each other through their daughters, but have become close since the accident.

“I’d hate for any of us to have to face this alone,” said Slemmons, who was in court with his wife, Barbara.

Slemmons said he had no feelings at all toward Murphy because “she doesn’t deserve any amount of my thought process.”