2 Women Killed in Torrance : Drunk Driver in Crash Convicted of Murder

A Los Angeles man was found guilty Thursday of killing two young mothers in what is believed to be the first drunk-driving murder conviction in the South Bay.

Manuel D. Edmondson will face 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced Aug. 1 for killing Ann Buchholz, 30, and Mary Frangie, 28, in a 1986 collision at a Torrance intersection.

“I’m appalled by your conduct in this matter,” Torrance Superior Court Judge Douglas McKee told Edmondson after finding him guilty of two counts of second-degree murder and other charges in the non-jury trial.

Edmondson, 40, was convicted in 1975 and 1976 of driving under the influence.

Frangie’s two sisters, who were in court for the three-day trial, said they are relieved. “We’re just concerned that he won’t be out there driving and do this to someone else,” said Marilyn Frangie, who promised to speak at the sentencing.

She said she is glad the judge ordered Edmondson, who remains free on $2,500 bail, not to drive and to enter an alcohol treatment program.

The sisters said they did not care how long Edmondson is imprisoned. “That doesn’t matter to me,” Marilyn Frangie said. “I just feel numb toward him.”

Frangie is survived by a son, 2, a daughter, 3, and her husband. The family still lives in Torrance. Buchholz’s husband and young child have moved from Redondo Beach, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Tony Scott.

McKee described Edmondson as “incredibly indifferent to the consequences of his conduct and oblivious to the carnage that he finally caused.”

Several witnesses testified that Edmondson was speeding and swerving through traffic as he drove south on Prairie Avenue about 1 p.m. Dec. 4. Edmondson was driving about 60 m.p.h. when he ran the red light at the corner of Del Amo Avenue and plowed into one car driven by Buchholz and another driven by Frangie, they said.

Edmondson’s blood alcohol was measured two hours after the accident at 0.15. A driver with a blood alcohol content of 0.10 is considered to be driving under the influence.

McKee said Edmondson’s disregard for others was exemplified by his behavior after the accident, in which he suffered minor scrapes and bruises.

“He apparently didn’t care about anyone’s life,” the judge said. “He apparently never inquired about the well-being of the persons he killed. He merely asked for a cigarette.”

Scott said Edmondson’s actions showed a “wanton disregard” for the safety of others that implied malice, a finding required for a second-degree murder conviction.

Defense attorney Andy Radel argued that Edmondson’s previous convictions were more than 10 years old and that he had no special counseling against drinking. Thus, Radel said, Edmondson hadn’t necessarily shown wanton disregard for others’ safety.

“The perils and dangers of driving under the influence have come to the fore more in the last 10 years,” Radel said.

Radel also stressed expert testimony that Edmondson’s blood-alcohol level could have been as low as 0.086, within the legal limit, at the time of the accident.

He said that in this case, unlike other drunk driving-murder cases, it was not proven that Edmondson was warned that he was too drunk to drive.

McKee rejected all of those arguments.

He said testimony proved that Edmondson drove under the influence, even if his blood alcohol level was under 0.10 at the time of the crash. McKee added that Edmondson’s previous convictions gave him more than adequate warning that “you cannot drive and drink.”

Edmondson was also convicted of two counts of manslaughter, driving under the influence of alcohol and causing bodily injury to more than one victim while driving under the influence.