Motorist Accused of Killing 4 Pedestrians Ordered to Stand Trial

A part-time maintenance worker accused of killing four pedestrians in Glendale has been ordered to stand trial later this month in Pasadena Superior Court.

The trial of William K. Conway, 27, is scheduled to begin Jan. 24. Conway is charged with four counts of manslaughter and two counts of causing an accident with injuries while driving under the influence of alcohol.

At the close of a preliminary hearing Monday, Glendale Municipal Court Commissioner Joseph F. De Vanon ruled that a prosecutor had presented sufficient evidence to bring Conway to trial. Before ruling, De Vanon called the case a “horrible, horrible tragedy from any angle you look at it.”

If convicted, Conway, an employee of the Glendale parks and recreation division, could be sentenced to a maximum of 17 years and eight months in prison.

Members of 2 Families

Police said Conway was driving south on Canada Boulevard near Verdugo Road about 8:30 p.m. July 13 when his car struck members of two families waiting on a traffic island to cross the street.

Valerie Cramer, 32; her daughter, Brianna, 9; Patricia Carr, 36, and her daughter, Karen, 6, all of Glendale, were killed. Cramer’s son, Billy, 11, suffered a broken finger and an injured knee.

On Monday, Conway’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Michael Allensworth, challenged the California Highway Patrol’s figure for his client’s speed at the time of the accident and the validity of the blood-alcohol tests that police gave him.

Relying on the testimony of forensics expert William Painter, Allensworth argued that Conway’s car was not traveling 79.2 m.p.h., as the California Highway Patrol had concluded, when it hit the traffic island. Painter estimated the car’s speed at 65 m.p.h. The speed limit where the accident occurred is 35 m.p.h.

Allensworth argued that blood-alcohol tests given to Conway by Glendale police were not conclusive. Conway’s blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.15% about an hour after the accident.

Timing Questioned

Allensworth said the amount of time that lapsed between the accident and the testing raised doubts about the accuracy of the results.

California law presumes that a motorist is driving drunk if he or she has a blood-alcohol content of 0.10% or greater within three hours of an accident.

Several accident witnesses, police officers, coroners and a Los Angeles Police Department criminologist testified Friday, the first day of the preliminary hearing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. James E. Rogan said the testimony of the 14 prosecution witnesses and other evidence would be sufficient to prove that Conway’s blood-alcohol level was high when his car struck the two families and that his car was traveling at a high rate of speed.

Conway is being held in Los Angeles County Jail in lieu of $100,000 bail.