Letters to Judge Say Kimball Is Troubled, Remorseful

Letters to a judge on behalf of Bruce Kimball portray the 1984 Olympic diver as remorseful, devastated and embattled by alcohol problems for nearly a decade.

Kimball, 25, has had nothing to say publicly in his defense since his speeding sports car killed two teen-agers and injured four in Brandon, Fla.

He maintained his silence through a lengthy hearing Monday before Hillsborough Circuit Judge Harry Lee Coe, who sentenced him to 17 years in prison followed by 15 years’ probation on alcohol-related manslaughter and injury charges.

In his own letter, Kimball told Coe that he has been fighting alcohol problems since he was 16.

Coe received an estimated 50 letters, most from friends and family, supporting Kimball.

They described how Kimball was traumatized by a 1981 accident in which he was the victim of a drunk driver and how he rebounded from the near-fatal crash that left his face shattered.

“When he saw the teen-agers on the road that night in August, he was in total shock and disbelief,” his father, Dick Kimball, wrote. “And I’m sure the pain of his accident must have immediately come to mind.”