Family members and friends of a Red Deer coupled killed by a drunk driver hugged and shed a few tears while lingering for several minutes in the courthouse after the young man who crashed into the victims pleaded guilty to two counts of impaired driving causing death on Monday.
About 28 people, including an infant and a toddler, accompanied the family members and friends of Brad and Krista Howe, ages 34, and 35, respectively, to hear Chad Mitchell Olsen, 23 of Sedalia plead guilty to the charges in Red Deer provincial court.
Krista’s mother Sandra Green declined comment, preferring to wait until sentence is passed next spring.
Olsen will be sentenced on April 27, 2011.
He will have a pre-sentence report prepared in the next few months, as requested by his Calgary lawyer Roy Shellnut.
The Howes died in early February after their eastbound car was hit by a southbound pickup truck on 30th Avenue at Ironstone Drive. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Olsen was treated at the collision scene and released from hospital. RCMP arrested him and took him into custody.
The Howes had three young children and they were also the guardians of two other children.
Krista was an engineer at MEGlobal Canada Inc. at Prentiss and Brad was an engineer at Nova Chemicals Joffre complex.
It is expected that other charges against Olsen — which include two counts each of dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death and driving with a blood alcohol over 0.08 causing death — will be withdrawn in April.
Olsen was dressed in a dark suit and barely uttered a word during the court appearance. About six members of his family were present. His home community of Sedalia is a small hamlet 175 km southeast of Stettler.
He sat quietly at the defence table next to his lawyer.
When Judge Thomas Schollie asked Olsen if he understood what he was pleading guilty to and if he agreed to the statement of facts, Olsen said yes.
Olsen remains free on bail. He is under 24-hour house arrest. He is allowed to leave the house for necessities of life, to do shopping or go for medical appointments and work.
His lawyer offered no comment outside of court afterwards.
The pre-sentence report will provide information for the court about Olsen’s life.
Crown prosecutor Charlotte Oxford told court that several victim impact statements will also be entered into the record during the sentence hearing.
A written statement of facts was also presented to the judge but it will need some minor amendments before the sentence hearing.
jwilson@www.reddeeradvocate.com