Since Bart Erdman of Oconto Falls died Aug. 3, 2022, his wife Kelly Erdman said a minute hasn’t passed where she isn’t thinking of her husband.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be here today without my love,” Kelly Erdman said through tears at a May 26 sentencing hearing. “My life will never be the same without my husband. He was my everything.”
Around 8:40 p.m. that August night, Thomas Wolf, 59, of Oconto Falls, was driving southbound on Oconto County I when he rear-ended Bart Erdman’s motorcycle just north of the intersection with Guelig Road, according to an Oconto County Sheriff’s Office accident report.
Data from Wolf’s vehicle showed he was traveling approximately 70 mph just before the crash, Assistant District Attorney Richard Zoellner said at sentencing. The speed limit in the area was 55 mph.
The impact of the crash threw Bart Erdman from his motorcycle, sending both him and the bike into a ditch. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
A preliminary breath test showed Wolf had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.124%, according to a criminal complaint. The legal limit is 0.08%.
Wolf was convicted of homicide by the intoxicated use of a vehicle and a third-offense OWI after a four-day jury trial. The jury found Wolf not guilty of operating a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration, a misdemeanor.
The jury also found Wolf not guilty of homicide by operating a vehicle with a prohibited alcohol concentration, but convicted him of a lesser included offense of homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. Because homicide by negligent operation is also a lesser included offense of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, Wisconsin law prohibits Wolf from being convicted of both to protect his double jeopardy rights. The count was ultimately dismissed by the court.
The prohibited alcohol concentration counts against Wolf were charged later, after results from a blood draw showed his blood alcohol content to be 0.136%. Defense attorney Timothy Hogan said evidence exists that the blood was kept in a hot car before testing, which could have increased the blood alcohol content.
“The jury specifically in this case rejected that Mr. Wolf’s blood alcohol concentration at the time of the accident was over a 0.08. They found him not guilty on count number four, operating with a prohibited alcohol concentration,” Hogan said. “The jury, having heard all the evidence, specifically rejected that 0.136 result, and even that Mr. Wolf was even over 0.08 at the time of the accident.”
Wolf said he had six alcoholic drinks over several hours while golfing before the crash, Hogan said. “To what extent that had an impact [on his driving], I think that’s truly the million-dollar question in this case,” Hogan said.
Oconto County Circuit Court Judge Jay Conley said he didn’t rely on Wolf’s alleged blood alcohol content when crafting his sentence, because “clearly the jury didn’t have confidence in the blood alcohol level.” Conley said his main concern was protecting the public from drunken driving overall.
“Drunk driving takes such a toll around the country,” Conley said. “And this, this is the worst-case scenario.”
Conley sentenced Wolf to 10 years in prison followed by 10 years on extended supervision and ordered a $700 fine for the OWI conviction. Wolf also has to pay $14,912.40 in restitution.
‘I will never heal’
Kelly Erdman said her husband Bart was her best friend, “my heart and my soul.” Since his death, she said her heart has “exploded into a million pieces.”
“When you lose somebody in a very tragic way … it rips you apart, mentally, physically and emotionally,” Erdman said. “I will never heal.”
As Bart Erdman’s sister, Lynn Anderson, spoke about her brother, she placed a pair of his boots, his belt buckle, shattered pieces of his motorcycle and a photo of them together on the witness stand.
“That’s all I have,” Anderson said. “I’m Lynn and now I have no siblings, thanks to you.”
Bart Erdman, an Air Force veteran, was “a good guy and he served our country proudly,” Anderson said.
Jason Erdman, Bart’s son, last saw his father on July 10, 2022, and last spoke to him via text message the day before he died. In July, Bart had come to visit, colored and played baseball with Jason’s children, listened to music outside with the family and told Jason he was proud of him, Jason Erdman said.
“I didn’t even get to say goodbye,” Jason Erdman said. “I was lucky enough to get 39 years with my dad, but my boys got less than three years to get to get to know their papa. It sucks they got robbed of their relationship with him. They still ask about him today.”
‘I will carry this with me always’
Wolf started an emotional statement to the court by reading a letter he addressed to Kelly Erdman.
“Dear Kelly, I have struggled to find the right words to express how deeply sorry I am for your loss,” Wolf said. “There are no words that can truly capture the weight of what you are going through. But I wanted you to know that I carry a profound sorry and regret in my heart every day.”
Wolf said he thinks about Bart Erdman and the accident every day. Wolf, also an Air Force veteran, said it was clear Bart was deeply loved. “I will carry this with me always,” he said.
Wolf apologized to Bart’s friends and family if he appeared unsympathetic or without remorse during trial. He said he has never been one to show much emotion and his military training has taught him to remain calm in high-stress situations.
“I am sorry for your loss of Bart,” Wolf said. “My heart full of sympathy goes out to all of his family.”
Judge describes Wolf as ‘overall good person’
Conley said he found Wolf’s statements in court to be sincere, despite having concerns that Wolf didn’t appear to be remorseful in a presentence investigation report.
The judge said Wolf appeared have good character outside of this offense; Wolf served the Air Force honorably, worked for the Oconto County Jail for 15 years without issue and had no criminal history outside of two OWIs in the late 1990s.
“[Wolf] lived a good life,” Conley said. “And none of that changes what happened on Aug. 3, 2022.”
The result of Wolf’s actions was the death of another person, making it the most serious kind of crime, Conley said. “The impact is just simply terrible,” he said, describing the pain Bart’s family is facing as “horrific.”
While there is contention over Wolf’s blood alcohol content and level of impairment, Conley said the situation seemed “pretty simple.”
“A fundamental part of driver’s ed is you can’t hit anything in front of you. That there always has to be enough stopping distance to avoid a collision,” Conley said. “And the evidence seems crystal clear to me, that Mr. Wolf was driving 70 miles an hour and the motorcycle was driving at a low speed … in most circumstances, the one rear-ending you is the responsible party.”
The defense asked Conley to consider a sentence of one year in prison followed by 10 years on extended supervision; a request Conley said was “entirely inadequate” for “taking the life of a good man, Bart Erdman.”
Conley also said family members’ requests for the maximum sentence of up to 50 years in prison was inappropriate for “an overall good person doing a bad thing,” even if it is “the ultimate bad thing, taking a life” without intention.
Vivian Barrett is the public safety reporter for the Green Bay Press-Gazette. You can reach her at vmbarrett@usatodayco.com or (920) 431-8314.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Oconto Falls man sentenced for drunken driving homicide of motorcyclist
Reporting by Vivian Barrett, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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