Charles Boehm Feared For His Life Moments Before Drunk Driver Killed Him

[HeatherHabilatory]

In the minutes before a car crash that killed him and two others, a Mandan man sent text messages to a friend concerned about the way Taylor Jon Berhow was driving.

Charles Boehm, 21, sent a friend a text message at 12:57 a.m. on Oct. 29 that said, “Thete driving crazy im scaryed,” according to an affidavit from Mandan Police Sgt. Jay Gruebele. At 12:59 a.m., Boehm sent one that said, “Im scaryed for my life.” At 1 a.m., his final message said “I should have no jokr.”

Witnesses reported Berhow’s car struck a tree off of Third Street Southeast and caught fire at 1:02 a.m. Boehm, Trevor Erie, 21, and Eastman Nadeau, 22, were killed in the crash. Another passenger, 22-year-old Jarrod Turner of Mandan, was injured.

Berhow, 23, of Bismarck, was charged Monday with three counts of Class B felony manslaughter. Berhow appeared in court on a summons on Monday afternoon. Morton County Assistant State’s Attorney Jackson Lofgren said South Central District Judge Cynthia Feland set bond at 10 percent of $10,000. Feland prohibited Berhow from using alcohol, ordered him to wear an alcohol monitoring bracelet and a GPS bracelet to make sure he stays out of bars, Lofgren said.

Gruebele’s affidavit said Berhow’s blood-alcohol concentration, according to a blood sample sent to the state crime lab, was .266 at 2:24 a.m. on Oct. 29 — more than three times the legal limit of .08.

North Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Steven Johnson performed a crash reconstruction in the case and said tire marks at the scene indicated Berhow was driving 75 to 85 mph when he lost control and struck a tree in the 35-mph zone, Gruebele wrote.

A witness who saw Berhow’s vehicle in the moments before the crash reported it appeared to drive in a ditch while turning onto Memorial Highway, then swerved and appeared to go up on two wheels as it turned onto Third Street Southeast. Another witness estimated the vehicle was going 100 mph as it drove by him at the intersection of 24th Avenue Southeast and Third Street Southeast, then swerved and fishtailed prior to leaving the road and striking a tree on the 2300 block of Third Street Southeast.

Boehm, Erie and Nadeau died at the scene of the crash. Berhow and Turner were taken to Bismarck hospitals. Berhow was released in the following days, and Turner spent at least a week in the hospital with internal injuries.

I live in Mandan. I did not know these boys, but most likely am acquainted with their families in some way. A lot of my friends did know them.

The tree they hit is right outside a trailer where I used to babysit 4 kids. The kids used to climb that tree.

It makes me so mad. Rumors have floated around that a few different people who were sober offered to drive these kids home, including the driver, but the driver said no.

This didn't have to happen.





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[Darsa]

I don't even have room for sympathy inside me, with the overwhelming RAGE and disgust I feel about this. How people can still be so fatally STUPID as to think shitfaced drivingis okay... it just boggles my mind. I'm a fucking high school dropout, and can figure that out all by myself!
Stupid, stupid, stupid!!

[badfish76]

How people can still be so fatally STUPID as to think shitfaced drivingis okay...

How can people be so fatally stupid as to get into a car with someone so intoxicated?? I'm sure walking or calling a scornful friend or relative would have saved a life or three.

I don't blame the victims but they had options too. I probably feel this way because my mother drilled it into me head to NEVER get in a car with someone that has been drinking.

[Ninja0980]

How can people be so fatally stupid as to get into a car with someone so intoxicated?? I'm sure walking or calling a scornful friend or relative would have saved a life or three.

I don't blame the victims but they had options too. I probably feel this way because my mother drilled it into me head to NEVER get in a car with someone that has been drinking.

Badfish, exactly. Make no mistake, the driver chose to drink and drive,put other lives at risk and ended three of them. He should be made to pay for the choices he made which ended costing other people their lives.
But as you said, unless he pulled a gun on them, they made a choice to get into a car with a drunk driver. It sounds cold but they too made a choice that night..and it cost them their lives.

[Darsa]

And I agree completely, @badfish76 and @Ninja0980 . That's why I didn't specify any one person in the post; there's lots of disgust to go around for all of the people in that car.

[Johnn0483]

I drove drunk ONE time. No crash and no injuries and pure dumbass luck. I still feel guilty about it and it's been decades. It's a poor decision to either drive drunk or ride with a drunk but that's what drinking does.......messes with our ability to make good decisions. I have made a point of telling all the grandkids that all they need to do is make a phone call to get a free ride..........no questions. They won't get in trouble..........and they won't get killed. I really hope that when the time comes they will make that call.

[Ninja0980]

The biggest problem with drunk driving is nobody sees themselves as the drunk driver. It's always those other people who can't handle their alcohol,it's always the other people who don't know when they shouldn't be getting behind the wheel,and it's always the other people who are selfish enough to put other people's lives at risk.
We would NEVER do that,ever. I sadly know people on both ends of that.

[HeatherHabilatory]

I've always wondered if people who died in accidents like this were aware that the driving was erratic, if they were scared.

It makes me incredibly sad to know that at least one of them thought they were going to die, and then did.

[Nell]

He had a phone. I would have called the cops. Or at least threatened my friend that i was going to do that.

@Johnn0483 My Dad had the same deal with me and he honored it. I called him shit faced twice. Both times he came, got me, took me home and that was that.

[Ninja0980]

My parents did in high school as well. I knew that if I truly needed a ride they would come get me. I tell the same thing to my younger cousins. If they need a ride,call me and I will come get them.

[badfish76]

I am 35 and my parents STILL extend that olive branch.

Granted, I hardly EVER go out and drink but if/when I do, I have a sober ride no matter the time or distance.

[HeatherHabilatory]

A Bismarck man doesn't remember a crash that killed three of his friends. But he admits the evidence shows he was driving his car recklessly through Mandan and caused their deaths.

Taylor Berhow, 23, pleaded guilty on Tuesday during a preliminary hearing at the Morton County Courthouse to three counts of Class B felony manslaughter. South Central District Judge Sonna Anderson ordered a presentence investigation be completed before she decides whether to accept a plea agreement that would put Berhow in prison for five years for the crimes.

Berhow was driving a car that struck a tree on the 2300 block of Third Street Southeast at 1:02 a.m. on Oct. 29. Court documents say his blood-alcohol concentration was .266 at 2:24 a.m. - more than three times the legal limit of .08. Charles Boehm, 21, Trevor Erie, 21, and Eastman Nadeau, 22, were killed in the crash. Another passenger, 22-year-old Jarrod Turner of Mandan, was injured.

A witness who saw Berhow's vehicle in the moments before the crash reported it appeared to drive in a ditch while turning onto Memorial Highway, then swerved and appeared to go up on two wheels as it turned onto Third Street Southeast. Another witness estimated the vehicle was going 100 mph as it went by him at the intersection of 24th Avenue Southeast and Third Street Southeast, then swerved and fishtailed prior to leaving the road and striking a tree on the 2300 block of Third Street Southeast.

A crash reconstruction indicated Berhow was driving 75 to 85 mph when he lost control and struck the tree in the 35-mph zone. Boehm, Erie and Nadeau died at the scene of the crash. Berhow and Turner were taken to Bismarck hospitals. Berhow was released in the following days, and Turner spent at least a week in the hospital with internal injuries.

When Anderson asked Berhow to explain what happened on Oct. 29, his attorney, Tom Tuntland, said Berhow has retrograde amnesia in relation to the crash and would be unable to give any details of what happened. However, he said Berhow has reviewed police reports, witness statements, laboratory reports and the crash reconstruction and believes he was driving recklessly and caused the deaths of Boehm, Erie and Nadeau.

"It is not unusual after an accident like this for someone to not remember the events," Tuntland said.

Tuntland said the only possible defense would be to prove Berhow was not driving the car; but since Berhow was found trapped behind the wheel of his car that would not be a plausible explanation, he said.

Morton County Assistant State's Attorney Jackson Lofgren said a plea agreement in the case would call for Berhow to be sentenced to 10 years in prison with five years suspended and five years of supervised probation. Berhow would have to serve 85 percent of the sentence before being considered for release, Tuntland said.

Family and friends of Berhow and the three victims packed the courtroom on Tuesday. Tuntland explained that they thought it was possible Berhow would be sentenced on Tuesday after pleading guilty. A preliminary hearing is the first chance a defendant in a felony case has to enter a plea to a charge, but it is not common for someone to plead guilty at such an early juncture.

He said Berhow is finishing out-patient alcohol treatment and will provide the court with a chemical dependency evaluation completed prior to his treatment. Berhow will do follow-up treatment after the out-patient treatment ends, Tuntland said.

Berhow remains free from custody after posting 10 percent of $10,000 and submitting to GPS monitoring.

Read more: http://bismarcktribune.com/news/loca...#ixzz1jIeSCc00

I drove past the tree last night. It is COVERED in flowers and memorials. I'll try to get a picture of it.