Cement truck driver appeals his sentence

16 November 2009 by Darlene Casten - Assistant Editor No Comments 17,478 views

An appeal of the sentence for a cement truck driver who killed five Okotoks residents when he slammed into their car almost two years ago is not surprising, said a family member of some of the victims.
Daniel Tschetter was convicted of five counts of manslaughter earlier this year and sentenced to eight years in prison, which was reduced to five-and-a-half years because of time he had already spent in prison.
Sentencing judge Bruce Fraser said he would have given him a lengthier sentence, but gave him credit for an earlier guilty plea. Tschetter’s lawyer Balfour Der said his client had agreed to plead guilty to criminal negligence causing death, which was not accepted by the Crown prosecutor.
Der filed an appeal of that sentence last week in Calgary.
Tschetter killed Chris Gautreau and his children Alexia, 9, and Kiarra, 6, and Melaina Hovdebo and her 16-month old son Zachary Morrison in a crash on Macleod Trail at 194th Avenue in Calgary.
Other drivers on the road testified at his trial that Tschetter was speeding and swerving in and out of lanes as he made his way north on Highway 2 from Nanton.
He eventually slammed into the car carrying the Gautreaus, Hovdebo and her son, crushing it and dragging it for more than 200 metres. Everyone inside the car was declared dead at the scene.
Carole Gautreau is the mother of Chris Gautreau and grandmother to Kiarra and Alexia.
She said she is not surprised by the appeal.
“I expected it,” she said. “I think it is partially routine.”
However, Gautreau said Tschetter’s sentence should not change.
“If they were to lower his sentence it would be more of an insult,” she said. “I thought the sentence was a joke in the first place.”
The time he spends in prison will already be significantly lower because he will be given parole after serving two-thirds of his sentence and was already lowered because of time he spent in prison after the crash, she said.
Gautreau said she expects Tschetter could spend as little as two years in jail before being released.
“I don’t know what kind of message that is,” she said.
Gautreau is suing Tschetter and his employer C&J Construction for $100,000. Kiarra and Alexia’s mother and Zachary Morrison’s father filed a $2.9 million lawsuit.