Joan Kathryn Wenger
The niece of a Dayton woman killed by an admitted drunken driver said her aunt was the glue that held the family together.
“The horror, the heartbreak the pain,” she said. “Where do we go from here.”
Laura Staugaard and her son were rammed by a Toyota Tacoma driven by Joan Kathryn Wenger on Feb. 28, 2020. Staugaard was thrown from the vehicle in the collision and killed.
Pamela Staugaard Blanchard said her aunt loved to travel, looking for wild horses and donkeys on her journeys.
“Laura was my aunt and also my friend,” she said. “We would laugh so hard we would cry. There is no excuse whatsoever to get behind the wheel drunk and drive.”
Sentencing for Wenger was delayed until after Thanksgiving on Monday after District Judge Tom Gregory noted that a substance abuse evaluation hadn’t been conducted before the sentencing date.
“We set out the sentencing to a longer than usual time so the evaluation could be done,” Gregory said.
Attorney Brian Filter said that his client would like to have the evaluation done before sentencing.
“There is no doubt she is an alcoholic,” he said.
Gregory authorized funds for the defense to conduct the evaluation.
Under Nevada law, a substance abuse evaluation is required before sentencing.
Wenger, 66, faces either 10-25 years in prison or 25 years to life. She is not eligible for parole.
Wenger had a .291 blood alcohol content when the collision occurred, according to court files. Nevada Highway Patrol troopers found a half-full bottle of Black Velvet whiskey in the cab of Wenger’s Toyota Tacoma.
She told troopers she had driven from Mammoth Lakes and had three beers.
According to court documents, Wenger’s driving privileges have been withdrawn more than two dozen different times over the last 21 years, including at least two times for driving under the influence.
After the collision, Wenger was released from custody and reportedly fled to Colorado, where she was arrested Feb. 24, 2021. She was released April 4 from Colorado custody despite being subject to an arrest warrant in Nevada. She was then arrested in Arizona on May 4 before being transported back to Douglas County to face vehicular homicide charges.
In a letter read by his son, Staugaard’s brother said the State of Nevada failed his sister.
“The state of Nevada failed to protect my sister,” nephew John Staugaard read from the letter written by his father.
The older Staugaard asserted that Wenger should have been incarcerated as a result of her continued drunken driving.
“That night she showed a complete disregard for human life,” he wrote. “If she was in prison my sister would be alive.”
Staugaard’s son was driving the Toyota 4Runner Wenger crashed. He said he will be making a victim impact statement at her Nov. 29 sentencing.
