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A woman with a prior DUI conviction who drove a car that struck and killed a Menlo Park couple walking their dog in 2013 was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison Wednesday.
A jury in May found Marjorie Reitzell, 55, guilty of two counts of second-degree murder, two counts of gross vehicular manslaughter and drunken driving charges. Judge Robert Foiles handed down the stiff prison sentence Wednesday morning.
Ms. Reitzell, a Redwood City resident, had been drinking heavily on Oct. 24, 2013, when at about 7 p.m. she veered off Chilco Street in Menlo Park and hit Kamal Singh, 45, and Balbir Singh, 50, from behind, prosecutors said.
The married couple, who had three teenage children, had been out walking their dog that evening. They were both pronounced dead at the scene and the dog was injured.
After the collision, Ms. Reitzell swerved across the center divider and hit another car, causing minor injuries to the four teenagers inside. She tried to drive away again and slammed into a tree.
Ms. Reitzell was taken to a hospital after the crash and testing revealed she had a blood-alcohol level of .23 percent, nearly three times the legal limit, according to prosecutors.
She was already on probation for drunken driving after a 2012 arrest in Menlo Park.
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One less person out on the roads. Sad for the three children.
For those wanting to thank Judge Foiles for the stiff sentence he handed down to Ms. Reitzell, his mailing address is as follows:
Hon. Robert Foiles
SMCO Superior Court
Southern Branch
400 County Center
Redwood City, CA 94063
A tragedy for all concerned. While I certainly want the driver off the road, I believe there must be a better way to ensure safety than to lock someone up for 30 years to life. An example is supervised ingestion of a drug that makes alcohol intolerable. Why aren’t we using this option?
Does anyone have an informed opinion about this?
FYI: Disulfiram is a medication used in alcoholism treatment. When taken with alcohol, disulfiram causes highly unpleasant effects, such as nausea and vomiting. These effects deter alcoholic patients from consuming alcohol while taking the medication
stevlevin:
this woman had multiple prior DUI’s. She testified on the stand that she could drive just fine while under the influence of alcohol. This woman is a proven menace to society and deserves to be locked up for a long time. She MURDERED two people.
stevlevin: take a look at this older article about her testimony:
http://www.almanacnews.com/news/2015/05/14/defendant-testifies-in-double-dui-fatality-trial
Even if you can forgive her, you can’t trust her to behave safely in the general public. Her failure to take responsibility for her actions was jaw-dropping.
She belongs in prison. She is a murderer with a drinking problems. MV is correct, she testified that she is a good driver while intoxicated. She needs to be in prison very the entire 30 yrs. no early release for good behavior.
Very sad to the 3 children and to the dog.
Good riddance.
This unrepentant criminal will have many years to think about the devastation she did to that innocent family. At least the rest of us won’t have to worry about her on our roads for a while.
Thank you, Judge Foiles.