Click here to subscribe today or Login.
By JERRY LYNOTT; Times Leader Staff Writer
Sunday, November 15, 1992 Page: 2A QUICK WORDS: HESS EDWARD
WILKES-BARRE — A Benton man pleaded guilty Friday to killing his passenger
in a drunken-driving accident on Route 11 last year.
Edward Hess, 28, entered pleas to homicide by vehicle while driving drunk
and homicide by vehicle.
He admitted to driving the car, which crashed head-on with another car, in
which his passenger, Timothy Getz, 40, of Benton, was killed on July 13, 1991.
The crash occurred around 12:30 a.m. about one quarter mile south of the
Garden Drive-In in Hunlock Township. Hess was driving a Ford Escort which,
while traveling south, crossed lanes and struck another Ford Escort driven by
Caroline Ann Toporcer of Nanticoke, according to the accident report.
Hess and Getz were trapped in the car. Getz was pronounced dead at the
scene.
Hess and Toporcer were hospitalized for injuries suffered in the crash.
Luzerne County President Judge Patrick J. Toole Jr. accepted the guilty
plea and scheduled sentencing of Hess for 10 a.m. Nov. 30.
According to the terms of the plea agreement, Hess must serve the mandatory
minimum of a three- to six-year sentence for the homicide by vehicle while
drunken driving charge.
Toole advised Hess that the time must be served in a state correctional
institution because it exceeds the five-year limit for sentences in the
Luzerne County Correctional Facility.
In exchange for the plea, the prosecution dropped two counts of drunken
driving and a count of recklessly endangering another person.
Hess remains free on his own recognizance.
Assistant District Attorney Jacqueline Carroll was the prosecutor.
Attorney Gregory T. Moro represented Hess.