Sunday, October 6, 2024
By Robert Cloud
he driver responsible for a deadly head-on crash in rural Weyauwega on Dec. 16, 2023, was convicted of homicide Wednesday, Aug. 7.
Scott C. Farmer, 47, Neenah, appeared before Waupaca County Circuit Court Judge Raymond Huber and entered pleas of no contest to four counts of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle and a fifth OWI.
Farmer was driving a westbound pickup truck in the eastbound lane of U.S. Highway 10 when he collided with an oncoming sports utility vehicle.
The crash resulted in the deaths of four siblings.
The driver of the SUV, Daniel Gonzalez, 25, was critically injured and succumbed to his injuries after he was transported to a hospital for medical treatment.
His siblings – 9-year-old Daniella, 14-year-old Lillian and 23-year-old Fabian – died at the scene.
The Gonzalezes were originally from Ecuador. Daniel and Fabian were working on a dairy farm in Waushara County.
They were the stepchildren of Rev. Kurt Schilling, pastor of Emmaus Lutheran Church in Waupaca, and his wife Paulina.
According to the criminal complaint, an off-duty officer called the Waupaca County Sheriff’s Office ay 9:13 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 16, and reported a pickup truck going the wrong way on U.S. 10.
A minute later, the officer reported that the truck had crashed with a SUV on U.S. 10 east of County Trunk X in rural Weyauwega.
A Waupaca County deputy reported seeing an open bottle of vodka in the center console area of the truck.
Weyauwega firefighters and Fremont paramedics struggled to remove Farmer from the truck for more than 10 minutes. He threatened to fight with them, the complaint says.
When asked how much alcohol he had to drink, Farmer reportedly said, “A lot.”
His blood tested at .346 BAC, more than three times the legal limit.
Farmer faces up to 40 years in prison on each of the homicide charges.
He is scheduled for sentencing on Nov. 22.
In 2015, Farmer was sentenced to two years in prison on felony charges of battery and disorderly conduct as acts of domestic abuse.
