Chris Lillig killer sentenced
Rick Paulos
The Daily Iowan
Iowa City, Iowa
Monday, October 7, 1996
Page 7A
Judge sentences I.C. man to 17 years for OWI death
Kelley Chorley
The Daily Iowan
An Iowa City resident was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday for
killing Christopher Lillig while driving under the influence of
alcohol.
Gregory Rutt, 38, was found guilty in August 1995 of killing Lillig
with his vehicle.
In March 1995, on Highway 923, Lillig, 31, was riding his bike and was
struck by Rutt. About 2 hours after the accident Rutt turned himself
in with a blood alcohol level of .228. The legal limit in Iowa is .1.
Judge August Honsell split Rutt's sentencing into two parts. Rutt
received 15 years for vehicular homicide with $5000 in fines and 2
years for leaving the scene of the accident with fines of $2500. As a
habitual offender, Rutt has to serve three years in jail before he is
eligible for parole.
Ken Lefler, a friend of Lillig, sat through the trial and had mixed
feelings about the sentencing.
"Rutt and his attorney didn't put up a big fight," Lefler said. "They
conquered with the prosecution. I don't like the fact that someone
with his kind of driving record has a chance of getting parole in three
years, but that's how the system works."
Rutt has had seven previous drunken-driving convictions between 1976
and 1991. He lost his license five times, and as of October 1993 his
driving privileges were returned.
"With his record it's incredible to me that he wasn't jailed already."
Lefler said.
Rutt's license will be revoked for a period of six years. That period
of time will start now while he serves his time in prison, not when he
gets done serving his time.
Lefler said that he is not too sure what can be done to get habitual
drunk drivers off the street.
"Drinking and driving is such and incredible problem," he said.
"Anyone has the potential of getting an OWI, let alone killing someone.
Don't drive a car when you are drinking, call a cab, set up for a ride,
or walk."
"Intelligence has to prevail when making the decision to drive drunk or
not," Lefler said.
Teresa Lillig, the victim's wife, refrained from commenting on the
sentencing.
---
From The Daily Iowan's web site:
http://www.uiowa.edu/~dlyiowan/
---
Ed Kreiser
Rick Paulos (rpa...@pmeh-po.pmeh.uiowa.edu) wrote:
: Judge sentences I.C. man to 17 years for OWI death
....
: Rutt's license will be revoked for a period of six years. That period
: of time will start now while he serves his time in prison, not when he
: gets done serving his time.
'tis a travesty that such a person could ever be given consideration
for a license again. Just another illustration of how driving is considered
as important as life. Many states have implemented a "three strikes law"
whereby if convicted of three felonies, a person can be given a life
sentence with no parole. What does it take to revoke someone's driver's
license for life?
-Ed Kreiser-
M Dolenga
In article <325931...@pmeh-po.pmeh.uiowa.edu>, Rick Paulos
<rpa...@pmeh-po.pmeh.uiowa.edu> wrote:
> An Iowa City resident was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday for
> killing Christopher Lillig while driving under the influence of
> alcohol.
Is that all?
> Lefler said that he is not too sure what can be done to get habitual
> drunk drivers off the street.
Give the SOB a lethal injection, that'll keep him off the road.
Mike
bre...@indiana.edu
Rick Paulos wrote:
Rick,
Thanks for posting this news. I had heard
it through the I.C. grapevine but I think that it
has hit home a little bit more now that I have read
it. I am choosing to post this because of the rage
I feel towards this whole situation. I honestly
must admit that there has not been a single day
since this happened that I have not thought of
Chris and the injustice that was done to this world
by one person choosing to drive drunk and killing
someone of immense importance to every single
person that knew him.
I do believe the only thing to do is to
make sure that we as a group of cyclists who are
all in one way or another affected by Chris's death
need to make sure that we are no louder and make
are presence felt within the laws of the state and
this country. I hope that someone has an inside
scoop to Gregory Rutt's parole hearing and that we
as a community can write enough letters to them to
make sure that he is not given his parole until his
sentence has been served in full. This is assinine
that a person who obviously is worthless to society
can take from us someone who meant so much to the
entire community in which he lived. Let us not
forget Chris in any way shape or form.
I will never feel that justice has been
done because a friend that I loved and admired has
been taken from me. I feel that the only thing
that I can now do is to make sure that Greg Rutt
serves his entire prison sentenc and that the next
S.O.B. that kills one of us because of blatant
stupidity does not get off nearly as easy.
Peace,
Brendon
>
> The Daily Iowan
> Iowa City, Iowa
> Monday, October 7, 1996
> Page 7A
>
> Judge sentences I.C. man to 17 years for OWI death
>
> Kelley Chorley
> The Daily Iowan
>
> An Iowa City resident was sentenced to 17 years in prison Friday for
> killing Christopher Lillig while driving under the influence of
> alcohol.
>
> Gregory Rutt, 38, was found guilty in August 1995 of killing Lillig
> with his vehicle.
>
> In March 1995, on Highway 923, Lillig, 31, was riding his bike and was
> struck by Rutt. About 2 hours after the accident Rutt turned himself
> in with a blood alcohol level of .228. The legal limit in Iowa is .1.
>
> Judge August Honsell split Rutt's sentencing into two parts. Rutt
> received 15 years for vehicular homicide with $5000 in fines and 2
> years for leaving the scene of the accident with fines of $2500. As a
> habitual offender, Rutt has to serve three years in jail before he is
> eligible for parole.
>
> Ken Lefler, a friend of Lillig, sat through the trial and had mixed
> feelings about the sentencing.
>
> "Rutt and his attorney didn't put up a big fight," Lefler said. "They
> conquered with the prosecution. I don't like the fact that someone
> with his kind of driving record has a chance of getting parole in three
> years, but that's how the system works."
>
> Rutt has had seven previous drunken-driving convictions between 1976
> and 1991. He lost his license five times, and as of October 1993 his
> driving privileges were returned.
>
> "With his record it's incredible to me that he wasn't jailed already."
> Lefler said.
>
> Rutt's license will be revoked for a period of six years. That period
> of time will start now while he serves his time in prison, not when he
> gets done serving his time.
>
> Lefler said that he is not too sure what can be done to get habitual
> drunk drivers off the street.
>
ec...@halcyon.com
> mp...@cornell.edu (M Dolenga) writes:
> > Lefler said that he is not too sure what can be done to get habitual
> > drunk drivers off the street.
>
Ethyl Alcohol might be appropriate. Live by the bottle.. Die by the bottle..
Robert Michael Tobin
> drunk drivers off the street.
>
> "Anyone has the potential of getting an OWI, let alone killing someone.
> Don't drive a car when you are drinking, call a cab, set up for a ride,
> or walk."
>
> "Intelligence has to prevail when making the decision to drive drunk or
> not," Lefler said.
>
> Teresa Lillig, the victim's wife, refrained from commenting on the
> sentencing.
>
> ---
>
> From The Daily Iowan's web site:
>
> http://www.uiowa.edu/~dlyiowan/
>
> ---
My condolences to the friends and family of Mr Lillig.
Is drink driving a major problem in the US?
When I was in Boulder on Holiday in 1995 I was horrified when the people
I was staying with drove to a local brewery to try the free beer without
seeing that this is an unforgivably stupid thing to do. They didn’t seem
to think they were doing anything wrong.
I hope they are not typical. Before I went I thought that the films and
TV programmes I had seen with people drinking and driving and even
drinking while driving were not commonplace.
Thankfully advertising campaigns in this country (Britain) have
massively reduced the amount of drink driving and public opinion about
people who do has changed to see them as the verminous murdering scum
that they are.
Some people almost seem to need beating across the head with a
cricket/baseball bat before they get the message.
Bob
--
Bob Tobin
b...@cuhp.co.uk
http://www.cuhp.co.uk/
The Computer Users Home Page
"Bringing business to the INTERNET"