New case, old wounds

An Illinois man who served time in prison for reckless homicide in 1986 appeared in Alexander County Circuit Court last week on new charges of driving while intoxicated.

David D. Hull, 45, of Thebes, Ill., spent 2 1/2 years in prison after he was sentenced in 1987 to five years in prison for reckless homicide, driving while under the influence of alcohol and unlawful possession of a controlled substance.

Hull is now charged with two felony counts of driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol and two felony counts of aggravated driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. The charges reflect Hull's 1987 DWI conviction and a 2002 DWI conviction in Missouri, said Alexander County State's Attorney Jeffrey Farris. If convicted on all counts, Hull could spend up to 16 years in prison.

If nothing else, Mildred Held of Olive Branch, Ill., would like to see Hull off the road.

On an August evening in 1986, Hull killed her 20-year-old son, Randy, as he and a 16-year-old friend from Thebes drove down Highway 3 between Olive Branch and Thebes. Hull's vehicle crossed the highway's center line and collided with the front passenger side of her son's car, she said.

A Missouri State Highway Patrol officer placed a wreath on the Christmas tree during the MADD candlelight vigil Thursday. The event honored those who have been killed by drunken drivers. (Don Frazier)

Randy Held, a passenger in the front seat, died en route to the hospital, Held said. Wendy Lee, the driver, survived with critical injuries.

Hull was arrested Oct. 22 near where his previous accident occurred on Highway 3.

Flanked by supporters, Held sat in the courtroom gallery for Hull's first appearance last week before Circuit Judge Mark Clarke. Because Clarke was the prosecutor in Hull's 1987 trial, defense attorney Shane Aden requested a substitute judge. Hull will appear before Circuit Judge William J. Thurston on Tuesday.

In between the two incidents, Hull served 90 days in jail after pleading guilty in Cape Girardeau in 2002 to driving while intoxicated and driving with a revoked license.

Wendy Lee Siegelman, who has since married, said that while she didn't recall the accident itself, she learned the collision pushed the dashboard of Randy's car into the back seat.

Comatose for weeks

The accident left her in a coma for more than two weeks, followed by a semicoma for another three, she said. She had head injuries, optic nerve damage in her right eye, broken ribs, a broken collar bone and shoulder blade, pelvic fractures and injuries to her left wrist and ankle.

Twenty years later, she suffers from joint and bone pain that doctors can't explain but think may be due to her injuries.

She recalled Hull's 1987 trial and her disappointment over the sentence.

"I just couldn't see how someone could be so irresponsible and take someone else's life into their own hands and not have to pay for it or at least be sorry," she said. "It's pretty discouraging to me that the person who changed my life forever physically and mentally is still driving on the same road that I travel on and that he is still drinking and driving."

Held said she wouldn't have objected to the sentence had Hull come out a different man after serving his prison term.

When she heard of Hull's new charges, "I just cannot set and see how long it's going to go on," she said.

Both Held and Siegelman became involved in Mothers Against Drunk Driving, which today has a chapter in Cape Girardeau.

"It's not that easy to go on," Held said. "When we get together as a family, it's hard. Our Randy's not there with us."

Today, Held is the president of the Cape Girardeau MADD chapter. Both Siegelman and Held value the support they received after their tragedy as much as the contribution they make working toward getting drunken drivers off the road.

Cape Girardeau police hosted a MADD annual candlelight vigil and law enforcement recognition ceremony Thursday evening where more than 30 people remembered victims of drunken drivers by placing ornaments bearing their names on a Christmas tree.

Held's husband, Jerry, placed Randy's ornament on the tree while Held hugged Siegelman.

Law enforcement officers were recognized for arresting drunken drivers and getting them off the road.

Cape Girardeau assistant police chief Randy Roddy commended MADD for its role in the battle against drunken driving.

"It has to be everybody working together," he said, in order for needless injuries or deaths resulting from drunken drivers to end.

Working on legislation

Cape Girardeau County Prosecuting Attorney Morley Swingle told the crowd of new legislation he was working on with state Rep. Scott A. Lipke and state Sen. Jason Crowell.

Swingle hopes Missouri will follow 16 other states that have created tough drugged driving laws. He'd like to see Missouri model "per se drugged driving laws" after Iowa, which makes it a crime for a driver to have any amount of a controlled substance not prescribed by a physician in their system.

Held said Randy was on the brink of an exciting career in law enforcement. He planned to follow his two older brothers into work for the Illinois Department of Corrections.

"I still think about Randy, and I think about what happened," Siegelman said. "He was my best friend."

cschmidlkofer@semissourian.com

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