Piedmont man pleads guilty in fatal hit-and-run

GREENVILLE, Mo. -- A Piedmont, Mo., man pre-empted his April trial by pleading guilty Tuesday in connection with a fatal hit-and-run accident at Clearwater Lake.

Gale Franklin Smith, 41, pleaded guilty to the Class C felonies of second-degree assault and first-degree involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced to 15 years in the Missouri Department of Corrections, according to Wayne County Circuit Clerk Darren Garrison.

Circuit Judge Kelly Parker ordered the sentences to run concurrently and recommended Smith be placed in a 120-day shock incarceration program, Garrison said.

The sentences and shock incarceration also were ordered to run concurrently with a four-year sentence Smith received after he was found to be in violation of his probation Tuesday on a nonsupport charge, Garrison said.

"He was on paper (probation) on the child support when (the October accident) happened," Garrison said.

A third charge, a Class D felony of leaving the scene of an accident, was left pending, Garrison said.

Smith, he said, entered his pleas on the assault and manslaughter charges after Wayne County Prosecuting Attorney Robert Ramshur filed two amended informations with the court.

They alleged on Oct. 25, Smith "recklessly caused serious physical injury to Jacob David Thomas, 14, by striking him with an automobile," and he "recklessly caused the death of Dean Allan Nordman by striking him with a motor vehicle by driving at an excessive speed under the existing conditions of fog at night."

"It was negotiated," Ramshur said. "It was a difficult plea to get through. We amended the charges somewhat. He would not admit to being intoxicated or using marijuana beforehand," which was needed to retain the original charges, which had alleged Smith was under the influence of alcohol at the time of accident.

"It doesn't change anything as far as the charges were concerned; it changed the verbiage," Ramshur said.

As Ramshur prepared for trial, he said, there was concern about some of the witnesses, which he described as being difficult to get back to Missouri.

"We didn't have anybody at the preliminary (hearing) say he was intoxicated," Ramshur said. " ... Many of the people were friends of his."

Those, who testified at the preliminary hearing, "recanted the testimony I expected them to give," Ramshur said. "They did not testify the way I expected. ... They were going to help me on the issue of him drinking and smoking marijuana in a 15- to 20-minute span (but) they would not testify to that under oath."

Ramshur said Nordman's widow and other family members were "aware of what we were trying to do, and they gave their approval of what we were doing."

Ramshur had charged Smith as a prior and persistent offender, making him eligible for an extended term of imprisonment, since he had pleaded guilty to two or more felonies.

Smith reportedly was convicted of stealing and second-degree burglary on Oct. 16, 1986, and nonsupport on March 9, 1999, and Aug. 14, 2007. All of his convictions were in Wayne County.

The newest charges against Smith stemmed from an accident, which occurred just before 1:30 a.m. Oct. 25 on Route HH at the Clearwater Lake dam and left Nordman, 41, of Burlington, Iowa, dead and Thomas, 14, of House Springs, Mo., seriously injured.

According to his probable cause affidavit, Missouri State Highway Patrol Trooper James Wilson learned upon his arrival that a group of people had been walking east of Route HH, across the Clearwater Dam.

At about 1:23 a.m., Wilson said, a westbound vehicle had struck both victims.

"The driver of the van struck Nordman and Thomas and slid to a stop," Wilson said. "The driver exited the van and stated 'What the hell happened?' The driver got back into the van and drove west of Route HH."

Due to his condition, Wilson said, Thomas was unable to provide a statement and was transported from the scene by ambulance. He subsequently was flown to Saint Francis Medical Center in Cape Girardeau for treatment.

As Wilson gathered preliminary accident information and secured the scene, he said, he asked Wayne County Deputy Kyle Allen to obtain statements from the witnesses. Wilson also requested members of Troop E's Major Crash Investigation Unit respond to the scene.

At about 5 p.m., Wilson said, he learned from Trooper R.L. Ayers that he had a subject in custody on unrelated charges (probation violation on an original charge of child neglect) that may have been involved in the accident.

Wilson said he contacted Ayers and Smith at the Piedmont Police Department, where he was told Smith "had been seen driving erratically in the area a short time before the accident."

Officers reportedly also located Smith's vehicle, a 1992 Plymouth Voyager van.

"He had taken it to Mill Spring and hidden it," Sgt. Dale Moreland said earlier. "We located it there; it was hidden at a residence in Mill Spring."

According to Moreland, the van had damage on it.