Settlement in crash approved by judge

BANGOR – A Maine Superior Court judge has ordered that the daughter of a Charleston woman killed in a car accident last summer be awarded $50,000 – the maximum amount allowed by the driver’s insurance coverage.

Justice Andrew Mead last month approved the settlement to benefit Ashley Conway, the daughter of Jennifer A. Colbath Conway, 27, who died on July 28, 2004, as the result of an accident two days earlier.

Ashley Conway, 10, and her father, Robert F. Conway, 30, of Corinth split more than $33,000 of the settlement that remained after legal fees, according to court documents. A majority of Ashley Conway’s award is to be invested and paid to her in a lump sum of $45,000 when she reaches her 35th birthday.

The remaining money has been placed in a local bank account. That money may be accessed only by a court order until the girl turns 18, according to court documents.

Colbath Conway and Dana McQuesten, 27, of Charleston were passengers in a car driven by Peter Wilcox, 28, of Charleston when the accident occurred. No one was wearing a seat belt.

The three left a party in Charleston about 1:30 a.m. July 24, 2004, headed for Dysart’s Truck Stop & Restaurant in Hermon. Colbath Conway sat on McQuesten’s lap in the front passenger seat of the 1988 Volvo station wagon because stereo equipment was in the back seat. Wilcox turned off Route 15 onto Kenduskeag Road and headed toward Levant.

At a sharp curve, known locally as “dead man’s curve,” Wilcox lost control of the car and sideswiped a tree. He stopped the car about a mile down the road when he had a flat tire. That was when he noticed the passengers were unconscious and he left the vehicle to get help.

Two hours after the crash, Wilcox’s blood alcohol level was 0.14, almost twice the legal limit of 0.08.

Wilcox was sentenced in June to 10 years in prison with all but two years suspended and six years of probation. He also was ordered to pay a $2,000 fine and $4,500 in restitution and perform 600 hours of community service. His driver’s license was suspended for six years.