The Sunday morning that was Sept. 30 was warm and sunny in the Denver area. Angela’s new Mazda still had some of the factory tags on it as she headed out to church – she was a devout Catholic, and Sunday morning mass was part of her routine.
She did not know Todd Grudznske, a 47-year-old tree trimmer who came to Colorado from Wisconsin, although they lived less than a mile from each other. Both of their homes were along Miller Street west of Kipling Street.
That same morning, Grudznske headed out, wearing a Green Bay Packers jersey, and stopped at three separate bars, according to court documents and the court testimony of Lakewood police officers Jim Moffat, Jason Ezell, Jeromy Rohling and Gregory Strandberg.
..... His total consumption over the previous 3½ hours, as alleged by Lakewood police: four beers and nine shots (three Rumple Minze, one tequila, five whiskey).
Around the same time, Angela Wimmer was headed south on Kipling toward her home. She was a couple minutes away when she stopped at a red light at Colfax Avenue. She was the only southbound vehicle at the light.
Police would later conclude that Grudznske’s gold Chevy pickup, its bed overflowing with tree limbs, was headed down Kipling at between 68 and 71 mph before its speed dropped as it approached Colfax, Rohling, one of the officers, testified in court. Suddenly, the truck plowed into Angela’s car – investigators put the truck’s speed at the moment of impact at between 58 and 64 mph, Rohling testified. The impact was so powerful it launched Wimmer’s car into the intersection – just a quarter second after the crash, she was careening across the pavement at 44 mph.
Messed up
You know the complexion