The 32 year old Bensalem man who killed a couple in hit and run while high on methamphetamine will not feel the breeze of beautiful spring day outside walls of a state penitentiary for decades to come.
In a packed courtroom on Monday at the Bucks County Justice Center, Common Pleas Judge C. Theodore Fritsch sentenced John Thomas Wadlinger Jr., of Bensalem, to 26 years, nine months, to 56 years, 10 months in state prison, for the Feb. 24 hit-and-run crash that killed Rebecca Whiddon, 33, and Richard Whiddon, 37, both of Brooklyn, Conn., authorities said.
Fritsch also ordered that Wadlinger pay $14,971.11 in restitution and $8,100 in fines.
Several relatives and friends of the victims appeared in court to deliver impact statements. Two surviving victims also spoke.
Friends and family spoke glowingly of the Whiddons, with one of the crash survivors describing them as “two spectacular and unbelievably special humans.” The Whiddons were in Bucks County for an annual gathering of friends in the urban exploring community and to celebrate a friend’s birthday in Philadelphia.
This was supposed to be a joyous day,” Deputy District Attorney Christine Sassane said, but it quickly became one filled with terror and sadness.
“One moment, we are all happily laughing on our way to see our friends and in the next, jilted into an unconceivable nightmare,” said Chandra Lampreich, who survived the crash. “The crash had caused such carnage; I felt like I was standing in the middle of a battlefield.”
Wadlinger, the investigation showed, was hopped on methamphetamines and amphetamines traveling at about twice the speed limit at the time of impact investigators said.
Wadlinger fled the scene on foot before police arrived. He then stole a dump truck and drove off, crashing it and again fleeing on foot. He was taken into custody a short time later.
The Nissan Sentra was headed westbound on Ford Road and was attempting to make a left turn onto southbound Veteran’s Highway when it was struck by a black Ford Explorer, driven by Wadlinger, traveling east on Ford Road at an excessively high rate of speed. The crash investigation found that Wadlinger was speeding at more than twice the posted speed limit at the time of impact. The Whiddons were killed at the scene, and the driver and another occupant of the Nissan sustained significant injuries. One of the surviving victims was hospitalized for nine days with injuries that included a collapsed lung, liver laceration, multiple rib fractures, a right clavicle fracture and acute blood loss. She also required surgery on her spleen, according to investigators
In court, Deputy District Attorney Sassane played a video compilation that captured several angles of the crash on surveillance videos from nearby businesses and homes. One video also showed the Whiddons and their friends stopping at Wawa for snacks moments before the crash. The video compilation continued with 911 calls placed following the thunderous crash that nearly ripped the entire passenger side and trunk off the Nissan Sentra.
Bristol Township Police Officer John Nowicke, who investigated the crash, testified in court that he had never seen such devastation. “This was the worst crash scene I’ve ever witnessed,” he said. The video also captured Wadlinger’s attempt to flee by running away after the crash and stealing a tow truck. His attempt to flee on foot a second time ended when a Bristol Township police officer chased him down, tackled him and took him into custody, bodycam video played in court showed, a spokesperson from the District Attorney’s office said
In Nov Wadlinger Jr., entered an open plea before Common Pleas Judge C. Theodore Fritsch, Jr. to 20 counts, including two counts each of homicide by vehicle while DUI and homicide by vehicle.
Credit: Kim Cruz