Photos: Remembering horrific van crash that killed 7 young people in 1999
On March 25, 1999, a van carrying young, traveling door-to-door magazine sellers crashed on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville, killing seven people and severely injuring five others. The wreck occurred because the van's unlicensed driver, Jeremy Holmes, was trying to switch seats with a passenger to avoid getting a speeding ticket while the van was going 81 mph. Holmes served four years in prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of vehicular homicide and five counts of injury by negligent use of a motor vehicle. Choan Lane, owner of YES Inc., which employed the 14 people in the van, also served a prison sentence for charges connected with the crash. The list of the dead included young people from multiple states, including Wisconsin: Amber Lettman, 16, Oregon; and Melinda Turvey, 18, Verona. Others killed were: Joseph Wild, 21, Lacombe, Louisiana; Corey Hanson, 22, Wichita, Kansas; Marshall Lee Roberts, 16, DeWitt, Iowa; Crystal McDaniel, 25, Princeton, West Virginia; and Peter Christman, 18, Tulsa, Oklahoma. Here's a look back at coverage of the horrific wreck and aftermath.
Accident press conference
Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Bradford Altman addresses a news conference March 25, 1999, about the early morning fatal accident near Janesville.
Man, company charged in crash
Choan Lane waits as his signature bond is prepared following his initial appearance April 17, 2000, at the Rock County Courthouse in Janesville. Lane and his subscription sales company, YES, were charged in connection with a van crash that killed seven people.
Holmes appears in court
Jeremy Holmes, right, and public defender John Bergstrom appear March 26, 1999, in Rock County Circuit Court, where Holmes was facing 14 charges stemming from a fatal van crash. Holmes, 20, was charged with seven counts of negligent vehicular homicide and five counts of causing great bodily harm.
State Journal front page March 26, 1999
State Journal coverage March 26, 1999
State Journal front page March 27, 1999
Holmes sentenced in deadly crash
Jeremy Holmes composes himself at the end of his sentencing hearing June 11, 1999, in Rock County Circuit Court, on charges related to a deadly van crash that killed seven young people. His attorney takes his hand to lead him from the courtroom. Holmes was sentenced to seven years in prison and four years of probation.
Holmes family at sentencing
The Holmes family listens to testimony June 11, 1999, during the sentencing of their son and brother, Jeremy Holmes. His father, Danny Holmes, is at the far left; sister Jenny Holmes is in the center; and Jeremy's mother, Shelly Martin, is second from the right.
Sentencing hearing
Jaime McFaul, sister of crash victim Peter Christman, reacts as people speak in defense of driver Jeremy Holmes and ask that he receive leniency at a hearing June 11, 1999.
Statement during sentencing
DeAnna Roberts, mother of crash victim Marshall Roberts, pauses in her statement to the court during the sentencing hearing June 11, 1999, for Jeremy Holmes.
Waiting for hearing to start
Monica Forgues, 16, of Madison, was paralyzed after a van crash that killed seven people. She sits in court May 17, 2000, waiting for the start of the preliminary hearing for Choan Lane, one of the owners of the company involved with the crash.
Lane awaits sentencing
Choan Lane waits for his sentence to be handed down in Rock Couty Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000.
Mother comforted during hearing
Deanna Roberts is comforted Oct. 24, 2000, by husband Albert in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville, where Choan Lane, 32, was sentenced to three years and seven months on four charges stemming from a 1999 van crash that killed members of Lane's magazine sales crew. Roberts lost her son, Marshall, who was 16, in the crash.
Testimony at sentencing hearing
Monica Forgues is wheeled to the witness stand past Choan Lane, right, and his attorney, Gerald Boyle, to offer testimony during Lane's sentencing hearing Oct. 24, 2000, in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville. While selling magazines for Lane, Forgues was paralyzed in a van crash that killed several of her co-workers.
Lane sentenced in fatal van crash
Choan Lane, 32, sheds a tear during his sentencing in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000. Lane was sentenced three years and seven months on four charges stemming from a van crash that killed members of his magazine sales crew.
Some relief at sentencing
Nancy Ashton, left, and Bonita Lettman are relieved as Choan Lane received the maximum allowable sentence in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000, for a fatal crash that killed seven people. Ashton's daughter, Monica Forgues, was paralyzed from the neck down in the crash.Â
Phil Ellenbecker with portrait of Malinda
Phil Ellenbecker sits beside his living room shrine for his daughter, Malinda Turvey, on March 23, 2001, nearly two years after she was killed in Janesville when a van crashed while carrying the magazine sales crew she had joined in 1999.
Crash victim earns GED diploma
Monica Forgues, center, makes her way into the auditorium to receive her GED diploma on June 13, 2003, from Omega School, as her family and friends follow behind her. Walking behind Monica is her mother, Nancy Ashton. Monica was paralyzed four years earlier in a van crash in which seven people died.
Ellenbecker advocates legislation
Phil Ellenbecker of Verona holds a photo of his daughter, Malinda Turvey, after testifying March 8, 2004, at the state Capitol to push for increased regulation of businesses that employ traveling sales crews. Malinda, 15 years old in the photo, was killed in a 1999 crash while working on such a crew.
Settlement reached in lawsuit
Nancy Ashton, right, assists her daughter, Monica Forgues, during a news conference Oct. 20, 2004, announcing that a $1.85 million settlement had been reached in a van crash in 1999 that killed seven people and paralyzed Forgues.
Amber Lettman
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Crystal McDaniel
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Malinda Turvey
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Joseph Wild
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Marshall Lee Roberts
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Accident press conference
Wisconsin State Patrol Sgt. Bradford Altman addresses a news conference March 25, 1999, about the early morning fatal accident near Janesville.
Man, company charged in crash
Choan Lane waits as his signature bond is prepared following his initial appearance April 17, 2000, at the Rock County Courthouse in Janesville. Lane and his subscription sales company, YES, were charged in connection with a van crash that killed seven people.
Holmes appears in court
Jeremy Holmes, right, and public defender John Bergstrom appear March 26, 1999, in Rock County Circuit Court, where Holmes was facing 14 charges stemming from a fatal van crash. Holmes, 20, was charged with seven counts of negligent vehicular homicide and five counts of causing great bodily harm.
State Journal front page March 26, 1999
State Journal coverage March 26, 1999
State Journal front page March 27, 1999
Holmes sentenced in deadly crash
Jeremy Holmes composes himself at the end of his sentencing hearing June 11, 1999, in Rock County Circuit Court, on charges related to a deadly van crash that killed seven young people. His attorney takes his hand to lead him from the courtroom. Holmes was sentenced to seven years in prison and four years of probation.
Holmes family at sentencing
The Holmes family listens to testimony June 11, 1999, during the sentencing of their son and brother, Jeremy Holmes. His father, Danny Holmes, is at the far left; sister Jenny Holmes is in the center; and Jeremy's mother, Shelly Martin, is second from the right.
Sentencing hearing
Jaime McFaul, sister of crash victim Peter Christman, reacts as people speak in defense of driver Jeremy Holmes and ask that he receive leniency at a hearing June 11, 1999.
Statement during sentencing
DeAnna Roberts, mother of crash victim Marshall Roberts, pauses in her statement to the court during the sentencing hearing June 11, 1999, for Jeremy Holmes.
Waiting for hearing to start
Monica Forgues, 16, of Madison, was paralyzed after a van crash that killed seven people. She sits in court May 17, 2000, waiting for the start of the preliminary hearing for Choan Lane, one of the owners of the company involved with the crash.
Lane awaits sentencing
Choan Lane waits for his sentence to be handed down in Rock Couty Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000.
Mother comforted during hearing
Deanna Roberts is comforted Oct. 24, 2000, by husband Albert in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville, where Choan Lane, 32, was sentenced to three years and seven months on four charges stemming from a 1999 van crash that killed members of Lane's magazine sales crew. Roberts lost her son, Marshall, who was 16, in the crash.
Testimony at sentencing hearing
Monica Forgues is wheeled to the witness stand past Choan Lane, right, and his attorney, Gerald Boyle, to offer testimony during Lane's sentencing hearing Oct. 24, 2000, in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville. While selling magazines for Lane, Forgues was paralyzed in a van crash that killed several of her co-workers.
Lane sentenced in fatal van crash
Choan Lane, 32, sheds a tear during his sentencing in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000. Lane was sentenced three years and seven months on four charges stemming from a van crash that killed members of his magazine sales crew.
Some relief at sentencing
Nancy Ashton, left, and Bonita Lettman are relieved as Choan Lane received the maximum allowable sentence in Rock County Circuit Court in Janesville on Oct. 24, 2000, for a fatal crash that killed seven people. Ashton's daughter, Monica Forgues, was paralyzed from the neck down in the crash.Â
Phil Ellenbecker with portrait of Malinda
Phil Ellenbecker sits beside his living room shrine for his daughter, Malinda Turvey, on March 23, 2001, nearly two years after she was killed in Janesville when a van crashed while carrying the magazine sales crew she had joined in 1999.
Crash victim earns GED diploma
Monica Forgues, center, makes her way into the auditorium to receive her GED diploma on June 13, 2003, from Omega School, as her family and friends follow behind her. Walking behind Monica is her mother, Nancy Ashton. Monica was paralyzed four years earlier in a van crash in which seven people died.
Ellenbecker advocates legislation
Phil Ellenbecker of Verona holds a photo of his daughter, Malinda Turvey, after testifying March 8, 2004, at the state Capitol to push for increased regulation of businesses that employ traveling sales crews. Malinda, 15 years old in the photo, was killed in a 1999 crash while working on such a crew.
Settlement reached in lawsuit
Nancy Ashton, right, assists her daughter, Monica Forgues, during a news conference Oct. 20, 2004, announcing that a $1.85 million settlement had been reached in a van crash in 1999 that killed seven people and paralyzed Forgues.
Amber Lettman
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Crystal McDaniel
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Malinda Turvey
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Joseph Wild
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
Marshall Lee Roberts
Victim of a deadly van crash carrying a door-to-door magazine sales crew March 25, 1999, on Interstate 39-90 near Janesville.
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