Key evidence sold as scrap

A drunken driver linked to the deaths of two pedestrians when parts from his car were found near their bodies has avoided a lengthy prison term because Kansas City authorities sold key evidence – his car – for scrap.

Scott Weber, 25, of Independence, Missouri, was sentenced yesterday to 120 days of prison substance abuse treatment and three years’ probation.

Prosecutors agreed to the light sentence when they learned Weber’s car, seized after the deaths, was sold to a salvager two months after the September 2004 accident and destroyed.

The car was critical to the case because no witnesses could identify Weber as the driver, prosecutor Teresa Moore said.

The director of the city towing operation at the time of the mistake, Clay Ancell, resigned in January after he was arrested in a city-owned vehicle for allegedly driving while drunk on a suspended licence.

Weber, who had a previous conviction for driving while intoxicated, told police he did not remember leaving a friend’s house the night Roxanne Bradshaw, 47, and Juan Avila, 32, were killed. Before leaving, he had consumed a half-pint of bourbon and taken a muscle relaxer.

Police in suburban Liberty, Missouri, said Weber was “incoherent and confused” and his vehicle was damaged when they stopped him that night.

Weber pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, drunken driving and leaving the scene of the crash.

If he successfully completes probation, the convictions will be wiped from his record.