Asia-Pacific
Guam man gets life sentence for US sailor’s DUI murder
By
Stars and Stripes November 20, 2013
Travis J. Tritten tritten.travis@stripes.com
Stars and Stripes November 20, 2013
Petty Officers 2nd Class Anna Sterling, left, and Sasha Hutchinson take measurements during a Habitat for Humanity community relations project on Guam in January 2012. Sterling was killed July 23, 2012, when her motorcycle was struck by an allegedly intoxicated driver, who has been charged with murder. (Claire Farin/Courtesy of the U.S. Navy)
CAMP FOSTER, Okinawa — A Guam man who struck and killed a U.S. sailor on her motorcycle hours after attending a felony DUI hearing has received what might be the first drunk-driving murder conviction and life sentence in the history of the territory, Guam officials said.
Endy Timoti was given life in prison with the possibility of parole plus three years for driving under the influence as part of plea agreement Friday, according to the Guam attorney general’s office. He had been charged with murder and “extreme indifference to the value of human life” for the DUI death of Petty Officer 2nd Class Anna Sterling.
In July 2012, Timoti pulled his red hatchback out of an apartment complex in Agat, crossed over into an oncoming lane and plowed into the motorcycle of the 43-year-old sailor, who worked at the Naval Computer and Telecommunications Station.
Sterling tried to avoid the head-on collision but was run over, dragged a few feet and trapped under Timoti’s car, the attorney general’s office said in a released statement.
Witnesses tried to help Sterling and urged Timoti to stay inside the car to avoid movement that could cause more injuries to the sailor, the statement said, but Timoti forced open his car door and got out.
He then walked back to his nearby apartment without offering to help Sterling, authorities said.
Guam police tested Timoti after the collision and found he had a blood alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit. When officers confronted him about the crash, he claimed it was Sterling’s fault.
Timoti had just attended a court hearing regarding an upcoming felony DUI trial — his second in five years — earlier that day and was warned by the court not to drive, according to a criminal complaint filed at the time.
The “stiff sentence” and murder conviction handed down Friday sends a message to repeat drunk drivers, Attorney General Lenny Rapadas said in the statement. His office said a data check showed that the case may be the first drunk-driving murder conviction on Guam.
Sterling’s commanding officer said she was one of his most well-liked sailors. She had been stationed on Guam since 2009, when she started her tour on the island aboard the USS Frank Cable, and had transferred to the communications station in May 2012.