San Luis Obispo County District Attorney Dan Dow announced the sentencing of a Nipomo man who pleaded guilty to charges involving a deadly DUI crash.
According to the DA's office, Patrick Wayne McDuffee, 34, of Nipomo, is sentenced to 9 years plus 15 years to life in state prison for his guilty plea to murder and DUI causing great bodily injury.
The incident happened in Avila Beach on August 6, 2021, when the DA's office said McDuffee failed to make a turn on San Luis Bay Drive when he crashed his Ford F-250 pickup head-on with a Mercedes Sprinter van driven by Glenn Owens. Susan Owens, Glenn's wife, was in the front passenger seat of the van. Glenn died as a result of the crash and Susan was seriously injured.
McDuffee was determined to have been under the influence of multiple prescription drugs at the time of the crash.
The guilty pleas include second-degree murder of 72-year-old Owens, and to driving under the influence of drugs causing injury.
The killing of Glenn Owens was prosecuted as second-degree murder based on McDuffee's four prior DUI convictions, two of which were felonies, including an incident in 2010 where he nearly killed another motorist in a rear-end crash.
The defendant also admitted that he personally inflicted great bodily injury on Susan Owens in the collision and that he had suffered a prior conviction for driving under the influence of drugs causing great bodily injury in the 2010 incident, a strike under California's Three Strikes Law.
Under California law, a fatal collision may be prosecuted as second-degree murder where the evidence establishes the offender was aware that their manner of driving was likely to result in serious injury or death and, with that knowledge, drove with conscious disregard for the safety of others.
The evidence in this case established that McDuffee had completed an intensive 18-month DUI program where he received education on the dangers of driving under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol. Additionally, in each of his four prior DUI convictions, he was provided a warning by the court.
At the sentencing hearing, nine family members and a friend of forty years provided statements to the court describing Glenn Owens as a loving father, husband, and friend who was a Naval Vietnam veteran, outdoorsman, Master Gardener, Big Brother of America, mentor to many, and a remarkably disciplined man with a bright smile.
