Crime & Safety

Gilroy Woman Convicted of Murder for DUI Crash Sentenced to 30 Years to Life

Stacey Lonnberg flipped her Toyota Tacoma on Highway 85 in Los Gatos in Jan. 14, 2012 expelling her 26-year-old daughter, Tiffiny Gillette, 50 feet from the car. Her husband, Frederic Lonnberg, 67, died after being rushed to an area hospital.

A woman who killed her daughter and husband in a drunken driving crash on Highway 85 in Los Gatos in January of 2012 was sentenced to 30 years to life with no possibility for parole Friday morning by a Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge.

A woman who killed her daughter and husband in a drunken driving crash on Highway 85 in Los Gatos in January of 2012 was sentenced to 30 years to life with no possibility for parole Friday morning by a Santa Clara County Superior Court Judge.

On July 30, a jury convicted Stacy Lonnberg, 52, of Gilroy, of two counts of second-degree murder and one count of child endangerment in connection with the Jan. 14, 2012 rollover crash.

Killed during the crash was her 67-year-old husband Frederic Lonnberg and her 26-year-old daughter, Tiffiny Gillette, who was ejected 50 feet from the car.

Her 1-year-old grandson in the car was not injured.

When the accident occurred, Lonnberg was under the effects of seven to eight drinks of vodka and the pain medication oxycodone, according to the Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Matt Braker.

Lonnberg's defense attorney Santa Clara County Deputy Public Defender Javier Rios said his client "understands why people hate her over this case because she hates herself over what she did."

Said Rios: "Ms. Lonnberg is not asking for forgiveness over this because she cannot ever forgive herself for this. She is not asking for sympathy because she does not feel sorry for herself. She only feels sorry for the pain and loss that she has caused. No words can describe how [she] feels over accidentally killing her beloved husband and daughter. But 'devastated' is a word that comes close."

Adam Simms, Tiffiny Gillette's husband after secretly marrying her in October of 2011, told Patch that Tiffiny had been at home with him until Jan. 12, 2012, two days before the fatal crash.

On Jan. 12, 2012, Simms said Tiffiny received a text message from Stacey Lonnberg that stated, “You are dead to me. I’ll make sure it stays that way.”

Simms said Tiffiny went down to her mother's home that evening to try and work things out and on Jan. 13, she sent him a photo image of a positive pregnancy test.

"Apparently the pregnancy was a Tubal pregnancy and not viable. We did not know that though," Simms said.

Tiffiny was supposed to return on Jan. 13, 2012, but Stacey Lonnberg refused to bring her home, Simms said.

On the day of the tragedy, Jan. 14, 2012, Tiffiny called Simms at 1:10 p.m. to tell him she was getting ready to come home.

"She told me she loved me and would see me in 1½ hours. I never heard from her again. I was not informed about the accident. I heard about it, two days later, when a friend called me to ask me if it was true. Is Tiffiny really dead?" Simms said.

"I suffered a nervous breakdown and financial ruin after Tiffiny’s death. She killed me, too. She destroyed my life,” he said.
 
Rios said Lonnberg has taken responsibility for what happened. "The issue, however, was whether or not her actions constituted murder as the law defines murder," he said.

"We still feel that she is not guilty of murder. When she drove her car that fateful day, she explained to the jury that she honestly failed to understand the risk she posed to her life and the lives of others," Rios added.

The Santa Clara County Probation Department had prepared a formal report, recommending that Lonnberg's sentence be 15 years to life, Rios said.

During Lonnberg's trial, a prosecution witness testified that her blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was about .20, more than twice the legal limit for drunkenness.


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