Hunt for Justice by Cynthia Hunt
This isn’t one of my flashier posts about chasing a serial killer or another high profile crime that I have covered. It is about an alleged killer—a woman who investigators say got wasted at a martini bar, jumped behind the wheel of her car, and drove it 100 mph into the back of an innocent mother’s vehicle. (Cheryl Guberman, pictured left, died in the accident)
If you think you are mad now, wait until you hear what Pamela Pugh allegedly said after the crash.
Officers Say Pugh Made Up a Big Lie
This isn’t one of my flashier posts about chasing a serial killer or another high profile crime that I have covered. It is about an alleged killer—a woman who investigators say got wasted at a martini bar, jumped behind the wheel of her car, and drove it 100 mph into the back of an innocent mother’s vehicle. (Cheryl Guberman, pictured left, died in the accident)
If you think you are mad now, wait until you hear what Pamela Pugh allegedly said after the crash.
Officers Say Pugh Made Up a Big Lie
Constables on the scene say Pugh told them an elaborate story of how another car cut her off, caused her to hit the toll road’s concrete barrier, and then fled the scene. Deputies could not see Guberman’s truck which had actually plunged into the dark woods 44 feet below and down the road from where Pugh stopped.
Two hours later the husband and son of 44-year-old Cheryl Guberman found her dead in her wrecked vehicle. That night, Cheryl was simply driving on the Hardy Toll Road, the road that many Houstonians take to the airport, to pick up one of her sons. Cheryl was a mom of four.
Technology Tells On Pamela
Technology is a great thing.
Pugh’s blood alcohol content showed she was 0.19—more than double the state’s legal limit.
Technology disproved Pugh’s story in another big way.
Car Computer Proves Pugh Drove 115 MPH
The computer on Pugh’s Chrysler Sebring shows she was driving 115 mph five seconds before the crash and 100 mph one-tenth of a second before impact. The computer also shows that Pugh slammed into Guberman without ever hitting her brakes.
Pugh, who was at first charged with DWI, now faces charges of intoxication manslaughter thanks to all that technology.
Technology could have …and should have…saved Cheryl Guberman’s life.
Can We Charge The Texas Senate with Intoxication Manslaughter Too?
It probably won’t surprise you that Pugh was convicted of drunk driving in 2007.
It’s no secret that convicted drunk drivers continue to drink and continue to drive. I’ve done the story. Other reporters continue to do the story. Studies prove it. Graves illustrate it. The devastated families left behind can tell you about it.
Jury Sentences Texas Drunk to 75 Years in Prison for Ninth DWI
Just outside of Houston, TX in Brazoria County, a jury just sent Keith Peltier to prison for 75 years. It was his ninth DWI conviction. Peltier’s attorney Jon Jaworski says the sentence is too severe and that his client was not drunk but in diabetic shock.Really Jon?
You expected a jury of fine Texans to believe that one? Even if you are right, your client should have been locked up years ago. It shouldn’t take nine DWI convictions to get these liquored-up killing machines off the road.
As for Pugh, she has now hired defense attorney Troy McKinney, a man the Houston Chronicle says is known for successfully defending DWI cases.
My heart breaks for all the Guberman children. One of Cheryl’s sons graduated from high school the same week his mother was killed.
Technology could save the lives of other moms like Cheryl if the Texas legislature would simply do its job and use it. Perhaps the Senators can make time in their busy calendars to schedule a hearing and listen to Cheryl's husband of 23 years or her four children…especially the son who helped his dad find his mom’s body.
