A Day Of Tears


EAST BROOKFIELD- Mourners leave the funeral service for 16-year-old Geno A. Waugh yesterday in St. John the Baptist Church. Mr. Waugh, of 355 East Main St., was a sophomore at David Prouty High School. He and John A. Soboleski III were killed Tuesday when the car in which they were riding collided with an oil truck.

 
Pallbearers carry the casket of John A. Soboleski III, of 354 Howe St., out of St. John the Baptist Church after his funeral service yesterday morning.


 

ositive experience, take them.  And pray for better days.Picture              Picture
 Car that Geno, John and Seth where in

 


 SPENCER- Speed, wet roads and worn tires created a deadly formula, police say, that led to the auto accident that claimed the lives of two David Prouty High School students and criminal charges being filed against the 17-year-old driver.

Seth W. Stockenberg, of 53 Walnut St., North Brookfield, received a criminal citation Monday stemming from the April 13 accident on Route 9 near Klem's department store, Police Chief David B. Darrin said.

Mr. Stockenberg faces charges on two counts of motor vehicle homicide by negligent driving, driving to endanger, failing to stay within marked lanes, speeding, seat belt violation and two counts of a tire tread depth violation, Chief Darrin said.

Speed was the overwhelming factor that caused Mr. Stockenberg to lose control of the 1998 Honda Civic he was driving and to crash it into an oil delivery truck owned by Cleghorn Oil Co. of Fitchburg, Chief Darrin said. Mr. Stockenberg was traveling at an estimated 65 to 75 mph in a 50 mph zone, he said.

``Speed was the primary factor. Number two would be the weather and a close third would be tire tread depth,'' Chief Darrin said. The two rear tires were considerably worn, he said.

Mr. Stockenberg and the two 16-year-old victims, Geno A. Waugh and John A. Soboleski III, were not wearing seat belts, police said.

Mr. Stockenberg's appearance in court depends on two factors, Chief Darrin said. ``He can do one of two things. He can request a hearing within four days of receiving the citation to go before the clerk magistrate, or he can take no action and be summoned by the court and be arraigned before a judge in East Brookfield court (Western Worcester District Court),'' Chief Darrin said.

Chief Darrin said drivers should take weather and road conditions into consideration when determining their speed. ``The speed should be appropriate for what the conditions are. With poor weather conditions, a driver could technically be going too fast even if the driver is going the speed limit,'' he said.

Officer Stephen P. Lebrun and Sgt. Michael Befford of the Spencer police investigated the accident with the assistance of Troopers David Wilson and John Jacobowski of the state police accident reconstruction unit and Trooper Robert Soojain of the state police truck team.

 

 
 Prouty garden to hail victims

SPENCER- A garden of eternal friendship to honor two 16-year-old students killed in a motor vehicle accident will be erected in June at David Prouty High School.

Students are trying to raise $1,200 to buy a granite bench and scrapbook that would serve as a memorial to classmates Geno A. Waugh and John A. Soboleski III, who were killed April 13 in an auto accident on Route 9.

Two benches and a garden will be placed at the front doors of the high school in remembrance of the two teens and to remind students to drive safely.

"There is a lot of concern about finding a vehicle by which students can express their grief. We (faculty) thought this would be another way to help them cope," said Elizabeth A. Percy, the high school's librarian.

Students began collecting donations Tuesday during lunch period. They collected $175. Any money raised beyond $1,200 will be divided between two scholarship funds created in the names of Geno and John.

Volunteer lists are being filled with names of students who want to devote time to the effort, even if that means coming to school on weekends to finish the project by a June 15 dedication ceremony.

Ms. Percy will help students create a memorial scrapbook about the two East Brookfield teens that will be kept in the school's library.

"We were trying to figure out what to do with all the things that the students had decorated the boys' lockers with. We've been scanning and copying everything that was out there, and the originals were returned to the families," Ms. Percy said.

The day after the accident, students adorned their deceased friends' lockers with pictures, poems, letters and other memorabilia, and also inscribed messages on their classroom desks and favorite lunch tables.

Pictures have been taken of the desks and tables to add the scrapbook, along with any other items students might want to include.

Nancy Gingras, an English teacher at David Prouty, said community support for the project has been astounding, with local companies, such as Sansoucy Stone of Worcester and Kresco Landscaping of Spencer, offering donations that include one bench and help with the garden.

When students returned from school vacation April 26, a noticeable void existed, particularly in the classrooms where the seats of the two teens remained empty, Ms. Gingras said.

"Some were ready to get back into school, and some felt a lingering sorrow," Ms. Gingras said. "It was not that they didn't want to go on, but they felt guilty in doing so. We wanted to help them deal with their sorrow and grief by giving them something concrete and tangible to work with.

"We really want the kids to be the ones who are running this. They will be helping with the landscaping and heading the fund raising. It will give them a sense of control at a time when they feel they have lost control in their lives," she said.

Ms. Gingras said anyone interested in making a donation to the memorial may call the high school at (508) 885-8505.

 

The Sentencing
 

Teen sentenced in Rt. 9 deaths

13 years’ probation in Spencer crash

 
By Justin T. Martin TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
 



EAST BROOKFIELD—



Seth W. Stockenberg
 
 

Shoulders slouched, chin upon his chest, eyes staring at the floor, 18-year-old Seth W. Stockenberg stood silently in handcuffs and chains in front of Western Worcester District Court Judge Charles A. Abdella yesterday afternoon and waited.

His lawyer, Joseph Brennan, and the assistant district attorney, J. Todd Mathieson, had suggested various punishments to the judge for Mr. Stockenberg’s role in the death of his two friends in a two-car accident on a rainy April 13 afternoon.

Judge Abdella listened to their sentencing proposals and was silently writing his own.

Before suggesting 20 years of probation and 500 hours of community service, Mr. Mathieson recounted the crash.

He told the judge that witnesses reported seeing Mr. Stockenberg weaving a 1998 Honda Civic through traffic as he drove west on Route 9 past the Big Y Shopping Plaza in Spencer. Moments later he lost control of the vehicle on the slick roads. The car spun across the center lane and into oncoming traffic, slamming rear end first into an oncoming oil delivery truck, Mr. Mathieson said.

Mr. Stockenberg’s passengers, Geno A. Waugh, and John A. Soboleski III, both 16 and both from East Brookfield, were ejected from the vehicle and killed, he said.

Spencer police charged Mr. Stockenberg, now a senior at David Prouty High School, with eight criminal counts, including motor vehicle homicide, negligent driving and speeding.

Mr. Stockenberg’s lawyer did not dispute the facts.

Mr. Brennan said Mr. Stockenberg feels terrible about the tragedy and said he had wanted to write letters to the families of his dead friends expressing his sorrow and accepting full responsibility for his actions.

Mr. Brennan said Mr. Stockenberg told him he wished it were him and not his friends who died that day.

Finished with his writing, Judge Abdella looked up from the bench and out at the families of the three boys affected by the tragedy, then addressed Mr. Stockenberg.

“To you, sir, you need not be reminded that in a split second your actions irreparably changed the lives of many families,” Judge Abdella said. “You are left with an imprint on your life that you will sustain every day of your life. No law, no court can adequately achieve a sufficient resolution. True and genuine justice is not easily achieved. The burden and sorrow you suffer from cannot be removed from the law.”

Judge Abdella then sentenced Mr. Stockenberg to 13 years of supervised probation, during which he will not be allowed to drive a motor vehicle in Massachusetts, and 600 hours of community service.

He said 400 hours is to be served at a severe head injury treatment center, and 200 hours is to be served lecturing high school students in Spencer and surrounding towns on the dangers of reckless driving.

The judge suspended a 2-1/2 year prison sentence, crediting the North Brookfield youth with the last 31 days he spent in the Worcester County House of Correction for violating the original terms of probation. In October, North Brookfield police charged Mr. Stockenberg with possession of a Class D substance. The 18-year-old had been incarcerated since then.

In addition, Judge Abdella ordered Mr. Stockenberg to undergo a drug and alcohol abuse treatment program and submit to random drug tests.

Mr. Stockenberg will be eligible for a driver’s license in November 2017.

“I urge you, in the strongest of terms, to comply with these conditions,” Judge Abdella told Mr. Stockenberg. “Any violation of this probation will invoke action you will not be happy with.”

Family members of the victims, through a Spencer police officer, declined to comment at the conclusion of the court proceedings.

 

 

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