Man convicted in 1986 crash that killed family of 5 charged in new drunken driving case

Topeka — A man who had alcohol in his system when he killed a family of five in a crash 30 years ago has been charged with driving under the influence.

Shawnee County sheriff’s Sgt. Todd Stallbaumer said Daryl Goodnow, 52, of Meriden, was arrested early Wednesday after deputies spotted him attempting to drive a pickup truck with a light pole lodged underneath, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported. Goodnow was released from jail on bond.

The prosecutor’s office didn’t immediately return a phone message from The Associated Press. Goodnow doesn’t have a listed phone number, and Sheriff’s Lt. Danny Lotridge says he didn’t know whether Goodnow had an attorney for the DUI case.

Goodnow was 21 in February 1986 when the pickup truck he was driving crossed the center line of U.S. 75 near Hoyt and collided head-on with a rural Mayetta family’s sport utility vehicle. The crash killed Dale Edwards, 28, his wife Nancy Edwards, 26, and their three children — Daniel, 9, Angela, 4, and Kattie Jo, 3.

Goodnow’s blood alcohol content measured .07 percent, which was below the .10 level that was considered legally intoxicated at the time. Current state law prohibits driving with a blood alcohol concentration of .08 percent or higher.

A Jackson County jury convicted Goodnow of five counts of involuntary manslaughter. But the Kansas Court of Appeals later ruled that Goodnow should have been sentenced under the state’s aggravated vehicular homicide law. He initially was sentenced to 10 to 50 years, but the appeals court ruling led him to be resentenced to 5 to 25 years.

Goodnow was released in 1991 but spent more time behind bars after violating his parole with a 1995 DUI arrest on Interstate 70 in Topeka.