Justen Paul Linskie was sentenced to 88 months in prison Monday for the October 2015 death of Susan LeGarde Menz at Twin Ponds on Duluth's Skyline Parkway. Judge Shaun Floerke said there was no reason to depart from state sentencing guidelines in the case, no reason to be lenient on Linskie. Linskie, 31, was convicted Nov. 4 of criminal vehicular homicide after a jury agreed he was driving the car that struck Menz, 60, and knocked her into Twin Ponds. Menz was an avid photographer, taking photographs of fall colors when the crash occurred at about 6:30 p.m. Prosecutors contended, and the jury agreed, that Linskie fled from the scene without helping Menz, failed to call 911, hid from police, concocted false stories about the situation and never took responsibility for his actions. Menz was pulled from the water minutes after the crash by three UMD students but later died in a Duluth hospital from injuries that the medical examiner said were suffered when she was struck by the 2005 Ford Focus Linskie was driving. Defense attorneys argued during the trial that Linskie was scared and ran because he was driving his fiancee's mother's car and was skipping out on a court-ordered drug treatment session at the time of the crash. More than a dozen members of Menz' family - she was one of 14 children - were in the courtroom for the hearing and several offered courtroom statements about how much had been taken from their lives when Susan was struck and Linskie did nothing to help her. "To be honest, I don't see how the grieving will ever end for my family,'' said the victim's brother, David LeGarde. "I'm not going to forgive him for his selfish and irresponsible behavior." Linskie received credit for the 14 months he has already served in custody since being arrested. He'll serve at least two-thirds of the 88 months in prison before being released on parole, authorities said Monday. Criminal vehicular homicide carries a maximum sentence of 120 months in prison and a $20,000 fine. Linskie, who had been released early from a federal prison sentence for a drug-related charge, said Monday that he was sorry for his actions and begged the forgiveness of Menz' family and the community. But he continued to contend that he didn't realize he had struck anyone after driving off Skyline Parkway with his car ending up in the pond. "I'm so very sorry for what I've done,'' a sobbing Linskie said just before the judge sentenced him. "So help me, God, if I had known Mrs. Menz was injured or in the water, I would have done anything I could to help her." Linskie's attorney, Sonia Sturdevant, argued for a lesser 44-month sentence, saying there is no evidence of any intent or any criminal action, such as drunken or reckless driving, that led up to the crash.
But members of Menz' family said in courtroom testimony that it was Linskie's actions after the crash, running away and failing to render aid, that called for the maximum sentence possible under state guidelines.They also noted Linskie's troubled past and repeated run-ins with the law. "His actions after the accident were an affront to basic human nature. ... He left her laying there and ran away,'' said Rick Menz, Susan LeGarde Menz' husband. "It's too late for our family. But please protect the next potential victims for as long as you can." Floerke agreed. "I think it's absolutely appropriate,'' Floerke said of the 88 months. "To ignore your past doesn't make sense to me." After the hearing, Rick Menz said that his family was satisfied with the sentence. "It's not a win situation; it's an accountability situation,'' Menz told the News Tribune outside the courtroom, saying his family and the entire community demanded a serious response to the crime. "I think this sentence does that."Justen Paul Linskie was sentenced to 88 months in prison Monday for the October 2015 death of Susan LeGarde Menz at Twin Ponds on Duluth's Skyline Parkway.Judge Shaun Floerke said there was no reason to depart from state sentencing guidelines in the case, no reason to be lenient on Linskie.Linskie, 31, was convicted Nov. 4 of criminal vehicular homicide after a jury agreed he was driving the car that struck Menz, 60, and knocked her into Twin Ponds.Menz was an avid photographer, taking photographs of fall colors when the crash occurred at about 6:30 p.m.Prosecutors contended, and the jury agreed, that Linskie fled from the scene without helping Menz, failed to call 911, hid from police, concocted false stories about the situation and never took responsibility for his actions.Menz was pulled from the water minutes after the crash by three UMD students but later died in a Duluth hospital from injuries that the medical examiner said were suffered when she was struck by the 2005 Ford Focus Linskie was driving.Defense attorneys argued during the trial that Linskie was scared and ran because he was driving his fiancee's mother's car and was skipping out on a court-ordered drug treatment session at the time of the crash.More than a dozen members of Menz' family - she was one of 14 children - were in the courtroom for the hearing and several offered courtroom statements about how much had been taken from their lives when Susan was struck and Linskie did nothing to help her."To be honest, I don't see how the grieving will ever end for my family,'' said the victim's brother, David LeGarde. "I'm not going to forgive him for his selfish and irresponsible behavior."Linskie received credit for the 14 months he has already served in custody since being arrested. He'll serve at least two-thirds of the 88 months in prison before being released on parole, authorities said Monday. Criminal vehicular homicide carries a maximum sentence of 120 months in prison and a $20,000 fine.Linskie, who had been released early from a federal prison sentence for a drug-related charge, said Monday that he was sorry for his actions and begged the forgiveness of Menz' family and the community. But he continued to contend that he didn't realize he had struck anyone after driving off Skyline Parkway with his car ending up in the pond."I'm so very sorry for what I've done,'' a sobbing Linskie said just before the judge sentenced him. "So help me, God, if I had known Mrs. Menz was injured or in the water, I would have done anything I could to help her."Linskie's attorney, Sonia Sturdevant, argued for a lesser 44-month sentence, saying there is no evidence of any intent or any criminal action, such as drunken or reckless driving, that led up to the crash.
But members of Menz' family said in courtroom testimony that it was Linskie's actions after the crash, running away and failing to render aid, that called for the maximum sentence possible under state guidelines.They also noted Linskie's troubled past and repeated run-ins with the law."His actions after the accident were an affront to basic human nature. ... He left her laying there and ran away,'' said Rick Menz, Susan LeGarde Menz' husband. "It's too late for our family. But please protect the next potential victims for as long as you can."Floerke agreed."I think it's absolutely appropriate,'' Floerke said of the 88 months. "To ignore your past doesn't make sense to me."After the hearing, Rick Menz said that his family was satisfied with the sentence."It's not a win situation; it's an accountability situation,'' Menz told the News Tribune outside the courtroom, saying his family and the entire community demanded a serious response to the crime. "I think this sentence does that."
