The state vs. John Ludwig

The solicitor's statement to the court

by Staff

State vs. John Ludwig

"On April 25, 2009 at approximately 9 p.m., the defendant, John Ludwig left a wedding reception being held at Greene Valley Country Club in the northern part of Greenville County driving his Maserati vehicle. He and another guest at the reception Will McKibbon, the Chief Legal Officer for Mr. Ludwig's Company, had agreed to meet at a local downtown restaurant for dinner. Mr. McKibbon was driving a 2005 BMW 545 Sedan and left the reception just shortly before Mr. Ludwig. To get to their destination, they proceeded on Roe Ford Road towards US 251P0insett Highway, which would lead them back to Greenville. Roe Ford Road is a two lane, curvy, residential road with a posted speed limit of35 mph.

Mr. McKibbon, who was a slight distance ahead of Mr. Ludwig, gave a statement to investigators that in summary related the following: that he was driving between 50-60 mph, and that he saw John Ludwig's car in his rear view mirror at a distance of several hundred yards behind him, he then saw Mr. Ludwig's car pass him on the left, cut in front of him and then go off the right hand side of the road.

Referring to Photograph # I of the attached Exhibits for an overview of this event, the South Carolina Highway Patrol Multi-disciplinary

Accident Investigation Team (MAlT) determined that both Mr. McKibbon and Mr. Ludwig entered Roe Ford Road at Arrow # 1; that a no passing zone, designated by a solid yellow line, began on Roe Ford Road at Arrow #2 and continues for at least 785 feet within which Mr. Ludwig passed Mr. McKibbon. The no passing zone is marked in this area because the road goes into a sharp, blind curve and is not safe for passing. Arrow #3 denotes where on the roadway there appears the first mark evidencing Mr. Ludwig's loss of control of his vehicle. At this point the minimum calculated speed of Ludwig's Maserati was determined by MAlT to be between 85 & 96 mph while actual speed could have exceeded 100 mph. This speed was reached in a posted speed zone of35 mph at which time Mr. Ludwig was driving left of center in a no passing zone.

The tire markings in the road continue from Arrow #3 and Arrow #4 where the Maserati begins to leave the paved roadway, after which it travels through the field before braking begins at Arrow #5. The car then travels through the remainder of the field, through a thicket of trees, off an embankment when it becomes airborne crashing into and through the Bardsley residence killing Mr. Bardsley.

To look at this event in more detail, we start with Photograph #2 which shows the first 785' of the no passing zone going up Roe Ford Road up to the point where the first tire mark on the road evidencing Mr. Ludwig's loss of control of his vehicle. The 35 mph posted speed limit sign is designated on Photograph #2. The no passing zone continues well past this point around the curve. Photograph #3 shows the posted speed limit sign in the no passing zone from ground level and Photograph #4 (taken the day after the incident) shows the location of the first front righ tire mark on the pavement evidencing Mr. Ludwig's loss of control of the Maserati. Photographs #5 & 6 reveal the continuation of the tire marks on the road evidencing the right front lire of the Maserati as it is continuing out of control. The darker color indicates weight shift of the car to the right and the tire beginning to turn sideways rather than rolling straight. Photograph #7 evidences the point that the right front wheel of the Maserati left the pavement and the path that the car began to take across the field.

Photograph #8 evidences the car as it is sliding out of control across the field showing four (4) tire marks as the car is beginning to turn sideways. The middle mark in the den between the tire tracks is where the car bottomed out. Photograph #9 reveals the point in the field where the car has straightened up, is under control with all tires running straight This is where braking begins with all tires skidding and the car bottoming out again as reflected by the exposed dirt in between the skidding wheels.

Photographs covering a period of .71-4.04 seconds before applying brakes. At the point brakes were applied, his minimum calculated speed had decreased to 75-78 mph and skidding began with braking for a distance of 159.76 feet over a time period of one and a half seconds. During that period his speed was reduced to a minimum calculated at 61-62 mph and he passed through a thicket of trees going over a 9' embankment, becoming airborne.

Diagrams C. D & E show a side view of the events from the embankment to the house and Diagram F shows an overview of those events including the car passing through the house. After becoming airborne the Maserati traveled 65.14 feet crashing through the back wall of the house landing 12' inside the den of Mr. Bardsley's residence striking and killing Mr. Bardsley as he watched T.V. Photograph # 14 shows the point of entry at the rear of the house and Photographs 15 & 16 show the damage to the interior of the residence. The car then proceeded another 62.97 feet through the front wall of the house (Photograph 17) and out into the front yard where it came to rest (Photographs # 18 & 19). Mr. Bardsley died of blunt force trauma to the head and chest as determined by Dr. Michael Ward, Chief Medical Examiner for

Greenville County. Mr. Ludwig in his statement to police said he swerved to the right to avoid a deer causing him to run offt he road. Mr. McKibbon who was in the same location when Mr. Ludwig ran off the road said he did not see any deer. Those are the facts which the State would submit as underlying the plea of guilty to reckless homicide.

At the appropriate time I would like to address some comments to the Court relevant to sentencing. Furthermore the victim's family would like to address the court through their attorney at the appropriate time.

The following 39 pages of attachment G are documents relating to Mr. Ludwig's prior driving history, which includes convictions for twenty (20) speeding violations, two (2) negligent driving violations, and two (2) accidents at which he was cited at fault on the accident report."

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