Driver Testifies About Day Of Fatal Crash: ‘I Was Drunk’

As relatives of his victims sobbed, James Barstad recounted the final seconds before his pickup truck rammed into three vehicles - killing a woman and a teenage girl.

Testifying Wednesday at his Spokane murder trial, Barstad struggled to make sense of what happened last May 25.

He left his girlfriend’s house shortly before the accident, he said. She had been yelling at him.

“I was more confused, than angry,” he said, adding that earlier that day he downed three pitchers of beer.

Dressed in a black suit and white shirt, his best explanation for the crash came in three words: “I was drunk.”

Barstad is charged with two counts of first-degree murder for killing 14-year-old Julie Allen and 26-year-old Karen Sederholm, both of Spokane. Witnesses previously testified in Spokane County Superior Court that Barstad raced his truck at 50 mph into the intersection of Hamilton and Mission.

Afterward, his blood-alcohol level was measured at 0.16 percent - well above the legal limit to drive.

Defense attorney Al Rossi asked Barstad why he hit the intersection at such a high rate of speed.

“I didn’t think I could stop,” the defendant said.

What did he remember next, Rossi asked.

“All I remember was the collision and feeling uuuhhhh,” he said, emitting a loud groan. “Everything after that was black.”

Barstad, 30, said he didn’t realize what had happened until he was on his way, in a police car, to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

It was then that he heard, on police radio, of the two deaths.

“I rolled over and thought, I can’t deal with this.”

Closing arguments will be presented today, with jurors expected to begin deliberations this afternoon.

If the jury convicts him of the murder charges, rare in such cases, Barstad faces life in prison. If convicted of alternate charges of vehicular homicide, he could face 10 years or more for each death.

Among the people watching the trial are about a dozen relatives of the victims and representatives of Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

During a recess Wednesday, Karen Sederholm’s mother said her pain would stay the same even if Barstad is sent to prison for life.

“There’ll never be any closure or relief for what I feel,” said Linda Sederholm. She, her husband Charles Sederholm, and a son came from Santa Maria, Calif., to attend the trial.

Though Barstad expressed remorse for causing the deaths, Linda Sederholm said she left the courtroom feeling angry.

“At least it’s not sadness I feel. I can deal with anger,” she said.

During cross-examination Wednesday, Deputy Prosecutor Larry Steinmetz aimed to show that Barstad knew what he was doing in the moments leading up to the crash.

Barstad yelled at one driver and ran a red light several blocks from the Hamilton intersection.

“You were making conscious decisions at the time,” Steinmetz said.

Barstad admitted that he was.

“And you knew that running red lights at a high speed creates the likelihood of killing someone?” the prosecutor asked.

Yes, Barstad said.

, DataTimes ILLUSTRATION: Photo