The county district attorney’s office announced that 34-year-old Patrick Wayne McDuffee Jr. of Nipomo has been sentenced to 9 years plus 15 years to life in state prison for murder and DUI causing great bodily injury.
His guilty plea is for the second-degree murder of 72-year-old Glenn Howard Owens, and seriously injuring Susan Margaret Owens. The incident occurred on August 6, 2021 in Avila Beach, when McDuffee Jr. crashed his pickup head-on with a van driven by Glenn Owens, who was killed in the collision. Glenn’s wife, Susan Owens, was seriously injured.
The DA’s office says that McDuffee Jr. was under the influence of multiple prescription drugs at the time of the collision. According to the DA’s office, under California law, a fatal collision may be prosecuted as second-degree murder where the evidence establishes the offender was aware their manner of driving was likely to result in serious injury or death, and drove with a conscious disregard for the safety of others.
Evidence revealed that McDuffee Jr. had completed an intensive 18-month DUI program, and has had four prior DUI convictions.
