Collision Course
In 2005, a young woman bent on self-destruction intentionally drove her car into the back of another. She lived. Three musicians on their lunch break died. This year, as her prison sentence comes to its end, the case remains a tragedy without closure or explanation.
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Shure Inc. is headquartered in a massive glass-and-steel building so shiny and modern that it overpowers the everyday suburbia that surrounds it. On the inside, the office is far more casual, more like the people who work there. A Niles-based manufacturer of audio equipment, Shure hires many musicians and practices an informal credo of being flexible, letting employees make time to gig, tour, or count on getting to weekly band practice. The way Dahlquist, Glick, and Meis saw it, the place was a haven for realistic types: people who aspired to play music full-time, but stayed grounded enough not to count on it.
Dahlquist was a technical writer on the sixth floor and Glick worked a few desks away in marketing and communications. Meis worked on the fifth floor in customer service. All three men were close, literally and figuratively. During the week, the guys talked around each other's desks, played pranks, met in the Shure break room for chess, or went to lunch. Outside of work, each was in a band: Dahlquist was the drummer in the intricate rock band Silkworm, Glick played guitar and sang in the garage-rock outfit The Returnables, and Meis had been the drummer in Exo and The Dials, the latter a punk band in which Glick's wife, Rebecca Crawford, played bass and sang. The guys got together to see one another's shows or other bands, sing karaoke, and barbecue.
On this day, the friends spontaneously headed to one of their favorite lunch spots, Pita Inn, about four miles away on Dempster Street. "It was always just, 'Hey, let's go'—we're going to grab lunch and laugh our asses off," explains Jim MacGregor, a friend of the three from work. "It probably happened once a week, at a minimum. Any one of us could have gone."
Sometime after 11:30 a.m., Dahlquist walked over to Glick's desk and said, "Let's go." Glick asked if anyone else wanted to join them. A few desks away, Jon Stookey replied, "No, thanks"; he'd brought his lunch for the first time in months. MacGregor, also within earshot, said he had to work, especially because he had a meeting with Glick at 2:30 p.m. to go over the wording on some technical brochures.
Three years later, MacGregor describes the "what if's" that linger: What if Stookey had gone? What if their morning meetings had run late? What if he had gone—but stopped at a drinking fountain and delayed the trip? "All the things that might have happened differently," he says. "The questions can drive you crazy."
The three friends piled into Dahlquist's black Honda Civic. Maybe they took Lehigh Avenue. Maybe they were on Gross Point Road. Regardless, the last 20 minutes of their lives come down to this: It was a beautiful summer day, and Michael Dahlquist, John Glick, and Doug Meis were on lunch break. "All I know," says Tim Midgett, a friend of the three and a bandmate of Dahlquist's, "is that they couldn't have been having a bad time."
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Reader Comments:
Thank you for this piece. People should never forget the amazing souls that were Doug, John, and Mike. I'm glad you were able to capture a piece of how much they meant to us all.
Why does your fragile mental state entitle you to another chance to do this again? Clearly, if she just wasn't in control of herself due to psychiatric problems and prescription drugs, then there is no reason why she wouldn't just hop in another car and kill more people in the future. Either she can control herself or she can't.
I knew John in high school. Everything written here about his character is true - he was always laughing, always making other people laugh, creative, talented, vibrant, magnetic, dynamic, in love, absolutely head over heels in love with music...
But some judge bent over backwards to make excuses for her. He should remember that when she gets her license back, it could be his family sitting there at the red light.
I saw this on "Snapped" last night (not so pretty without the hair dye and all that make-up, is she? Empty eyes, no soul behind them whatsover.)
Why was she allowed to get away with three murders?
Why were those three men's lives held so cheaply?
And she's going to be allowed to drive again? That's outrageous.
That judge should be removed from the bench immediately.
Terry Callen
Gloucester City, NJ
I cannot believe this woman is being set free. They say she is mentally ill, so she apparently needs mental help. She is sick, and the thought of death didn't stop her from this crime, so why should jail? I say revoke her license and get her the help she needs.
What is wrong with the justice system in this country????? Very very sad. My prayers are with the families of the victims.
A sad event yes, but all too often we say 'justice was not served' and blame the system when we confuse justice with vengeance. What would Rebecca call adequate closure in this situation? Who would decide weather that punishment was just?
There are only a couple of methods of justice I can think of in this case. Life imprisonment (which I would gladly put my tax money into) or banishment. I do not always believe in eye for an eye so I can't wish her death, but this is a travesty of justice.
I went to school with Jeanette for 15 years, she is a great person who has gone through a lot the last few years. Everyone in our towns feel for the 3 guys that were killed, but we also feel for Jeanette who is seriously ill and needs help. She wanted to kill herself, not someone else. Its just sad that it all happened differently. Whats done is done. Everyone should pray for her return to health, and for the health of the victims families.
I live in Columbus, Ohio where just a few days ago a guy was sentenced to 34 years in prison for killing three asian students in a 'similar fashion'. His SUV hit another car and went airborne causing a 9 car accident. His excuse was he got mad at a driver on a cell phone and the fast food restaurant didn't prepare his sandwiches right. Difference here is he killed 2 people in another accident that he got jail time for (believe 10 years) www.wbns10tv.com (for the story). Jason Skaggs was his name. I remember a woman on trial for killing a mother and her 2 (maybe 3) daughter's. Was aired on CourtTV (live) a few years back. Alcohol 'involved'. She got 60 years. Was her 4th OMVI and not sure if other accidents involved deaths. This doesn't surprise me at all. Electing a new president won't change anything. We need a 'clean sweep' of our people in D.C. People killed by drunk drivers is nothing more than an accepted form of 'population control' or our laws would be more severe. Every night people drink in millions of bars in this country and drive home. You never read about the guy who was killed by the driver smoking pot. Forgive me for bringing this up but the penalties are harsher for marijuanna related offenses. Speaking from experience you can only get so 'high' yet we can drink until we blackout and not remember anything the next day (speaking from experience there too). Rapists get more jail time than murderers. How does that make sense. Andrew Luster got more than 100 years and he didn't kill anybody. Why should murderers get less time and often if they are young enough (like Sliwinski) still have a lot of their life ahead of them. The people running our government is is the problem otherwise we would be finding alternative fuels but then the oil companies would lose money and the government doesn't want that. Think about the guy paying .63 cents a gallon in Utah for propane in his Honda GX.
Left one thing out. The woman who got 60 years dog was in her car at the time of the accident and her first concer (she asked the officer at the scene) how her dog was instead of inquiring into the 'carnage' she was responsible for.