Sause sent to prison for fatal crash

By Cori Bolger

The Lake Oswego Review, Aug 9, 2006, Updated Oct 30, 2009

Jonathan House / Lake Oswego Review

Cory Sause wipes away a tear while listening to her lawyer, Stephen Houze, address the courtoom Tuesday during a plea agreement hearing. Sause was behind the wheel of a car that hit a vehicle driven by Patrick Kibler on Dec. 21, 2004. Kibler was killed in the accident; Sause’s blood-alcohol level was .19 percent.

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Flanked by relatives and wearing large, designer sunglasses to cover her face, Cory Sause strode briskly on her high heels past the Kibler family and into the Clackamas County Courthouse on Tuesday.

The awkward, first-time contact between the Kiblers and the woman who killed their loved one passed without verbal or physical acknowledgement.

Later, after Sause pled guilty to three counts stemming from the Dec. 21, 2004, car crash that killed 21-year-old Patrick Kibler, the Kiblers took turns telling Sause how the accident continues to haunt their family and how they pray constantly for Sause to change her ways.

“It’s amazing this day is finally here,” Patrick’s mother, Vicki Kibler told Sause. “Our lives will be intertwined forever.”

The fatal crash, which took place on South Shore Boulevard in Lake Oswego, also injured Kibler’s younger brother, Scott. Sause, 27, had a blood-alcohol level of .19 percent, more than twice the legal limit of .08 percent.

“I don’t think any of us harbor animosity toward you,” said Patrick’s father, John Kibler, as he choked back emotion. “The feelings we have are of extreme sadness … The one good thing to come out of this is if it helps your life in the future.”

Sause showed little reaction as Judge Robert Selander handed down a combined plea bargain sentence of 60 months with the Oregon Department of Corrections with potential for an “alternative program,” such as an alcohol-treatment program, after 33 months served.

Additionally, two counts of possession of a controlled substance were dismissed while the original second-degree manslaughter charge was reduced to criminal negligent homicide.

The agreement was reached this summer between the Clackamas County district attorney’s office and Sause’s attorney, Stephen Houze. Houze is known for defending several high-profile clients that include then-Portland Trail Blazer Damon Stoudamire, Portland police officer Gina Hoesly and Taliban supporter Maher “Mike” Hawash.

Selander called the sentence “necessary and appropriate.”

Clutching a cross on a gold chain, Sause made occasional eye contact with the Kiblers and fidgeted in her chair. Occasionally, she leaned over to whisper to Houze or turn to look at her family.

Relatives on both sides of the courtroom dabbed their eyes as Vicki Kibler recalled the last day she spent with her son, an Abercrombie & Fitch clothing model and George Fox University student who planned to move to New York City with his fiance.

Her three sons put up the Christmas tree and Patrick, who decided the tree needed a “heart,” stuffed a bundle of lights into its center.

The tree stayed up for the next year and a half.

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