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Truck Owner's Wife Takes Plea

The wife of former dump truck owner David Wilcox pleaded no contest Friday to attempted insurance fraud related to a crash in Avon three years ago that killed four people.

Donna R. Wilcox, 42, who faced a trial that was to start Monday in Superior Court in Hartford, also pleaded no contest to attempted first-degree larceny and conspiracy to commit first-degree larceny for her role in the immediate aftermath of the fiery crash.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 30, according to her attorney, William Gerace.

The state charged that within 20 minutes of learning of the crash July 29, 2005, David Wilcox called his wife and told her to get liability coverage for the truck restored; Donna Wilcox then called the company's agent to have coverage restored, according to the state charges, without telling the agent the truck had crashed.

David Wilcox, 72, still faces the same insurance-related charges as well as four manslaughter charges. The couple was arrested in November 2005. David Wilcox was charged with manslaughter in July 2006, a year after the crash.

Three drivers — Barbara Bongiovanni, 54, of Torrington; Maureen Edlund, 60, of Canton; and Paul A. "Chip" Stotler, 42, of New Hartford — were killed in the crash along with the truck driver, Abdulraheem Naafi, 41, of Hartford. Eleven people were injured, five seriously.

Gerace said Donna Wilcox did not want to go through a trial.

"She did have valid defenses, though she was emotionally unable to sit through the rigors of a trial," he said.

Joel T. Faxon, an attorney representing Stotler's widow, Ellen, and Stotler's estate in civil litigation, said the first criminal plea in the Avon crash case may be a milestone, but it is little comfort to the victim's family.

"We are pleased that there was finally an admission of criminal conduct here, but it does nothing to bring back Chip Stotler and still leaves Ellen and the girls without any real compensation for their horrendous, unthinkable loss," Faxon said.