MISSOULA, Mont. — Eighteen months after a Montana man was convicted of striking and killing a pedestrian while driving drunk and under the influence of prescription drugs, he has turned himself in to begin serving his 15-year prison sentence.
Brian Holm reported to the Missoula County jail on Tuesday afternoon to await transfer to the Montana State Prison in Deer Lodge.
Holm, 52, was sentenced to 30 years in prison with 15 suspended for the November 2010 death of Brian Beaver, 24, of Aberdeen. Beaver and two friends had stopped in Missoula on their way to Yellowstone National Park and were walking on a sidewalk when Holm’s car swerved across the road and onto the sidewalk.
Court records say Holm’s blood-alcohol level was 0.10 percent, more than the 0.08 percent limit for driving. Holm also acknowledged taking prescription drugs that night, including a sleeping pill and a pain killer.
Holm was convicted of vehicular homicide while under the influence, but his September 2011 sentence was delayed pending several appeals and surgery to replace a heart valve. The Montana Supreme Court upheld the conviction and District Judge Dusty Deschamps recently rejected Holm’s request for another 12 weeks of recovery time following surgery.
Deschamps ordered Holm to report to jail by 1 p.m. Tuesday. The Missoulian reported that he arrived in a black pickup truck with his sister, who said he would have no comment.
“It would just get twisted anyway,” Holm said.
Beaver’s family said that before Holm arrived at the jail, they were worried he might not show up. Then someone texted a photo of Holm walking into the jail to Beaver’s sister, Teesha Beaver. “I was sitting at my computer squealing like a little girl,” she told the Missoulian.
“Finally, some justice,” said Beaver’s mother, Virginia Beaver. “It’s wonderful.”
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