WATCH: A Duncan man is devastated that the man who killed his wife has been handed just a $500 dollar ticket and never had to face him in court. Frances Bierman was hit by a cyclist running a red light in Duncan last July and suffered massive head trauma that she never woke from, yet as Skye Ryan reports, her widower says the man who did it is walking away without any idea of the pain he’s inflicted.
Hartog Bierman can’t let go or find closure around the loss of his beloved wife.
“I almost kind of think she’s gonna come home you know,” said Bierman.
All of her clothes are still in the closet, smelling of her perfume. Her purse sits next to the bed where she always left it and her cosmetics line bathroom shelves.
Even after seven months since her fatal accident, he can’t remove a single thing of hers from their Duncan home.
“I haven’t touched anything,” said Bierman.
“She’s just gone. I haven’t moved anything, I haven’t touched anything. I can’t. I don’t have the heart. I don’t want her gone.”
Now the Duncan man has just learned that the man who caused Frances’ death has only been handed a $500 fine and the 25-year-old never had to face her widower in court.
“This is it. It’s done. I basically lost my moment when I would have had a little bit of closure,” he said.
The crash that killed Frances Bierman happened July 26, 2018, at the intersection of Trunk Road and Highway 1 in Duncan, as she simply walked to get a cup of coffee. The 61-year-old care aide was standing on the corner when a cyclist running a red light collided with not one but two vehicles then crashed into Bierman, causing devastating brain injuries that she died from in hospital.
“If I had hit that person with my car it would have been a manslaughter charge you know so why wasn’t he,” said Bierman.
“He just walked away,” he said.
The widower also didn’t get to face the cyclist in court, because the man agreed to pay the fine and it was accepted a week before the pre-arranged court date that Bierman showed up for.
“I wanted him to know how he destroyed me and my life,” said Bierman.
The Duncan Crown Prosecutor on the case declined CHEK News’ requests for an on-camera interview but did say they’re sorry for how this was all handled. They say they didn’t even know there was a widower involved in the file or that he wanted to read a victim impact statement, and didn’t learn of his existence until he showed up on Feb. 19 hoping for a trial.
“I’m the one getting punished and he walks away,” said Bierman.
Frances Bierman also left behind her mother Grace Johnstone, daughters Sarah Berube, Brittany McCauley and the late Shannon O’Dell, grandchildren Noah, Christopher and Anastasia, and sisters Debbie Moore and Sandy Saunders.
Skye Ryan
