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New suspect arrested in fatal wreck
By CARRIE JOHNSON, Times Staff Writer INVERNESS -- Less than a month before the three-year statute of limitations expires, prosecutors have accused a Crystal River man of killing a popular elementary school secretary and her daughter in a 1999 car wreck. Richard Lee Buzby, 25, was arrested Wednesday afternoon on two counts of vehicular homicide and failure to stop at the scene of an accident with injuries. Buzby was originally believed to be a passenger in the Jeep Cherokee that slammed into the 1998 Saturn sedan carrying Dixie Kimbrell, 53, and her daughters Alicia, 20, and Kimberly, 13. Dixie and Kimberly Kimbrell were killed; Alicia Kimbrell's legs and midsection were badly bruised. Misty Lynn David, 26, the owner of the Jeep, was charged with causing the wreck while she was under the influence of alcohol and prescription medication, including Xanax, an antianxiety drug. But just days before her trial was scheduled to begin in May, the State Attorney's Office dropped charges because it couldn't prove David was behind the wheel the night of the Aug. 21 crash. "She herself wasn't absolutely certain" who was driving the Jeep that night, said Senior Assistant State Attorney Ric Ridgway. Jose Menendez, another passenger in the Jeep, initially told Florida Highway Patrol investigators that David was driving at the time of the crash. He later said he was unsure, and based his statement only on the fact David had been behind the wheel earlier that evening and that it was her vehicle, Ridgway said. A third person in the Jeep that night, Crystal McClure, said she had consumed alcohol and prescription medication earlier in the evening and had no recollection of the events that led to the wreck. "All of them, by their own admission, had no recollection of the accident itself and who was driving," Ridgway said. As David's defense lawyer built his case, prosecutors became increasingly concerned they had charged the wrong person and refocused their efforts on Buzby. At least one person came forward earlier this year to accuse Buzby. Bryan Witty, a Crystal River man who said both Buzby and David are his friends, told lawyers during an interview earlier this year that Buzby was allowing David to take the blame for the crash. "I think he's a dangerous person, no conscience," Witty testified. "The fact that he can sit back, and he's responsible for lives of other people and now he's trying to push it off on somebody else." Ridgway said investigators searched for physical clues that would prove whether David was in the driver's seat. But a search for DNA evidence proved fruitless, and physical reconstruction of the vehicle didn't positively identify a specific person as the driver. So Kimberly Richie, an investigator with the State Attorney's Office, began the painstaking process of tracking down witnesses who might have seen who was in the driver's seat when the group left a party shortly before the wreck. More than 25 witnesses were interviewed, Ridgway said. Not all were cooperative: One man had to be dragged in front of Circuit Judge Ric A. Howard to compel him to tell investigators what he knew. Ridgway said he also ordered telephone interceptions. He said he could not discuss details. Prosecutors have at least one witness who actually saw Buzby behind the wheel that night, Ridgway said. Others will testify they heard Buzby discuss the crash. The accident occurred about 2:15 a.m. Aug. 21 on County Road 488 and Diamond T Lane, about a mile east of U.S. 19. Authorities said the Jeep Cherokee crossed the center line and smashed head-on into the Saturn carrying the Kimbrell family. By the time law enforcement and fire officials arrived, Buzby and Menendez had vanished. They reappeared later at Seven Rivers Community Hospital, according to court records. Buzby is currently serving a six-month sentence at the Citrus County jail for violating probation on a battery charge. He has pleaded no contest to several charges over the past seven years, including driving under the influence, theft and burglary. Ridgway said defense attorneys will surely make David's arrest an issue during the trial in an effort to convince jurors there is reasonable doubt about their client's guilt. But he said he has confidence in the case the state has built. "Our standard is that we will not bring charges unless there is a reasonable likelihood of winning at trial," he said. -- Carrie Johnson can be reached at 860-7309 or cjohnson@sptimes.com.
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