The
Olympian
December
10, 1982
Kathryn Bruneau, a 26-year-old
Olympia woman, Thursday confessed to the unsolved hit-and
run driving death of 20-year-old Heather Lynn Hanna.
In Whatcom County Superior Court Thursday morning Miss
Bruneau pleaded guilty to a charge of negligent homicide,
confessing to the July 31, 1980, death of Ms. Hanna,
daughter of Dr. Lawrence and Carmen Hanna of Olympia. The
traffic fatality was in Bellingham, where both women lived
at the time.
Miss Hanna, a partner in the Kulshan Cycle Shop in
Bellingham, was riding her bicycle home late that July
night in the well-lit bike path along Boulevard Road in
Bellingham.
She was struck by a passing motorist, her body coming to
rest in some bushes at the base of an embankment. The next
morning the bicycle was found and hours later her body was
discovered by a police dog.
Neighbors reported hearing suspicious noises between 10:30
p.m. and midnight, but Bellingham police had few clues to
the identity of the hit-and-run driver. They speculated
that Ms. Hanna had been killed by a drinking driver.
Friends gathered for a memorial service in Olympia, and
Carmen Hanna, Heather's mother, got involved with the local
chapter of Mothers Against Drunk Drivers. In her grief,
Mrs. Hanna began helping others deal with their loss.
For two years the death of Miss Hanna went unsolved.
Then, about a month ago, Miss Bruneau, who since had moved
from Bellingham to Olympia, went to local attorney Michael
Farris and told him she wanted to confess to causing Miss
Hanna's death.
Mac Setter, Whatcom County deputy prosecuting attorney,
made arrangements with Farris for Miss Bruneau to plead
guilty to the negligent homicide and face a possible
sentence of 10 years in prison.
Thursday the Olympia woman made that plea. She was released
on her personal recognizance pending the completion of a
pre-sentence report.
Dan Fitzgerald, deputy chief of the Bellingham Police
Department, said lawmen likely never would have solved Miss
Hanna's death had not Miss Bruneau confessed.
Farris said, "Basically, Kathy Bruneau became a Christian
and was saved six months ago. She was saved through the
ministry of the local Agape Force. Then through Scripture
study and encouragement of her pastor she knew she had to
make the situation straight. The only way to do that, in
her opinion, was to go in and plead guilty."
In court Miss Bruneau said she had been drinking,
celebrating her birthday, just before the accident.