A plea agreement has been reached in the case involving a fatal head-on crash in the Town of Mountain.
The crash, which occurred Sept. 8, 2024, on state Highway 32-64 near Sparkys Road in the Town of Mountain, killed Lisa Marie Neitzel, 52, of Lake Tomahawk. Her daughter, who was driving the car, and her husband, Ronald Neitzel, were seriously injured.
During a July 15 appearance before Oconto County Circuit Judge Michael Judge, Zackery Dale Wimber, 31, a Wabeno man serving a sentence at Fox Lake Correctional Institution, pleaded no contest to homicide by intoxicated use of a motor vehicle, two counts of operating a motor vehicle causing injury, and possession with intent to distribute amphetamine or methamphetamine.
As part of the agreement, Judge dismissed but read into the record charges of homicide by negligent use of a motor vehicle, possession with intent to distribute cocaine, possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony, driving or operating a vehicle without consent, and a misdemeanor count of operating while revoked.
Judge scheduled sentencing for 1 p.m. Sept. 12. Wimber faces a maximum sentence of 25 years in prison and a $100,000 fine for the homicide charge, 12½ years and $25,000 for each of the OWI causing injury counts, and six years and $10,000 for the drug conviction.
The criminal complaint indicates that the Neitzel family was traveling home after attending a wedding in Shawano. Kaley Neitzel, who holds a valid learner’s permit and had completed five of six driving lessons, was driving with her father in the passenger seat and mother in the back seat.
A witness told deputies that Wimber had been tailgating him and swerving on the road behind him, then passed at a high rate of speed. Moments later, the witness saw a puff of smoke and came upon the crash scene.
Multiple witnesses saw Wimber leave his vehicle and drop something in the woods or ditch before coming back, despite significant injuries, the complaint said. One witness, an ICU nurse, said Wimber’s eyes were dilated and he made a comment about being afraid of being caught with items that had been inside his vehicle.
Oconto County K-9 officer Emma was deployed into the woods to search for any contraband and alerted on a partially opened black box, the complaint said. Inside the box, deputies found seven clear plastic bags of a white powder that tested positive for cocaine, as well as two plastic bags with a substance that tested positive for heroin, the complaint said. The box also contained a semiautomatic 9mm pistol.
Wimber admitted to an investigator that he had consumed heroin and cocaine earlier in the day, according to the complaint.
The next day, a friend of Wimber’s reported that his SUV had been stolen after he left it at Wimber’s overnight because he had been intoxicated.
At the time of his arrest, Wimber was on probation after being convicted in 2021 of possession of methamphetamine, possession of narcotic drugs, and possession of a firearm by a person convicted of a felony.
A Fond du Lac County judge had imposed and stayed a 7½ year prison sentence, then placed Wimber on five years of probation with conditions including that he not possess or use controlled substances without a prescription.
No contest pleas entered in fatal crash
