Vehicle driven by Sedlmeier during crash registered to different person

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Michael Sedlmeier

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The vehicle driven by the man authorities allege is responsible for the crash March 24 that resulted in the death of Iszabella Morgan was not registered to him, new court documents reveal.

Recently filed court documents show the 1998 Ford Taurus driven by 46-year-old Michael Sedlmeier, of Mitchell, in the fatal crash was registered to Kathleen Northrup.

The Daily Republic contacted Northrup on Wednesday, but she refused to comment.

While court documents list a Woonsocket address for Northrup, The Daily Republic also placed a telephone call Wednesday to the phone number listed for the address and was told Northrup was no longer a resident there.

Sedlmeier was indicted Friday on charges of first-degree manslaughter, third-offense drunken driving, vehicular homicide, aggravated eluding, hit-andrun causing injury or death, and reckless driving in connection with the fatal crash.

First-degree manslaughter is a felony punishable by up to life in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Court documents also show South Dakota Highway Patrol Trooper Micheal Peterson was able to retrieve and use data stored on a “sensing and diagnostic module” in the 2006 GMC Yukon Denali that was carrying Morgan, who was 9, at the time of the crash during a search of both vehicles involved in the crash on March 27.

The module measures crash data such as vehicle speed, engine speed, throttle percentage, brake status and other relevant information.

The only items taken from Sedlmeier’s vehicle, according to an inventory in court documents related to the search, were photographs of a 1998 Ford Escort.

It remains unclear what investigators have been able to conclude about the crash as the state Department of Public Safety has not yet released any specific details.

“This is an ongoing criminal investigation, and any questions should be directed to the state’s attorney,” said state Public Safety spokesperson Terry Woster.

Davison County State’s Attorney Pat Smith recently said it was standard practice for his office to avoid releasing information during an ongoing criminal investigation.

Sedlmeier is scheduled to be arraigned in court later this month.

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