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ONLY ON SEVEN

06:59 PM MDT on Wednesday, July 27, 2005

Mike Vogel
Idaho's NewsChannel 7

BOISE – There is a startling new development in the investigation into a May 7th crash that claimed the lives of an Eagle family.

Tony and Stephanie Perfect, and baby daughter Zoe were killed in car crash at Highway 55 and Beacon Light Road Saturday, May 7th. The Ada County Coroner says toxicology reports found meth in Tony's bloodstream at the time of the crash.

NewsChannel 7 has confirmed that toxicology results indicate the presence of methamphetamine in Tony Perfect’s blood stream.

Perfect was driving his Subaru with his wife and baby inside when they were fatally hit at the intersection of Highway 55 and Beacon Light Road.

Ada County Sheriff Gary Raney called the deadly accident a road rage incident.

Mark Lazinka, the driver of a pickup that slammed into the Perfect family, is charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter.

So is former Boise State football player Cam Hall for his alleged role in the crash. Deputies say Hall and Lazinka were racing along Highway 55 at speeds around 100 miles an hour prior to the fatal crash.

Prosecutors have reportedly known about this information for several weeks, but have refused to comment on what impact this information may have in the trials of Hall and Lazinka.

Here is what NewsChannel 7 has learned to this point:

First, the toxicology reports cannot pinpoint exactly when Perfect used meth, or if he was impaired by the drug at the time of the crash.

All investigators know for sure is that tests show Perfect used meth sometime in the three days before the collision.

KTVB.COM

Mark Lazinka and Cam Hall are each charged with three counts of vehicular manslaughter for a fatal crash May 7th that killed the Perfect family.

“Would you be able to say whether he was high at the time of the crash? asked NewsChannel 7.

“To determine whether he was high or not at the time of the crash is difficult to determine, and that's more for the experts in toxicology that deal with it all the time. Our job is to show that it's there,” said Erwin Sonnenberg, Ada County Coroner.

In addition to the toxicology report that showed methamphetamine was present in Tony Perfect's bloodstream; another report indicated the presence of alcohol.

Drug experts say that the combination of alcohol and drugs would have impaired his driving ability, but added it's very difficult to say at what level.

At least one witness told sheriff's deputies that they didn't see Hall or Lazinka driving toward them. They told investigators they believed Perfect had enough time to make the turn.

On the News at Ten, we'll talk to a methamphetamine expert about the effects the drug can have on a driver.