Winton man convicted in 2012 fatal drunken-driving case

A Merced County jury convicted a Winton man of murder Wednesday for a 2012 crash in which he was found to have been highly intoxicated and driving at twice the legal speed limit when he crashed, killing a 27-year-old father from Atwater.

Edgar Tapia Madrigal, 25, was found guilty of second-degree murder, gross vehicular manslaughter and driving on a suspended license for the Nov. 18, 2012, collision that killed Matthew Frisk. He faces 15 years to life in prison when he is sentenced on Jan. 12 by Judge Mark V. Bacciarini in Merced Superior Court, prosecutors said.

Madrigal had one prior conviction for crashing a vehicle while drunk in 2009 in Roseburg, Ore., and faced charges in an alleged DUI crash in 2011 that remains an open case, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office.

“He never showed up to court in the 2011 case and there’s an active warrant out for his arrest in that case,” said Matthew Serratto, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted the case in Merced.

Those two cases weighed heavily on Frisk’s family even after a jury handed down convictions Wednesday. Family members consistently have described Madrigal as a man who squandered opportunities to stop drinking and driving before he killed Matthew Frisk.

Frisk’s older brother, Jerry, said Wednesday’s verdict was “a little bit of closure” for the family. Frisk’s sister-in-law, Stephanie, and others worried the maximum sentence would not be enough to “make sure this never happens again to anyone else.”

“It’s the only justice we can get for Matt. We can’t bring him back, ” Stephanie Frisk said. “Obviously if (Madrigal) has been caught this many times, he didn’t learn.”

Frisk’s family said they were grateful to Serratto and California Highway Patrol investigators, led by officers Shelly Miller and Robert Woods.

“I’m just afraid he’ll be back on the road when he gets out,” said Nichole Frisk, Matthew’s younger sister. “My brother was a single father and his son is 11 now. When (Madrigal) gets out, my brother’s son will be driving by then. We don’t want him on the road with my brother’s son.”

Madrigal’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender Tony Green, was not available for comment Wednesday.

Investigators said Madrigal was driving his 1996 Honda Civic at 86 mph in a 40 mph zone when he collided with Frisk’s Nissan Sentra on Winton Way in Merced County. Frisk died at the scene.

Madrigal’s blood-alcohol level was officially measured at 0.23, which is nearly three times the legal limit, according to the California Highway Patrol. Prosecutors noted, however, that the sample was taken from Madrigal several hours after the crash. Earlier field-sobriety tests measured his blood-alcohol content at more than 0.3, about four times the legal limit.

“This was incredibly tragic and incredibly senseless,” Serratto said.

Madrigal remains in custody at the Merced County jail.

This story was originally published October 28, 2015 at 3:08 PM with the headline "Winton man convicted in 2012 fatal drunken-driving case."