Man admits to having ‘5-8 beers’ before crashing UTV, killing woman

(ABC 6 News) – A Mapleton man has been charged with criminal vehicular homicide and DWI after crashing a UTV that killed a woman.

According to the Blue Earth County Sheriff’s Office, last Thursday at approximately 11:41 p.m., deputies responded to a UTV accident south of Mapleton near the intersection of County Road 7 and 105th St.

Mapleton Police arrived at the location and met with the owner and operator of the UTV, 51-year-old Lance Eric Leiferman, of rural Mapleton.

Leiferman led the officer to the crashed UTV where a female was found deceased under the vehicle. The female was identified as 59-year-old Susan Marie Quiram of Elysian.

The crash occurred in a grassy wooded area surrounded by a cornfield.

Initial information is that Leiferman was operating the Kawasaki UTV with Susan Quiram as the passenger. It appears they drove off a deep washout that caused the UTV to roll.

Quiram was not belted which caused her to be ejected and the UTV landed on top of her.

According to court documents, Leiferman admitted to having too much to drink and that there would be two beers inside of the UTV.

Court documents state that Leiferman and Quiram had been drinking at his house earlier in the day, starting at around 3 p.m., and that he had between five and eight beers before the crash.

Leiferman said he did not believe he was feeling the effects of the alcohol and did not think it affected his ability to drive, according to court documents.

Leiferman eventually gave a breath test with a result of 0.06, which is below the 0.08 Minnesota legal limit, but court documents say that the test happened at 1:24 a.m., about 2-2.5 hours after the crash.

A blood sample was also collected and sent to the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension for analysis.

Leiferman’s next court appearance is scheduled for September 29.