The aura of weird surrounding the David Gundersen rape case veered toward bizarre last week when the Times-Standard identified Margaret Gundersen as the driver of a vehicle that ran over and severely injured a 16-year-old McKinleyville High School student who was reportedly lying in a dark roadway near the school.
Those whose memories were not erased by Mandrake the Magician’s considerable powers will recognize Margaret, 48, as the ex-wife of Blue Lake Police Chief David Gundersen, who is accused of repeatedly drugging and raping both her and a younger replacement wife over a 10-year period.
The injured teen, identified as Stuart Christopher, has undergone a series of operations at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento to repair a shattered femur and broken hip. He is expected to recover.
District Attorney Paul Gallegos admitted he publicly disclosed the names of the two alleged rape victims when placed a series of unedited documents, including the confidentiality request filed by one of the women, into David Gundersen’s public file.
While a Christopher family spokesman now says the teen may have been walking in the roadway, not lying down, when he was hit, Margaret, a clerk at the Sheriff Office’s McKinleyville substation, passed a field sobriety test and has not been charged with or accused of any wrongdoing.
Filed under: Humboldt County | Tagged: David Gundersen, gives new meaning to March Madness, huh, just plain weird, more shit we couldn't make up if we tried, she gets our vote for unluckiest person in the world, sucks to be her, was she tested for Ambien? |
The Humboldt Mirror 
He admits he was laying in the road and the damage to the vehicle, according to the reports is all to the undercarriage, which supports his statement while the “eyewitness” who claims he was walking upright’s story does not add up, according to today’s story in the Eureka Reporter.
But I agree with you, this whole thing is covered in weird, and tragic. If only we had a magic wand and could make it ALL all better.
My momma said, son, DON’T PLAY IN TRAFFIC!?!?
I spoke with the CHP officer who responded to the call. He, in no uncertain terms, described the damage to the vehicle solely to the undercarriage, in fact, he said what caught him off guard right away was that there was no damage to the front end.
Normally when he responds to a pedestrian-versus-vehicle scene that’s what you notice first, the damage to the car.
Hell the kid said he had lain down in the roadway, why the family went this route is beyond me.
In a word? Money.
Very sad situation. My prayers go out to this young man,his family and the driver of the car. Horrible for all envolved. On a person note, when I was a child I always wondered why mom & dad would sometimes give me money to go out into the street and try to find Mongolian pizza?
Surely there is physical evidence of whether he was walking or lying in the road, his injuries, damage to her car, etc.
Someone says the child’s parent(s) works for the school. Any information to that?
Well, I am thoroughly confused. WHY was he lying in the road again? And now this woman ran him over?
I don’t get it.
It was all a case of mistaken identity. Margaret Gundersen heard that Chief Dave had escaped from jail and was on his way to McKinleyville. It was him that she thought was lying in the road.
The boy went for a run during intermission, then laid down in the road to rest, something he said he does sometimes, in one of the reports he said he saw the car coming but assumed it would go the other way or stay in the other lane…something like that. When she felt her car hit something, she stopped and hear him yelling that her car was on top of him, so she backed up.
It’s amazing that he is alive and that he wasn’t crushed by the wheels.
From all the reports, you cannot blame her in any way. She certainly doesn’t need any more grief or tragedy. You have to wonder how much one person can take.
Technically your mama should have advised “don’t play UNDER traffic” … ?
Wonder why she kept his name anyway? I say let’s have a contest and give her a new last name.