Pitchfork

In the summer of 2005, Jeanette Sliwinski tried to kill herself. She was unsuccessful, but in the process, she killed three Chicago musicians, including Silkworm drummer Michael Dahlquist. According to a Chicago Sun-Times report, a Skokie, Illinois judge has found Sliwinski guilty of reckless homicide and on October 26 sentenced the 25-year-old to eight years in prison. However, the Sun-Times reports that Sliwinski could be free in as few as 19 months.

Sliwisnki was driving 87 mph down Dempster Street in Skokie on July 14, 2005 when she plowed her Mustang into a Honda Civic stopped at a light in an attempt to end her own life, according to prosecutors. Instead, she took the lives of the Civic's occupants: Dahlquist, John Glick (The Returnables), and Douglas Meis (The Dials, EXO).

Prosecutors charged Sliwinski with first-degree murder and pushed to have her jailed for life. Judge Garritt Howard handed down the lesser charge of reckless homicide, however, after agreeing with the defense's assertion that Sliwinski was mentally ill at the time of the crash.

The Sun-Times report cites the two years and four months Sliwinski has already served awaiting trial, along with a law which requires only half a given sentence be served, in determining that Sliwinski may go free in 2009. The decision angered the victims' families, who believe that Sliwinski should serve a longer sentence.

As previously reported, a Silkworm documentary is in the works. Also, Silkworm's remaining members Tim Midgett and Andy Cohen have linked with Chris Manfrin (Seam) and Brian Orchard (.22's) to form Bottomless Pit. The quartet's debut, Hammer of the Gods, is out now on Comedy Minus One.