Perjury case now headed to grand jury

By Jimmy LaRoue

Published: August 27, 2008

A Waynesboro couple charged with putting pressure on one of their son’s friends to commit perjury following a fatal Dec. 12 car crash near Crimora will now have their case go before a grand jury.
Emil and Gloria Steidel face felony charges of asking Zachary Carpenter, 20, to lie on the witness stand to say that their son, Jason Steidel, was not behind the wheel when a passenger in the car, Timothy Moran, 19, was killed after being ejected from the vehicle.
Their case had been continued twice, as Emil Steidel has failed to show up for scheduled court appearances in Augusta County General District Court, and again Tuesday, Emil Steidel was a no-show. Gloria Steidel did attend, however.
Jason Steidel, meanwhile, faces a felony charge of involuntary DUI manslaughter as a result of the crash.
The Steidels have maintained that Carpenter left them an emotional answering machine message in January saying that an 18-year-old female was the driver, not Jason. The next day, they drove Carpenter to an Augusta County magistrate, where he wrote and signed a sworn statement to that effect.
However, he returned to the magistrate a short while later, claiming the Steidels had pressured him into making the previous statement.
The grand jury meets Oct. 27.
Jason Steidel’s scheduled Sept. 3 bench trial has been continued to Nov. 24.