Family of decapitated passenger pleads mercy for driver

<p>The family of a man decapitated in a bizarre car accident is pleading with authorities to free his best friend, who was behind the wheel and apparently didn't notice that his passenger had been beheaded.</p><p>Francis "Frankie" Brohm, 23, was killed Saturday night on the way home from a bar with his high school friend John Hutcherson.</p><p>Hutcherson is jailed on $100,000 bond charged with first-degree vehicular homicide, driving under the influence and failing to stop at the scene of a fatal accident.</p><p>On Tuesday, Brohm's family appealed to Cobb County District Attorney Pat Head, saying they support Hutcherson's release on bond.</p><p>"They don't want to see him in jail," said Brohm family attorney David Lipscomb. "Their position is he needs to be out to receive whatever treatment is necessary, put his life back together."</p><p>Police say Brohm was drunk and hanging out the passenger side window that night when Hutcherson veered off the road. Brohm hit a roadside telephone wire, severing his head, but Hutcherson kept driving home and went to bed, leaving Brohm's headless body in the car.</p><p>Brohm's body was discovered by neighbors the next day, and Brohm's head was still on the side of the road. Hutcherson was apparently unaware of what had happened to his friend.</p><p>The families of both men are very close, lawyers said.</p><p>"It's just a horrific accident, and we are all just in mourning right now," said Margaret Hutcherson, John's mother, in an interview with the Marietta Daily Journal. "(Brohm has) been a part of our family just like Johnny was a part of their family. I feel like I've lost a son."</p><p>The Brohm family left Tuesday for Francis Brohm's Friday funeral, which will be held in Louisville, Ky.</p><p>___</p><p>HASH(0x28663c0)</p>

http://accesswdun.com/article/2004/9/161830