Ejub Grcic

It’s been more than a decade since a Bosnian-born trucker ran a stop sign at Branchton Road and Route 8 and caused a fiery crash that killed a family of five.

Since that time, Ejub Grcic, now 66, served three and half years in prison, completed parole and most of his probation. But he’s yet to return to his home in Salt Lake City, Utah, where his wife, Hijna, has continued to live.

Last week Grcic made a final payment on his $66,000 restitution bill and unsuccessfully tried to have Butler County Judge William Shaffer release him early from his probation eight months early so he can move back to Utah.

“He wants to see his wife and move on with his life,” said Grcic’s lawyer, James Donohue of Butler.

Donohue said there isn’t a day that goes by that Grcic doesn’t think about the crash, and its victims.

“He prays for them,” Donohue said.

The Kerr family of Smithfield, N.C., was visiting family in Butler County when the crash occurred July 7, 2003.

Grcic, who was driving an overweight tractor-trailer, ran a stop sign on Branchton Road and collided with the Kerrs’ car on Route 8 in Slippery Rock Township.

Killed were Kenneth Kerr Jr., 35, his wife, Janet, 35, and their children Alessandra Hall, 16, Kathleen Kerr, 13, and Kenneth Kerr III, 4.

Grcic pleaded guilty to five counts of involuntary manslaughter and one charge of unlawful activities.

He was sentenced to 30 months in state prison followed by 7½ years of probation.

Court records state Grcic was released from prison in 2007, but still is under court supervision through the county adult probation office.

Butler lawyer Alexander Lindsay, who represents the victims’ family, said he was not contacted for this request.

However, the family issued a written opinion in August when Grcic had a hearing on a similar issue before immigration officials in Pittsburgh. At that time, the family said it did not oppose Grcic’s request to leave the state, but it did have concerns.

Specifically, “(The Kerr’s family) felt no assurance whatsoever that Mr. Grcic would not possess a license to drive a truck in the future. They were concerned that if Mr. Grcic moved back to Utah, there would be nothing to stop him from obtaining a license and perhaps causing another accident in the future.

“They were not comforted by the fact that he would be moving back to the state that permitted him to have a license in the first place despite the fact that he lacked a comprehensive understanding of the English language when he obtained the license originally.”

Grcic testified in court at earlier proceedings that he had been a trucker in Bosnia for almost three decades when civil war broke out there.

During earlier court proceedings, he said a few months in a concentration camp in 1993 ended his career. He said that he fled to Germany. After his family joined him, he moved his family to Utah.

Donohue said Grcic is living with one of his two daughters in Pittsburgh and is not employed.

Now he “does grandfather things,” Donohue said. “Like helping (his daughter’s) kids with homework and walking them to school.”

Representatives of the county district attorney could not be reached for comment.