A Kansas man has been convicted of second-degree murder after driving drunk at more than 130 mph and crashing into a vehicle driven by a 75-year-old woman.
A Johnson County jury found Isaiah Sadowski guilty last week in connection with the December 2021 death of Barbara Patterson, according to the Johnson County District Attorney’s Office. Sadowski, who was 20 at the time of the crash, had pleaded not guilty in 2022.
Authorities alleged that Sadowski struck Patterson’s vehicle while travelling at an extremely high speed under the influence of alcohol. He later left the United States while the criminal case was pending.
Sadowski discussed the incident and his decision to leave the country during a June 2024 YouTube interview with Jesse Crosson, who uses the handle @second_chancer.
“I had just found out that my fiancee was cheating on me over Christmas,” Sadowski claimed.
“I was still reeling from finding out that I was being cheated on,” Sadowski said. “I was 20 years old at the time. As a 20-year-old, you’re cheated on by a girl that you’re engaged to and it’s the end of the world, right? The world’s crashing down on you. This is the end of it all. So that night I went, I drank. … and I was involved in a car accident and I was subsequently charged with murder.”
Sadowski was eventually taken into custody in Colima, Mexico, during a joint operation involving Mexican authorities and the U.S. Marshals Service, according to The Kansas City Star.
During the interview, Sadowski disputed the prosecution’s account and argued that both drivers shared responsibility for the collision.
“I believe that both cars caused the car accident,” Sadowski told Crosson. “Both cars ran a light,” Sadowski alleged.
When Crosson questioned his account, Sadowski replied: “The light that the other person was coming from was amber, amber, amber — just turned red— and then my light was solid red, but I was braking leading up to it. And so we both ran a red light.”
Sadowski also acknowledged that he had left the country and was not complying with the conditions of his release. “I am no longer in America,” Sadowski admitted. “I’m trying to figure out what the next steps are here because there was no legal path forward.”
One of his former attorneys, Gregory Watt, sought permission to withdraw from the case in April 2024, citing Sadowski’s departure. “Defendant, by his own public admission, has intentionally left the United States,” Watt wrote in a court filing.
“Defendant has both violated the terms of his bond and violated the terms of the attorney/client contract with our office,” Watt alleged.
Sadowski also agreed to pay $1.5 million to Patterson’s son after settling a wrongful death lawsuit through an insurance policy, according to court records.
A sentencing date has not yet been announced. The conviction followed the jury’s determination that prosecutors had proven Sadowski’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.