In court, the family of a cherished Adelaide schoolteacher who was murdered in a horrifying collision revealed their unresolved pain.
In March 2021, Bernice Sternberg lost her life when John Tsalapatis drove straight through a McLaren Vale crossing without stopping.
The 61-year-old was praised by her close-knit school community and family as a talented teacher and devoted mother.
Ronald, her distraught husband, went up to the motorist who had struck their vehicle and taken his wife away.
Sternberg said to Tsalapatis that having to say goodbye to his beloved was the most difficult thing he had ever had to do.
According to her sons, the mother was “the glue that held everything together.”
Expert engineer Tsalapatis was found guilty by a jury of driving recklessly and causing death, but he denied that his acts were illegal.
He is pleading with the court to be spared from jail, claiming that a suspended sentence will allow him to carry on with his profession.
Next month, he will be sentenced.
