U.S.

Driver Led Troubled Life

September 25, 2000 / 3:10 PM EDT / AP

The accident that put Bryan Smith in the spotlight — running over horror writer Stephen King — was far from his biggest worry before he was found dead in his trailer last weekend.

He took pain medications for a longstanding back injury. One of his arms was weak. Carpal tunnel syndrome and depression only added to the problems of a 43-year-old grandfather who was surviving on disability payments.

Smith was buried Tuesday. Autopsy results were inconclusive, and the state medical examiner's office was awaiting toxicology reports before determining a cause of death.

Police, however, said there is no evidence Smith killed himself. And friends and relatives said he wasn't particularly upset about the accident that injured King, nor was he tormented by the writer's fans. He was looking forward to getting his driver's license back in January.

Smith smashed into King in June 1999 as the author walked along a two-lane highway near his summer home. Smith said he looked away for a few seconds because his dog was getting into a cooler in the van.

King was hospitalized with a broken leg, broken hip, broken ribs and a collapsed lung. Smith at first described the crash as an "accident without a cause" before apologizing to King and accepting responsibility for the accident. He lost his license and was given a suspended jail sentence after pleading guilty to a misdemeanor.

Smith seemed untroubled by the people who occasionally snapped pictures of his trailer or made obscene gestures at him, said Ron Ela, a sheet-metal worker who occasionally gave Smith rides.

"We kind of joked a little bit, and laughed about it," he said.

Lisa Coury, who dated Smith for two years until a few weeks before his death, described Smith as a talented mechanic and woodworker who had been told he would probably soon be in a wheelchair because of the back injury he suffered in 1979.

His legs also were becoming numb, she said, but he insisted on helping her with car repairs, plumbing or other chores.

"He shouldn't have been doing it, but he was just really kindhearted and wanted to help," she said. "It would take him a long time and he would be in even more excruciating pain after."

Smith wanted to buy a computer so that he might design instructions for building furniture. He mentioned teaching car repair classes, and contemplated writing a book about his life and the accident.

Hopes of a brighter future came to a close Friday night. Police found Smith in bed after family members said he had not been seen for three days. One of the officers who found the body was his older brother, Everett Smith, who said Bryan held no ill will toward King.

"We're all sorry for what happened, and we hope Stephen King understands that," Smith said.