Lutheran bishop suspected of killing runner in Sun Prairie while drunk
Bruce Burnside oversees 145 ELCA congregations in Wisconsin
Bruce H. Burnside
Maureen F. Mengelt
The bishop who leads 145 Lutheran congregations in south-central Wisconsin remained Monday in Dane County Jail on allegations that he drove drunk and killed a 52-year-old Sun Prairie mother of three who was on a training run.
The Rev. Bruce H. Burnside, 59, of Madison was arrested Sunday on allegations of hitting Maureen F. Mengelt at the northbound exit ramp of Highway 151 at Windsor St. in Sun Prairie. Mengelt was taken by ambulance to St. Mary's Hospital in Sun Prairie, where she died from her injuries, police said.
Kevin Mengelt said Monday that his wife, an avid runner, was preparing for the Syttende Mai 20-mile race in May in Stoughton, which she had run more than 20 times. The couple have three children: Megan, Andrew and Allyson.
She was a former City of Madison police officer and teacher who became a full-time mother after the birth of the couple's daughter almost 20 years ago.
"She said her career could wait un til the kids were out of the house," he said, adding that she was planning on working or volunteering at the day care of an athletic club where she previously worked.
"She said she wanted to hold babies," he said. "She loved to hold babies."
Officers arrested Burnside on suspicion of homicide by intoxicated use of a vehicle, Sun Prairie police said. He remained in jail Monday on suspicion of two charges: hit-and-run causing death and homicide by negligent operation of a vehicle. No bail was set and Burnside did not appear before a judge Monday. He could be in court as early as Tuesday.
Burnside serves as bishop of the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin, part of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. As bishop, Burnside is the pastoral and administrative leader of the South-Central Synod, which includes the Madison area.
The Rev. Blake Rohrer, assistant to the bishop, said Monday that synod staff and the executive committee are handling day-to-day ministry and functions.
"We're holding the family of the woman who was killed in our prayers and we are really asking that God would be with them and provide them comfort in their grief and all those who have been impacted," Rohrer said.
Burnside is well-known in Lutheran and interfaith circles as a social-justice advocate, and he has headed the national ELCA's committee on Middle East issues.
His arrest drew an outpouring of prayers for both the victim and the accused.
"It's sad all the way around," Bishop Jeffrey Barrow of the ELCA's Greater Milwaukee Synod said Monday.
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Police: Lutheran bishop was intoxicated behind the wheel when he hit, killed woman
For years, Maureen Mengelt ran the same five-mile route near her home in Sun Prairie, a course that helped her prepare for the annual Syttende Mai 20-miler next month in Stoughton, her favorite race.
On Sunday afternoon, Mengelt, who turned 52 last week, was training alone on that route when police say she was struck and killed by a a local Lutheran bishop who allegedly was intoxicated on his way to a church ceremony.
"We've run that route probably thousands of times — it was one of her favorites," said Mengelt's husband, Kevin.
He was being comforted Monday by dozens of friends and family members, including members of the Madison Police Department. Maureen Mengelt was an officer on the force in the late 1980s, before deciding police work was not her calling, friends said.
Most recently, she devoted her time to raising the couple's three children — one at UW-Madison, two school-aged — and working part time as a driver for Gallant Knight Limousine, a job that spoke to her love of people.
Mengelt was running Sunday on a blacktop path that runs parallel to Windsor Street in Sun Prairie. She was at the point where the path crosses the bottom of the northbound off-ramp of Highway 151 when she was struck.
Police arrested the Rev. Bruce Burnside, 59, the bishop for the South-Central Synod of Wisconsin of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America. He was in sheriff's custody Monday, tentatively charged with homicide by intoxicated driving and hit-and-run causing death, said Sun Prairie Lt. Brian Teasdale.
After allegedly hitting Mengelt, Burnside drove to a nearby Kelley's Market convenience store, where police first had contact with him in his vehicle, said Teasdale, who declined further comment due to the ongoing investigation.
Police did not release Burnside's blood-alcohol level, and no criminal complaint was filed Monday.
At the time of the crash, Burnside was heading to Our Savior's Lutheran Church in Sun Prairie, where he was scheduled to preside over a 3 p.m. ceremony in which a theologically trained lay person was to become a ministry associate. Police said they responded to the crash at 2:48 p.m.
Kathy Kienitz, a friend of the Mengelt family and a member of Our Savior's Lutheran Church, said she was struggling with a multitude of feelings Monday, from grief over her friend's death to anger over what appears to be an alcohol-related death.
"She was such a lovely woman, and this is the bishop of our church," Kienitz said. "It's really raw for people."
Jean Papalia, a retired Madison police officer, described Mengelt as vibrant and caring.
"She always had time to meet you for coffee and talk — she was the Coffee Queen," Papalia said.
As bishop, Burnside is based in Madison and oversees 145 congregations in 13 south-central counties. He was elected to the post in 2007. Prior to that, he served 14 years as pastor of St. Stephen's Lutheran Church in Monona.
Over the years, Burnside had been well regarded as a religious leader who addressed public issues in a measured way, from calling for a "season of civility" after labor protests at the state Capitol to, most recently, advocating for measures to address gun violence. He had traveled more than a dozen times to Israel and Palestine, in part to reassure Palestinian Lutherans they were not forgotten.
Just over a week ago, he returned from India, where he led a contingent of Madison youth on a trip to a Lutheran synod there.
In November of 2011, he lost his wife, Cynthia, to an aggressive cancer that had been diagnosed only months earlier.
On Monday, the synod instructed pastors not to discuss Burnside's tenure with reporters.
"We want to focus our primary concern on the family and friends of the woman who was killed," said the Rev. Blake Rohrer, Burnside's assistant. "His synod work and leadership is not an area of concern in this particular matter." [GJ translation - He drunkenly hit a woman, killing her, and tried to escape - while doing official business? We have enough liability without someone talking about his tippling.]
Rohrer said synod staff and members of the synod's executive committee would manage daily tasks, at least in the short term.
"We gathered this morning and prayed for the family and friends of the deceased," Rohrer said. "We are asking others to do the same."
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