After 15th Drunk Driving Arrest, Salem Man Has A Choice

SALEM, MA -- A serial drunk driver who was once described as "inherently evil" by a retired Marblehead Police detective was given until March 28 by a Salem Superior Court judge to decide whether or not he will plead guilty on charges stemming from his most recent drunk driving arrest and go to prison for six years. Peter Anketell, 56, of Salem, was arrested last July after nearly hitting two pedestrians near the Speedway gas station on Derby Street. It was the 15th time he had been arrested for drunk driving since 1978.

Anketell's record, according to the Salem News, includes 10 convictions in Massachusetts, three in New Hampshire and an open case in Florida. When he was arrested last summer, he had just finished serving a 12- to 14-year prison sentence for a 2004 conviction on motor vehicle homicide while drunk. That conviction came after a 2002 crash in which Anketell's girlfriend, 40-year-old Cynthia Wilson, was killed.

When Salem Police arrested Anketell last year, retired Marblehead Police detective Marion Keating told CBS News Boston she was shocked to see a man she had helped send to prison in 2002 back behind the wheel. "I hate to say it but he’s inherently evil," Keating said. Keating also told CBS that after the crash Anketell tried to move Wilson's body to make it appear as if she had been driving.

In his most recent arrest, Anketsell allegedly took his girlfriend's Dodge Journey without permission. When the truck hit a curb and blew out a tire near the Speedway gas station, a man ran from the vehicle. Police found Anketsell in a nearby parking lot, smelling of alcohol and with a beer between his legs.

Salem Superior Court Judge Timothy Feeley has proposed a sentence of six years followed by two years probation if Anketsell agrees to plead guilty. If he were to go to trial, he could face 4.5 years for the drunk driving charge, followed by sentence of 18 months for driving after his license was revoked for drunken driving.

For more on this story, see the Salem News. Subscribe to Salem Patch for more local news and real-time alerts.

Patch file photo by Salem Police Department.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).