The man accused of fatally striking NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother while they were riding bikes in southern New Jersey last month had a blood alcohol level of 0.087 at the time of the crash, which is above the legal limit, prosecutors said yesterday.
Sean Higgins, 43, is charged with two counts of second-degree vehicular homicide in the deaths of Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matthew, 29, on August 29, hours before they were to serve as groomsmen at their sister’s wedding.
During a virtual detention hearing yesterday, prosecutors argued Higgins should remain in jail due to a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.
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“You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And you don’t listen to me, instead you just yell at me,” Higgins’ wife said to him during a phone call from jail after his arrest, according to Salem County First Assistant Prosecutor Jonathan Flynn.
They also revealed new details about the moments leading up to the crash, including that Higgins was allegedly driving his Jeep Grand Cherokee with an open container that night.
On the day of the crash, Higgins finished work around 3 pm and had been drinking, Flynn said.
He also had an upsetting conversation with his mother, the prosecution noted.
Higgins then had a two-hour phone call with a friend while he drove in his Jeep with an open container, Flynn added.
Higgins was driving aggressively behind a sedan that was traveling slightly above the posted 80 km/h speed limit, Flynn said, describing the accounts of two witnesses who were on the road at the time of the crash.
The sedan was behind an SUV, and the Gaudreau’s were on their bikes.
“This driver of the sedan perceives the cyclists, and she also perceives the defendant, Mr Higgins, who she describes as approaching her at a high rate of speed, falling back, approaching again at a high rate of speed,” Flynn said in court.
Higgins attempted to pass the sedan as the SUV moved into the next lane, Flynn said.
“Mr Higgins says that he interprets that as the SUV trying to block him,” Flynn said.
“He then decides to react to that by accelerating past the SUV, on the SUV passenger side, the right-hand side.”
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Defense attorney Matthew Portella described Higgins as “an empathetic individual and … a loving father of two daughters”, saying further, “He’s a good person and he made a horrible decision that night”.
Portella also argued that Higgins’ recent knee surgery could have impacted the results of his field sobriety test.
Salem County Judge Michael Silvanio ordered that Higgins be held for trial, citing concerns about his driving and noting that his “impatience” caused the two deaths.
“There’s an abundance of evidence that the defendant not only operated his vehicle while impaired, but he did so in not just an aggressive manner, but in an overly aggressive manner,” Silvanio said during the hearing.
He added the state’s case appeared strong, citing witness statements and the defendant’s own admissions.
Higgins had admitted to consuming five to six beers before the crash, according to a probable cause affidavit filed with the Salem County Superior Court.
Silvanio also ruled that Higgins was at a higher risk of failing to appear in court due to the potential 20-year prison sentence he could face.
His next court date is on October 15.
The Gaudreau brothers were remembered at an emotional, joint memorial service held on Monday at St Mary Magdalen Catholic Church in Media, Pennsylvania.
Matthew Gaudreau’s widow, Madeline, said through tears she felt she was “trapped in a nightmare” she couldn’t wake from over the past week.
“I feel numb, angry, sad, blessed all at once,” she said.
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Madeline is pregnant with the couple’s first child.
During her eulogy, Johnny Gaudreau’s widow, Meredith, revealed she was nine weeks pregnant with the couple’s third child.
“In less than three years of marriage, we’ve created a family of five. It doesn’t even sound possible. But I look at it as the ultimate blessing,” she said.
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