By MARYCLAIRE DALE, The Related Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The driving force charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother, Matthew, as they cycled on a rural New Jersey highway pleaded not responsible to the indictment Tuesday after turning down a prosecution offer of 35 years in prison.
Sean M. Higgins, 44, appeared briefly in court docket in Salem County, New Jersey, and entered a proper plea to the latest indictment within the Aug. 29 deaths. The case will now transfer towards trial.
Police say Higgins, of Woodstown, had a historical past of highway rage and was impaired that day after drinking five or six beers. He mentioned he had been driving round for 2 hours, typically speaking by telephone with a good friend, after an upsetting dialog together with his mom.
Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed close to their childhood house in South Jersey on the eve of their sister’s wedding ceremony.
A driver in entrance of Higgins instructed police that he had been driving aggressively. When she and one other driver slowed down and moved left to go across the cyclists, Higgins sped up and veered proper, hanging the Gaudreaus, she mentioned.
Matthew, left, and Johnny Gaudreau have been hit and killed whereas using bicycles alongside a highway in Salem County, New Jersey, on Aug. 29. (File picture)(File Pictures)
Higgins had a blood-alcohol stage of .087, which is above the state’s .08 authorized restrict, and failed a subject sobriety check, police mentioned.
He’s being held on expenses that embody two counts every of aggravated manslaughter and vehicular murder, together with proof tampering and leaving the scene of an accident.
Protection lawyer Matthew Portella has referred to as Higgins a loving father and a good person who “made a horrible determination that evening.”
Each Portella and county prosecutors confirmed the phrases of the proposed deal.
Johnny Gaudreau, generally known as “Johnny Hockey,” performed 10 full seasons within the NHL and was set to begin his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He performed his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames.
