[W]ILLISTON — The investigation into the man authorities allege killed five teenagers driving his truck the wrong way on Interstate 89 late last Saturday night has revealed a life that appeared to be unraveling.
Steven Bourgoin, 36, faces five second-degree murder charges as well as other vehicle related charges for allegedly driving his Toyota Tacoma northbound in the southbound lane before crashing head-on into the teens’ Volkswagen Jetta.
Bourgoin then allegedly stole a police cruiser from a Williston officer who responded to the crash and was attempting to rescue the teens from the flaming wreckage of their vehicle. Police say Bourgoin then drove the cruiser southbound before doubling back and slamming into his crashed truck, hitting several vehicles on the way. Bourgoin allegedly turned around when a Richmond police officer attempted to intercept him in the southbound lane.
The truck hit a top speed of 87 miles per hour and was going 76 miles per hour when it crashed into the car carrying the five teenagers, according to data collected from the truck’s computer system. Authorities said the accelerator was pressed all the way down seconds before the crash, but the service brake was engaged at the last moment.
The police cruiser Bourgoin allegedly stole recorded speeds up to 107 miles per hour before the driver crashed and was ejected. A nurse treating Bourgoin at the University of Vermont Medical Center said he had bruising from his left shoulder down to his right hip, likely caused by a seat belt, according to the affidavit.
A Montpelier couple driving southbound with their two children pulled over when they came upon the wreckage. In an interview with police, the husband said a man standing with the truck said: “I don’t know what happened…I just lost control.” The husband described the man as nervous and distraught.
Investigators searching Bourgoin’s Williston home discovered a foreclosure notice, and a shut-off notice from the gas company as well as other financial statements. There were “numerous medical bills” for lab work and x-rays, as well as legal paperwork showing Bourgoin faced domestic and child custody issues, according to the affidavit.
Bourgoin is facing domestic assault and unlawful restraint charges in Chittenden County, stemming from an incident in May where he allegedly pulled a woman’s hair and pushed her to the floor. In that incident, Bourgoin drove erratically with the woman, threatening to “drive us all off into a pond,” the woman told police.
Investigators interviewed a friend of Bourgoin’s who had lunch with him Friday. Bourgoin said he was “really stressed” about his child custody battle with his ex-girlfriend. The friend told police he’d been talking with Bourgoin about that situation frequently.
The friend said Bourgoin’s father died from cancer roughly a year ago and the loss “took a toll on Bourgoin’s well-being.” However, the friend said he was not aware of Bourgoin making suicidal comments, even in jest, or showing signs indicating suicidal thoughts, according to the affidavit.
Bourgoin clocked out from work at the Lake Champlain Chocolates warehouse in Williston before his shift was over Friday after lunch with his friend, according to the affidavit. A manager who contacted him later said that when they called Bourgoin, he said he was sick to his stomach.
Bourgoin then told the manager he was resigning because he needed more money “due to his situation,” according to the affidavit. The manager told police that earlier that Friday that Bourgoin was “acting strange and appeared really down.”
Recently, Bourgoin has started parking his truck further from other employees and was often pacing in the parking lot while talking on his cell phone, the manager told police, according to the affidavit. The manager told police Bourgoin had missed a lot of work since May because of “an unknown medical issue.”
Bourgoin was scheduled to have a visitation with his daughter Saturday morning, the friend he had lunch with Friday told police. Officials have said they do not believe that meeting occured.
Security video shows Bourgoin entering and exiting the hospital’s emergency room three times between 8:45 a.m. and 11:05 a.m. on Saturday. It’s unclear why Bourgoin went to the emergency room.
An earlier affidavit, supporting the vehicle charges, states that the Howard Center, the designated mental health services provider for the region, was called about Bourgoin’s situation but did “not screen him.” Bourgoin was seen by a physician assistant at the hospital, according to the affidavit.
A neighbor told police that at 11:30 p.m. on Saturday night, shortly before the crash, they heard Bourgoin start his truck and pull “aggressively” out of the driveway with the tires squealing. He drove around the block before driving off at a high rate of speed.
Williston Police Officer Eric Shepard, who was helping those injured in the initial crash and whose cruiser was stolen at the scene, is also the officer who arrested Bourgoin after a domestic violence incident, according to both affidavits.
Shepard saw the driver thrown from his stolen cruiser after it slammed into the burning wreckage of the Toyota Tacoma. “Shepard stated he was 100 percent certain that Bourgoin was the operator of the cruiser,” according to the affidavit.
Shepard said Bourgoin didn’t say anything after being taken into custody but that he did try to escape while being evaluated by medics.
The affidavit states that the “male operator of the truck” involved in the initial fatal crash was “later identified as Steven D. Bourgoin.”
Shepard also said, when interviewed by detectives, that Bourgoin has post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. The affidavit provides no further information about that diagnosis or Bourgoin’s mental health.
Military records show Bourgoin served four months in the Army at Fort Benning in Georgia from August 1999 to November 1999. His discharge records are not public, according to an Army spokeswoman.
A WCAX report citing anonymous sources says that Bourgoin was released from the Army for “failure to meet procurement medical fitness standards.”
