[B]URLINGTON — Steven Bourgoin, awaiting trial on charges of second-degree murder from a fatal head-on collision that killed five teenagers in the fall of 2016, will raise an insanity defense, according to newly filed court documents.
Bourgoin, 37, already had entered a not-guilty plea to the charges of second-degree murder, as well as a count of driving a Williston police cruiser without permission, and a count of reckless or grossly negligent driving. He was arraigned a week after the October 2016 crash while lying in a hospital bed, in a makeshift courtroom at the Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, where he was being treated for injuries from the crash.
Police said Bourgoin was driving a Toyota truck the wrong way in the southbound lane of I-89 when he crashed into the Volkswagen Jetta with the five teenagers inside. Williston police arrived on the scene. Bourgoin then drove off in a Williston police cruiser, before returning to the scene of the wreck and crashing into his own truck, as well as seven other vehicles at high speed.
The students killed in the crash had been on their way home from a concert in Burlington. They were Mary Harris, 16, and Cyrus Zschau, 16, both of Moretown; Liam Hale, 16, of Fayston; Eli Brookens, 16, of Waterbury; and Janie Chase Cozzi, 15, of Fayston. Four of the five were students at Harwood Union High School. Cozzi was a student at Kimball Union Academy, a private school in New Hampshire but was considered part of the Harwood community.
Bourgoin’s attorney, Robert Katims, filed notice of the insanity defense in Chittenden Superior Court on Thursday. Katims has not yet responded to a request for comment.
Bourgoin is being held at the Northwest State Correctional Facility in Swanton. He is due to appear in court in early April.
The name of David Rosmarin, a Massachusetts doctor, has been submitted to the court as an expert witness. Rosmarin heads the Forensic Service at McLean Hospital, which focuses on risk assessment for violence and suicide, according to his biography.
It was reported at the time of the 2016 accident that Bourgoin had mental health issues that had not been addressed. VTDigger reported at the time that Bourgoin had spent the morning before the crash in and out of the emergency room.
It was reported that Bourgoin had told a friend that he had anxiety and PTSD from traumatic childhood experiences. An officer from the Williston Police Department who responded to the crash and who knew Bourgoin from previous interactions told investigators that Bourgoin had PTSD.
A toxicology report showed Bourgoin had high blood levels of fentanyl, benzodiazepine, and THC, the psychoactive component of cannabis, eight hours after crash. The level of THC in Bourgoin’s blood was 10 nanograms; drivers in Colorado are presumed to be under the influence with THC levels of 5 nanograms.
Correction: The credentials of Dr. David Rosmarin were incorrect in an earlier version of this story.
