Accused Wrong-Way Driver in I-89 Crash Charged With Murder

Steven Bourgoin, the accused wrong-way driver of a pickup truck that crashed into a car on Interstate 89 late Saturday and killed five teenagers, has been charged with murder.

The State of Vermont filed five counts of second-degree murder against Bourgoin, Chittenden County State’s Attorney T.J. Donovan announced Thursday afternoon. Bourgoin is to be arraigned Friday morning at 10 a.m. in a conference room at the University of Vermont Medical Center, where he has been a patient since the wreck. 

The penalty for a second-degree murder conviction is 20 years to life in prison.

Bourgoin is alleged to have crashed head-on into a car late last Saturday while driving north in the southbound lanes of I-89 near Williston. Killed were five high school students: Liam Hale of Fayston, Mary Harris of Moretown, Eli Brookens of Waterbury, Cyrus Zschau of Moretown and Janie Cozzi of Fayston. On Monday, a crowd of 1,000 people held a vigil to remember them at Harwood Union High School, where four of the teens attended school. 

After the fatal crash, police say, Bourgoin stole a police cruiser and crashed into multiple cars before being thrown from the stolen vehicle and apprehended.

On Monday, Donovan announced charges against Bourgoin for stealing the police cruiser, but had not yet charged him with murder.

Bourgoin was initially hospitalized in critical condition, but his health has since improved. Thursday, he was considered in good condition, according to a UVM Medical Center spokesman.

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