Burlington
The arraignment for Steven Bourgoin was held in a conference room at the University of Vermont Medical Center, where Bourgoin is under Department of Corrections custody. Bourgoin, 36, lay largely motionless, at times with his eyes closed, and did not speak during the proceeding, which lasted only a few minutes. Bruising was visible around his right eye.
Bourgoin allegedly drove his Toyota Tacoma northbound in the southbound lane before crashing head-on into a Volkswagen Jetta carrying the teens. He then allegedly stole a police cruiser from a Williston, Vt., 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, Vt., police officer intercepted him in the southbound lane.
Each of the second-degree murder charges carries a possible sentence of 20 years to life in prison.
Attorney Robert Katims and public defender Sara Puls are representing Bourgoin. Judge James Crucitti granted their request for Bourgoin to undergo a competency evaluation.
Bourgoin was ordered held without bail on the murder charges.
Alcohol has been ruled out as a factor in the crash, but police still are waiting for the results of Bourgoin’s toxicology reports.
Chittenden County State’s Attorney TJ Donovan said his office would release those results when it receives them, but declined to say if the investigation has revealed any evidence as to whether Bourgoin was on drugs.
In an interview with police, Bourgoin’s ex-girlfriend described him as “being angry and having mood swings,” which typically occurred “because he ran out of marijuana, which he used to stabilize his mood swings,” according to court documents.
Donovan would not address whether he believes Bourgoin was suicidal, repeating that he showed an “indifference to the value of human life,” in response to a reporter’s question. He declined to speculate on Bourgoin’s motive, if any, but noted later in the interview that Bourgoin faced mounting legal and financial pressures.
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 a 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 last 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 on Friday after lunch with his friend, according to the affidavit. A manager who contacted him later said that when he 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 on Friday, Bourgoin was “acting strange and appeared really down.”
Recently, Bourgoin had started parking his truck further from other employees and often was pacing in the parking lot while talking on his cellphone, 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 on Saturday morning, the friend he had lunch with on Friday told police. Officials have said they do not believe that meeting occurred.
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, says 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, also is the officer who arrested Bourgoin after separate a domestic violence incident, according to both affidavits.
Shepard saw the driver thrown from his stolen cruiser after it slammed into the burning 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 says that the “male operator of the truck” involved in the initial fatal crash was “later identified as Steven D. Bourgoin.”
Later, when interviewed by detectives, Shepard said 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 Bourgoin was released from the Army for “failure to meet procurement medical fitness standards.”