Earlier this month, a former Fortune 500 executive was depressed and attempting suicide when his pickup truck crossed the Interstate 89 median and collided with an oncoming car, killing a pregnant woman and her fiance, a prosecutor said in court.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said Robert Dellinger, 53, of Sunapee was very depressed and considered suicide following a disagreement with his wife related to his medication for depression.
Dellinger was arraigned in Lebanon’s district court yesterday and is charged with two counts of manslaughter for recklessly causing the death of the Wilder, Vt., couple by “intentionally” driving his vehicle from the southbound lane, across the median and colliding with oncoming traffic. Amanda Murphy, 24, and Jason Timmons, 29, died in the collision.
“He could have chosen many other ways to kill himself that would not put anyone else in danger,” Morrell said, noting that the stretch of median that Dellinger chose to drive into had no trees, rocks or any other obstacle that would have prevented him from traveling into the other lane of traffic.
Dellinger, who suffered minor injuries in the crash, was ordered held on $250,000 cash-only bail following his arraignment. His attorney said during the hearing that the former chief financial officer at Pittsburgh-based PPG Industries will pay bail.
Blog story taken from several media sources, including Concord Monitor