RANDOLPH, N.H. (AP) — The trial for a commercial truck driver charged with negligent homicide in the deaths of seven motorcycle club members in New Hampshire is set to start more than three years after the 2019 crash that devastated the region’s close-knit biker community and exposed flaws in state driver record keeping.
Volodymr Zhukovskyy, 26, of West Springfield, Massachusetts, pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of negligent homicide, manslaughter, reckless conduct and driving under the influence in the June 21, 2019, crash. He has been in jail since then.
The jury was selected this week and is scheduled to visit the crash scene along a busy two-lane highway in northern New Hampshire on Monday. The trial, delayed because of the pandemic and defense problems with finding a crash reconstruction expert, is expected to begin Tuesday and last for several weeks.
“It’s been a long, long, long three years,” said Manny Ribeiro of the Jarheads Motorcycle Club, made up of Marine Corps veterans and their spouses. “We all feel the same way. We all just want it to be over with.”