October 16, 2012

Pennsylvania Man Pleads Guilty After Killing Two Friends in DUI Crash

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By guest-writer

A resident of Horsham, Pennsylvania was sentenced to eight years in prison this week after pleading felony DUI charges stemming from an accident in which he killed two of his childhood friends, according to a sobering report from the Philadelphia Daily News.

30-year-old Connor McNicholas had previously reached a plea deal with the prosecution that included his admission to committing several crimes, including homicide by vehicle, driving under the influence, and recklessly endangering another person.

The accident offered in August 2011, when McNicholas was reportedly driving his Honda Civic more than 100 miles per hour when it veered off the highway and crashed.

At the time, there were four passengers in the vehicle. Of those four passengers, two, Robert Walker Nagel and Edward Taylor Coombs, both only 19, were killed. McNicholas and other two passengers in the car were treated at a nearby hospital, but only sustained minor injuries.

When he was arrested, McNicholas blew a .117, which is well above the legal blood alcohol limit of .08. While his BAC reading is not as high as the level of many other DUI arrestees, it is still at a level where drivers are severely impaired.

Sources say that McNicholas was sentenced to a maximum of eight years in prison, but the judge left open the possibility that he could be released after four years, although only time will tell whether he is able to serve the shorter sentence.

As might be predicted, the sentencing hearing was very emotional, especially given the fact that the victims’ families were present.

And the victims’ families did not mince words when discussing the accident. Eric Coombs, the father of one of the teenage boys who died in the accident, told McNicholas that he held him “personally responsible for the death of my son” and said the drunk driver “took the heartbeat out of my life.”

In an equally emotional response, McNicholas told the court at the end of the hearing that “[i]t breaks my heart to know that they don’t have sons anymore and I’m responsible for that.”

The sentencing hearing closes one chapter in a nightmare story for McNicholas, who had just finished his sophomore year at Temple University before the accident occurred.

During his sophomore year, McNicholas had won all-conference accolades for his play on the school’s golf team, and he was named the Most Outstanding Rookie Performer during the Atlantic Ten Conference Championship tournament. Sadly, it will be a long time before he is able to golf again.


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The acronyms DUI, DWI, OMVI and OVI all refer to the same thing: operating a vehicle under the influence of alcohol or drugs. The most commonly used terms are DUI, an acronym for Driving Under the Influence, and DWI, an acronym for Driving While Impaired.
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