Orange man sentenced to 8-12 years in prison for 2007 vehicular manslaughter
Two died in Bernardston crash
On Thursday, June 23, Franklin Superior Court Judge John Agostini sentenced the driver in a 2007 vehicular manslaughter case to 8-12 years in state prison, describing the crash that claimed two young women’s lives as not only “tragic,” but also “manslaughter in every sense of the word.”
After a four-day jury-waived trial, Agostini found Daniel P. Tompkins, 34, of Orange, guilty on two counts of manslaughter while driving under the influence of alcohol, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of felony motor vehicle homicide and one count of causing serious bodily injury by virtue of operating under the influence with negligence.
The motor vehicle manslaughter convictions carried a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, with a maximum sentence of 20 years, in state prison. First Assistant District Attorney Steven E. Gagne, who assumed control of the case from former Northwestern Assistant District Attorney Melissa Doran in January 2011, recommended that Agostini sentence Tompkins to 15-20 years in state prison.
On the evening of June 20, 2007, Tompkins was driving his Ford Expedition SUV with passengers Jeffrey Blake, Heather Buffum, and Melissa Duff, when the vehicle collided with a guardrail on a corner of South Street in Bernardston. The SUV flipped over and rolled 130 feet into the woods, ejecting all four passengers and killing Buffum, then 21, and Duff, then 25.
Massachusetts State Police estimated Tomkins’ SUV to be traveling 87 miles per hour just prior to the crash in a 40 mph zone. His blood alcohol content, as reflected by a blood sample taken at the hospital, was 0.12, one and a half times the legal limit.
At trial, the defendant claimed that Blake had actually been driving the car at the time of the crash, a version of events Agostini rejected, going so far as to call the defendant’s testimony “ludicrous.”
In victim impact statements to the court, the victims’ family members thanked Gagne, Agostini, investigators, advocates and others who had stood with them through the four-year process that led to yesterday's result.
“You will come out of this nightmare that you have caused for so many people,” Melissa Duff’s uncle, Kenneth Erho, said, addressing Tompkins, who did not speak. “Melissa never will.”
“A simple ‘I’m sorry,’ would go a long way,” Karen Beck, Buffum’s mother, said to Tompkins.
Family members showed albums with photos of the victims to Agostini, who thanked them, saying, “Having these photos brought Heather and Melissa to life.”
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