Driver in fatal crash now faces a criminal charge

December 7, 2023 | By Lisa Scagliotti 

The driver in a fatal crash on Interstate 89 in Bolton just before Thanksgiving is now facing a criminal charge, according to Vermont State Police. 

Nineteen-year-old Owen Benoit of St. Albans town was cited at the St. Albans state police barracks on Thursday, police said. He is scheduled to appear in Chittenden Superior Court Criminal Division on Feb. 1 to answer to the charge of negligent operation with death resulting, according to police. 

The crash happened just after 7 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 22, on I-89 southbound. The investigation since then has found that Benoit was “traveling at a speed that was far greater than what was appropriate for the road conditions at the time,” according to a report by Trooper Christopher Hein. “Evidence indicates Mr. Benoit was traveling over 80 mph in the moments before losing control of his motor vehicle. Road conditions may have been a contributing factor but were not the primary causation of his loss of control of his vehicle.”

Benoit’s 2017 BMW went off the road and crashed into a Toyota Corolla that had just prior gone off the road. The driver of the stopped vehicle, Josephine Buckley, 34, of Essex, was attempting to get out of her car when Benoit’s vehicle struck hers. 

State police said Buckley died at the scene as a result of internal injuries from the crash. Buckley had been on her way to work at the Vermont Forensic Laboratory in Waterbury where she was a forensic chemist. Investigators did not share details on Benoit’s travels that morning. 

More information from the investigation filed with the court will be released at the time of Benoit’s arraignment, police said.