Robert Dellinger is flanked by his attorneys Lucy Karl and Steve Gordon while his sentence is read in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill, N.H., on April 2, 2015. File Photo by Jennifer Hauck/Valley News
(Editor’s note: This story is by Jordan Cuddemi, of the Valley News, in which it first appeared April 19, 2016.)
The families of the Wilder couple killed when a Sunapee, New Hampshire, man drove his pickup truck across the Interstate 89 median and slammed into their vehicle have settled civil lawsuits in the case.
The terms of the settlement agreement, including the financial compensation, between the families and Robert Dellinger, who is now in prison for causing the 2013 crash in Lebanon, New Hampshire, aren’t being disclosed, an attorney involved in the case said Monday.
“All of the parties have agreed that the settlement will remain confidential,” said Albert Cirone, a Lebanon attorney who helped represent Deborah Blanchard, the administrator of her son Jason Timmons’ estate.
Reached by phone, Blanchard said despite the settlement, finding closure has been difficult. “There is nothing that will bring my son back,” she said.
Timmons and his fiancee, Amanda Murphy, were killed on Dec. 7, 2013, when Dellinger’s pickup truck careened across the I-89 median between exits 18 and 19 and collided with the couple’s oncoming SUV.
Murphy was eight months pregnant at the time.
Dellinger pleaded guilty in February 2015 to two charges of negligent homicide in the deaths of Timmons and Murphy and a count of second-degree assault in the death of the fetus. A judge sentenced Dellinger to a minimum of nine years in prison.
“(The settlement) was satisfactory to all parties,” Cirone, a former Grafton County judge, said. He declined to comment further.
Orford attorney Robin Curtiss, who represented Tammy Langlois, Murphy’s mother and the administrator of her estate, declined to comment on the case. A message left for Langlois wasn’t returned. Dellinger’s attorney, Russell Hilliard, of Concord, also declined to comment.
Court documents filed in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill, New Hampshire, indicate the parties settled in late February. The lawyers have until May 31 to finalize documents.
Murphy, 24, and Timmons, 29, were expecting a daughter to be named Raegan Elizabeth. Timmons, who attended Lebanon schools, and Murphy, who went to Hartford schools, met while working at Valley Terrace in White River Junction.
Murphy’s estate in February 2015 sued Dellinger on five counts, asserting he was responsible for the deaths of Murphy and the child she was carrying.
The suit sought standard compensatory damages, as well as enhanced damages for Dellinger’s “wanton, reckless and grossly negligent” conduct.
In April 2015, Timmons’ estate filed its own suit against Dellinger, seeking standard and enhanced damages.
Prosecutors in Dellinger’s criminal case argued he intentionally crossed the median on Dec. 7, 2013, as part of a suicide attempt. Defense attorneys claimed he was suffering from delirium brought on by a “toxic regime” of prescription medications.
Dellinger’s lawyers said his mental capacity had been altered by a number of factors, including Ambien withdrawal symptoms; the effects of a psychiatric medication prescribed in excess, as well as Prozac; and the worsening symptoms of multiple sclerosis.
Dellinger in 2011 had to leave his corporate career because of his MS symptoms. He had been the chief financial officer at PPG Industries Inc. in Pittsburgh, and held top positions at Sprint, Delphi and General Electric.
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission show PPG paid Dellinger more than $1 million when he resigned. Sunapee assessing records indicate a Dellinger family trust owns four properties valued at about $3.4 million.
Dellinger, who turns 56 next month, is currently lodged at the New Hampshire State Prison for Men. His earliest possible release date is June 2018.
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