COURT HOUSE — Jury selection will begin Monday April 20 in the case of State Trooper Robert Higbee, charged with two counts of vehicular homicide in the deaths of two Upper Township sisters.
On Sept. 27, 2006, just after 10 p.m., Higbee’s patrol car crashed into a minivan, the two sisters, Christina, 19, and Jacqueline, 17, Becker were driving in. They were pronounced dead at the scene.
Now, over two years later, a jury must decide whether Higbee acted recklessly when he ran a stop sign at the intersection of Stagecoach and Tuckahoe roads.
Higbee has told investigators he was pursuing a speeder that night and was attempting to close the gap between himself and that other driver when the collision took place. The prosecution is expected to call witnesses who said they did not see the speeder go by before the crash.
Higbee, now 36, was indicted five months later in February 2007 and remains suspended without pay from the State Police. Since the crash, Higbee has worked in marketing and has operated a sports training business. He and his wife, Bethany, have a 14-month-old daughter.
Jacqueline, 17, was a senior at Ocean City High School. She belonged to clubs for art, history, drama and Latin. She spoke Italian and Spanish. Christina, 19, was a student at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey. She talked about taking culinary classes so one day she and her mother could open their own bed and breakfast.
Lower Township – Who are these people that are obvious experts on trash cans and leaf pick-up? Maybe they don't have any trash to put out or leaves in their yard!!
