N.H. police say driver in double-fatal had cocaine

HOPKINTON, N.H. – The driver who police say caused a double-fatal crash on Saturday had cocaine and alcohol with him and was a habitual offender with a drunken driving conviction, according to court records and the police.

Police say Richard D. Demers, 45, swerved into oncoming traffic on Route 202-9 about 4 p.m. Saturday, causing a head-on collision that killed him and a passenger in a recreational vehicle.

“We found cocaine on his person and the presence of alcohol on the scene, as well as signs of intoxication,” Police Chief David Wheeler said Tuesday. Toxicology tests will be conducted, but often take weeks.

Wilma Hein, 69, of Stamford, Conn., died in the recreational vehicle. Her husband, Roger Hein, 71, was airlifted to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Hospital in Lebanon where he was listed in satisfactory condition Tuesday.

Demers was convicted three times of driving after being certified as a habitual offender in 1989. He was deemed a habitual offender after leaving the scene of an accident and being caught twice driving after his license was suspended for insurance cancellations, said his lawyer, Ray Raimo.

Under state law, habitual offenders who are caught driving face one to five years behind bars, and no portion of the minimum may be suspended.

Demers was caught driving in 1991, 1994 and 2001, according to court documents examined by the Concord Monitor.

Wheeler believes Demers should have faced tougher penalties for being a repeat offender.

“You can’t drive if you’re in prison,” he said. “The statute allows for one to five in state prison and after the third time, he’s not getting it. Maybe he should have been given the max.”

Demers was last arrested on Dec. 12, 2001, in Goffstown for drunken driving and driving as a habitual offender, Goffstown District Court Clerk Barbara Grant said Tuesday. In April 2002, he was convicted of drunken driving, fined $420 and had his driving privileges revoked for three months, Grant said.

He pleaded guilty in Superior Court to the habitual offender charge was sentenced to one year of weekends at the Hillsborough County jail, which he began serving in June 2002, court documents show. He was put on strict probation and attended the Manchester Academy program, an alternative to incarceration that teaches offenders life skills, according to a Web site for Southern New Hampshire Services Inc.

Demers completed a substance abuse program and was attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings four times each week in December 2002, according to a letter from the Manchester Academy to Raimo. Demers was allowed to serve some of the remainder of his sentence in home confinement because of his progress, Raimo said.

“He went to an alcohol program and appeared to be committed to his rehabilitation,” Raimo said. “He did a remarkably good job of straightening up.”

In May 2003, however, Demers’ probation officer found him drunk. He was sentenced to 30 days in jail, ordered to return to the academy for six months and again participate in a substance abuse program, court documents show.

Police said speed was not a factor in the crash, which started when Demers’ minivan crossed into oncoming traffic and sideswiped a Jeep.

Wilma and Roger Hein were driving to Maine to visit their son, Douglas Hein, The Stamford (Conn.) Advocate reported Monday. They left Connecticut on Saturday morning and planned to be away for six weeks while Wilma Hein received medical treatment for arthritis, a neighbor who was watching the Hein’s home said.

Demers had been living for more than a year with a girlfriend in Weare, Wheeler said. He worked in furniture restoration, was widowed, and has an adult son, according to his application to the academy program.

The minivan was registered to Demers’ girlfriend, Suzanne Turgeon, Hopkinton police said. Turgeon told police she did not know Demers was driving her car.