Printed from the Poughkeepsie Journal Online (www.poughkeepsiejournal.com); Original publication date January 8, 2015.
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Carol Boeck, the 64-year-old Red Hook woman accused of causing the hit-and-run deaths of two Bard College students a year ago, admitted to her crimes Thursday just as jury selection had begun in her trial.
Boeck entered a guilty plea to aggravated vehicular homicide and to leaving the scene of a personal injury automobile accident, both felonies, before Dutchess County Court Judge Stephen Greller.
As part of her plea agreement, she is expected to receive sentences of 7 to 21 years in prison on the first charge, and 21/3 to 7 years on the charge of leaving the scene. Those sentences would run concurrently.
Boeck, who had posted bail and has been held on electric monitoring, was released pending her sentencing, scheduled for Feb. 24.
Standing with her hands folded in front of her, Boeck admitted she had been drinking at a bar near the Bard College campus, and then drove on Route 9G, where she struck and killed Sarah McCausland, 19, of Winnetka, Illinois, and Evelina Brown, 20, of Seattle, who were walking alongside the road.
The incident occurred just north of Broadway in Tivoli at about midnight on Jan. 31, 2014.
Boeck said she had intended to sleep in her Jeep after drinking, but said she got cold and decided to drive home "even though I shouldn't have."
She admitted she had trouble staying in her lane, and said she recalled striking something along the road.
"Do you concede that what you hit was two human beings, and that they died?" Greller asked Boeck.
"Yes," she said, her face contorting with emotion.
Boeck also admitted to having a blood-alcohol reading of 0.23 percent, nearly three times the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
Prosecutors were prepared to present evidence showing Boeck had been found sitting in her vehicle at a nearby gas station shortly after striking the two students.
The evidence would show that blood had been found on the front of her damaged car, and that a cell phone belonging to one of the victims had been found resting atop a bumper.
Edward Whitesell of the Dutchess County District Attorney's Office said a sentence of 7-21 years was consistent with similar cases and "significant" for someone who is 64 years old.
He said he had been in contact by telephone with family members of the victims Thursday.
He said having Boeck enter a guilty plea to the charge of leaving the scene of the accident was important for the family members because "she was willing to admit that she hit somebody or something, and left without doing anything about it."
The deaths of McCausland and Brown devastated the small college community in northern Dutchess County, and more than 200 mourned the victims during a midnight mass less than 48 hours after they died.
Boeck's attorney, Moshe Horn, called the case one of the "saddest cases I've ever dealt with."
John Ferro: 845-437-4816; jferro@poughkeepsiejournal.com; Twitter: @PoJoEnviro
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