Burlington,VT : Suspect in wrong-way crash seeks contact with child's mother on may, monday 8th 2017

The man accused of killing five teens in a wrong-way crash on I-89 was back in court Monday seeking permission to contact the mother of his child.

Steve Bourgoin's ex-girlfriend is allegedly the victim in a domestic assault and unlawful restraint at the hands of Bourgoin. He had previously been ordered not to have contact with her after that case. But in court Monday Bourgoin's defense attorney says that ex now wants to be able to personally bring their shared 3-year-old daughter to visit him in jail. That would require an amended or lifted no contact order.

But before they could get there, both prosecutors and the judge said they want to hear in-person testimony from the woman about her motivations. Prosecutors said they're opposed to having the her speak to Bourgoin in-person because she's a witness in his upcoming murder trial, and they fear her testimony could be tainted.

"Phone conversations from the jail are recorded, supervised visits at the jail are not. So we would have no way to know whether that's happening," said Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George.

If his ex is to make the request in-person, it will happen at a hearing next Friday.

As for the pending murder case, George says the last bit of evidence has just come in and is in the hands of the defense. "It takes a long time for the defense not only to just go through it, but to really comprehend it and to understand it enough to then start questioning our witnesses on it. So that's kind of where we're at now, they have all of the evidence," she said. Depositions should be scheduled over the next few weeks and George says there could be "hundreds" of witnesses.

Bourgoin had a very different look from the last time he was arraigned in his hospital bed at UVM Medical Center. Now with shaggy, long hair, he kept his head down in court, saying only that he "understood" that his murder trial may not happen until next year, and waiving his right to a speedy trial. His attorney did not comment as he left the courtroom.

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Suspect in wrong-way crash seeks contact with child's mother