{"id":490435,"date":"2026-02-25T23:01:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:01:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/490435\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T23:01:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T23:01:07","slug":"hockey-star-johnny-gaudreaus-murder-case-thrown-into-chaos","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/490435\/","title":{"rendered":"Hockey star Johnny Gaudreau’s murder case thrown into chaos"},"content":{"rendered":"

Beloved hockey star Johnny Gaudreau\u2019s accused drunk driver killer claims he wasn\u2019t drunk when he fatally struck the would-be Team USA forward<\/a> and his brother \u2014 and wants the entire case against him thrown out.<\/p>\n

A lawyer for Sean Higgins \u2014 who is accused of fatally mowing down<\/a> Gaudreau, 31, and his brother Matthew, 29, in New Jersey in 2024 \u2014 claimed in court Tuesday that their expert determined Higgins\u2019 blood alcohol content (BAC) was .075, which is below the legal limit of .08.<\/p>\n

Higgins, the 45-year-old Pilesgrove, NJ man who admitted to drinking that day, wants all the charges against him dismissed and prosecutors to get a new indictment from a grand jury.<\/p>\n

Sean Higgins claims he wasn\u2019t over the legal alcohol limit when he fatally mowed down NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother. Law&Crime Trials\/YouTube<\/p>\n

Sean Higgins\u2019 lawyer claimed his blood alcohol concentration was actually below the legal limit when he fatally mowed down NHL star Johnny Gaudreau and his brother.<\/p>\n

Higgins\u2019 legal maneuver came just two days after the wrap of the 2026 Winter Olympics \u2014 which Gaudreau would\u2019ve competed in as part of the US men\u2019s hockey team, if not for his untimely death. The squad went on to clinch gold against Canada on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Gaudreau \u2014 who played in the NHL for 11 seasons \u2014 was honored by the men\u2019s team<\/a> during their post-win celebrations. The late hockey player\u2019s family was invited to attend the semifinals in Milan<\/a> to watch the game between the US and Slovakia.<\/p>\n

At Tuesday\u2019s hearing held over video, defense attorney Richard Klineburger informed Salem County Superior Court Judge Michael Silvanio of the new development following his expert\u2019s findings.<\/p>\n

Johnny Gaudreau\u2019s memory loomed at the 2026 Winter Olympics as he\u2019d been expected to make the US men\u2019s hockey team, which won gold. @meredithgaudreau_\/Instagram<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems that it was plasma that was tested, not whole blood,\u201d Klineburger said. \u201cBased upon our expert report, that brings the actual BAC reading down to .075.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prosecutors claimed Higgins\u2019 BAC was .087.<\/p>\n

Klineburger said the alleged discrepancy may have \u201cimpacted the grand jury\u201d on its decision to indict Higgins on all the counts in the case, including first-degree aggravated manslaughter, reckless vehicular homicide, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and tampering with physical evidence. <\/p>\n

He faces up to 70 years behind bars if convicted on all counts.<\/p>\n

Matthew Gaudreau, also a hockey player, was killed in the incident as well. Gofundme<\/p>\n

Auston Matthews, Zach Werenski and Matthew Tkachuk of Team United States celebrate winning gold with Johnny Gaudreau\u2019s jersey after the team\u2019s 2-1 overtime victory in during the men\u2019s match against Canada. Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cIt taints it,\u201d Klineburger said of the indictment.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Michael Mestern said he needed time to run the findings by his own experts and investigators.<\/p>\n

The judge said if prosecutors ulitmately conceded Higgins\u2019 new claims, then Mestern would be allowed to try to get a new indictment against Higgins.<\/p>\n

Klineburger also revealed that he turned over counter plea offer in response to prosecutors\u2019 prior deal of 35 years behind bars. The judge encouraged both sides to engage in talks and said he\u2019d help facilitate that if needed.<\/p>\n

Sean Higgins wants the entire indictment against him dismissed based on the new information. Law&Crime Trials\/YouTube<\/p>\n

Higgins is due back in court on April 14, when Mestern is expected to reveal whether his office agrees with the new BAC findings and where things stand with plea negotiations.<\/p>\n

Higgins lost a prior bid to get the charges against him reduced or dropped on the grounds the Gaudreau brothers were drunker then he was, contributing to the accident.<\/p>\n

The siblings \u2014 both married dads \u2014 had been riding their bikes single-file on the shoulder of a road in Oldsmans Township when Higgins struck them on Aug. 29, 2024.<\/p>\n

Another car slowed down to watch the two cyclists but Higgins decided to pass that car and hit the brothers in the process. He pulled over a quarter mile down the road where cops found him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He allegedly told officers<\/a> he had five or six drinks.<\/p>\n

The brothers were in town for their sister\u2019s wedding which was scheduled for the following day.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Beloved hockey star Johnny Gaudreau\u2019s accused drunk driver killer claims he wasn\u2019t drunk when he fatally struck the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":490436,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[44125,32700,38137,99,194],"class_list":["post-490435","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-drunk-driving","tag-johnny-gaudreau","tag-murders","tag-sports","tag-us-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490435","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=490435"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/490435\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/490436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=490435"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=490435"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=490435"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}