CONCORD, N.H. – A former Fortune 500 executive is pleading not guilty to murder in a fatal car crash that he told investigators was a suicide attempt.
Robert Dellinger, 54, of Sunapee, had been due to appear Monday in Grafton County Superior Court on two counts of second-degree murder.
His lawyer, Peter Decato, said Friday that he reserved his right to seek a bail hearing at a later time. He filed court documents entering Dellinger's pleas and waiving Monday's hearing.
Dellinger has been held without bond since his arrest in the December crash that killed 29-year-old Jason Timmons and 24-year-old Amanda Murphy, of Wilder, Vermont.
Murphy was eight months pregnant. Dellinger is also charged with second-degree assault in the death of the fetus.
Decato said he is still reviewing investigative documents turned over by prosecutors.
"We want to review the case and make a decision," he said, before requesting a bail hearing.
Dellinger told investigators he was trying to kill himself when he steered his pickup across an Interstate 89 median in Lebanon. The truck went airborne, shearing off the top of an SUV the couple was driving in the northbound lane.
Dellinger suffered cuts and bruises.
He was initially charged with two counts of reckless manslaughter, but state police upgraded the charges two weeks after the crash, alleging Dellinger showed "extreme indifference to human life."
New Hampshire Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell said in court in December that Dellinger had argued with his wife over his medications on the morning of the crash, left the house and began to drive around, growing increasingly despondent.
The part of the median Dellinger chose to plow into, she said, had no trees, rocks or other obstacles.
Dellinger was a senior vice president and chief financial officer at PPG Industries Inc. when he left in 2011 because of health problems. He also held high-level posts at Sprint Corp., Delphi Corp. and General Electric Co.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
