Boat Crash: Beer Cans, a Night Out
Gilford — June 25, 2008 — The surviving passenger on a boat that crashed into Diamond Island on Lake Winnipesaukee June 15 has told investigators that all three people aboard had been drinking earlier in the evening. Stephanie Beaudoin, 36, of Meredith, was killed in the 2:30 a.m. crash; the operator of the 37-foot Formula boat, Erica Blizzard, 34, of Laconia, suffered serious injuries.
Nicole Shinopules, 34, of Burlington, Mass., told New Hampshire Marine Patrol investigators that she and her friends had been drinking at the Wolfe Trap Restaurant on Back Bay in Wolfeboro, according to an affidavit filed with Laconia District Court by Marine Patrol Lt. Timothy Dunleavy.
According to the affidavit, several empty 12-ounce beer cans were found near the accident scene. The department is investigating the possibility of bringing a negligent homicide charge, a felony punishable by up to seven years in prison and up to 15 years if the person committing it was under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
Officials at the Laconia District Court said the affidavit seeking a search warrant for the boat was inadvertently released to the Citizen of Laconia by a clerk unfamiliar with court procedure. That procedure requires the affidavit remain sealed until the court has received a return from the parties for whom the search warrant has been issued. The official said the affidavit will remain sealed to other media until the court has received a return or seven days have elapsed.
The Citizen reported that in the affidavit, Dunleavy said the Formula boat being driven by Blizzard was headed in a southeasterly direction and was traveling “on plane” when it struck the island, meaning it was skimming the surface of the water.
It also reported that the affidavit said that Dr. Thomas Rock, an orthopedic surgeon who owns a home on the island, heard the impact and went out to investigate. He found two survivors, one of whom was an unconscious woman slumped over the helm; she was later identified as Blizzard by Marine Patrol Sgt. Joshua Dirth.
According to the Citizen, Dunleavy asked for a search warrant for samples of Blizzard’s blood “for the purposes of determining the alcohol and or drug content of her body.”
Blizzard is the operations manager at Lakeport Landing Marina on Paugus Bay in Laconia, which is owned by her father, Paul Blizzard. She is also the president of the New Hampshire Recreational Boaters Association, formed in 2004 to oppose a speed limit for Lake Winnipesaukee. Earlier this year she testified before the state Legislature in opposition to HB 847, which would establish a speed limit for two years on the state’s largest lake.
Blizzard suffered serious facial injuries and is still hospitalized at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, where she is listed in satisfactory condition.
Members of Beaudoin’s family said the accident took place after Blizzard and her two friends had played a Father’s Day prank on her father, Paul. The women left posters with his photo superimposed over images of President Bush at Blizzard’s Pendleton Beach lakeside home in Laconia.
Beaudoin, who died instantly of a broken neck in the crash, was a close friend of Blizzard and a bridesmaid at her wedding last summer. The two have been friends for many years and often went boating together on weekends, according to members of Beaudoin’s family.
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