Fatal Seabrook crash: Driver faces charges for hitting newlyweds on motorcycle
SEABROOK — A Massachusetts man has been indicted on negligent homicide charges almost a year after he allegedly struck two newlyweds on a motorcycle, killing one.
Police say Dennis Martin, 76, of Salisbury, Massachusetts, was driving eastbound on Route 107 when he attempted to turn his vehicle left into the Brook casino parking lot. As he turned, police said he struck a motorcycle operated by Jeff Zajac, 51, with Jessica Edom-Zajac, 50, as his passenger.
Zajac was pronounced dead at the scene.
Martin was indicted this week by a Rockingham Superior Court grand jury on two counts of Class B felony negligent homicide. He is also facing two misdemeanor counts of vehicular assault.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt. It just means the grand jury found enough evidence to warrant a trial.
Martin is scheduled to be arraigned in Brentwood on Oct. 20.
Previous story: Newlywed bride recovering after husband killed in Seabrook crash
Each of the two felony charges against Martin could carry 3½ to 7 years in prison according to New Hampshire law. The vehicular assault charges are Class A misdemeanors and carry up to 1 year in jail.
The indictments for the felonies state Martin “cut off” Zajac’s motorcycle as he was “imminently” approaching the intersection. The vehicular assault complaints refer to serious injury caused to Jessica Edom-Zajac as well.
The crash occurred at 2:14 p.m. Nov. 5. Police said at the time that alcohol and speed did not appear to be a factor.
Zajac was pronounced dead at the scene, while his wife, Edom-Zajac suffered numerous injuries. Indictments specify she had a collapsed lung, broken ribs and a neck injury. Her daughter Kaila Lane said at the time she had two punctured lungs total, as well as fractures in her arms, legs, pelvic area, neck, spine and ribs.
Edom-Zajac’s daughter said last year she was recovering physically but struggling emotionally with the loss of her husband. A GoFundMe page created by Lane raised $28,334 through 284 donations.
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Remembering Jeff Zajac
Zajac and Edom-Zajac were set to have a wedding seven days later when the accident occurred.
The couple was from Shirley, Massachusetts, but met and later got engaged at Hampton Beach. Secretly, they had already eloped and were legally married earlier that year. They were eager to share their surprise at the wedding ceremony with their family and friends on Nov. 12.
Lane called Zajac “one of the best guys” who came into her mother’s life.
He was also remembered by friends as generous. Ernie Houle, a friend for 40 years, said Zajac would give the “shirt off his back” to anyone. He said Edom-Zajac was “the one for (Zajac)” and that he was looking forward to the wedding.
When the crash occurred, Lane was in Illinois when she received a call from her sister telling her that “Jeff passed.” She learned from her aunt shortly after that her mother was in stable condition, and she took the next flight to New England.
Lane and Houle both said Zajac’s loss was devastating to their circle of family and friends. Services were held for Zajac in Revere in December 2022, according to his obituary. An Army veteran, he was buried in Everett, Massachusetts, with military honors.
“I try and hold it together,” Houle said shortly after the crash occurred.
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This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Fatal Seabrook crash: Driver faces charges for hitting newlyweds on motorcycle
