TRENCH DEATH CASE PROCEEDS
Contractor will face manslaughter charges
Manslaughter charges will stand against the owner of a drain pipe company that lost two workers in a horrific South End trench collapse, a judge has ruled.
Suffolk Superior Court Judge Christine M. Roach has denied Kevin Otto’s motion to dismiss the two indictments charging both him and his business, Atlantic Drain Service, in connection with the Oct. 21, 2016, drownings of father of six Kelvin “Chuck” Mattocks, 53, and Robert Higgins, 47.
Otto’s attorney Veronica White argued in her motion the evidence the Suffolk District Attorney’s Office presented to a grand jury over 14 days — including testimony from 13 witnesses and nearly 100 exhibits — “was not sufficient to establish probable cause that the defendant (Otto) participated in the alleged criminal activity.”
Roach disagreed, stating in her decision, “The grand jurors reasonably could have inferred facts supporting all the elements of manslaughter.”
White did not immediately respond yesterday to a request for comment.
Otto and Atlantic Drain — charged separately as a corporate entity — are scheduled to go on trial Jan. 8, 2019. Otto faces up to 20 years’ imprisonment on each manslaughter charge if convicted. His company, if found guilty, could face a fine.
Mattocks and Higgins were killed when underground materials supporting a hydrant in an allegedly unshored hole they were digging below Dartmouth Street gave way and the hydrant burst, flooding the trench. Prosecutors claim Otto was pushing the men to work faster because the project was behind schedule. They say the collapse buried the men up to their waists in dirt, rocks and concrete as the water rushed in around them.
Roach also denied a motion by Atlantic Drain’s attorney to dismiss charges of witness intimidation and evidence-tampering for the alleged forging and falsifying of documents sought by investigators.
“The grand jury could reasonably have inferred Atlantic Drain intentionally failed to provide the documents at issue to prevent the grand jury from using those documents while investigating the deaths of Mr. Mattocks and Mr. Higgins,” Roach wrote in her order. “Whether the Commonwealth can prove this crime beyond a reasonable doubt to a trial jury is a question for another day.”