Crash that killed two called suicide attempt

CAMBRIDGE -- With his foot pressing the gas pedal to the floor in the early afternoon of June 13, Alan Robbins attempted to put an end to the disappointments that had recently invaded his life. In the opposite lane, John McGeehan was cruising toward Robbins in his Porsche convertible with a business associate, Julie Kent, in the passenger seat.

Prosecutors said yesterday that Robbins, 60, of Winchester, despondent and bent on suicide, sped across the center line and intentionally slammed his 2000 Toyota Corolla into McGeehan's 1997 sportscar just after noon that day, obliterating the front half of the Porsche and instantly killing McGeehan, 64, on South Border Road in Winchester, at the intersection of Leslie Road.

Kent, 53, clung to life for eight days but died Wednesday in Massachusetts General Hospital. Both McGeehan and Kent were also Winchester residents.

Police said all three involved in the crash were wearing seat belts. Robbins walked away from the wreckage and was treated for minor injuries at Massachusetts General, where he told a doctor he had recently been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Yesterday in Cambridge District Court, he pleaded not guilty to two counts of manslaughter .

``The defendant indicated to the EMTs and paramedics that he was trying to commit suicide," said assistant district attorney Kerry Ahern. Robbins made similar statements to three nurses, a doctor, and a State Police trooper, according to court documents.

The documents, including a copy of the emergency department record from Massachusetts General, revealed that Robbins had been fired from Raytheon, a Waltham-based Department of Defense contractor, in January of 2005.

Robbins holds a master's degree in math from Boston University and a master's degree in electrical engineering from Northeastern University, according to court records. He has been married 20 years.

According to the hospital record, Robbins told a doctor that he had financial hardships that caused him and his wife to lose their insurance.

He also told the doctor that an eviction notice may have been what put him ``over the edge." Robbins also said his wife was thinking about leaving him and he was upset that he was unable to secure a patent for an invention he had worked on for 30 years.

The documents quoted Robbins as saying: ``It makes me sad. It would've been better if that car wasn't coming and I struck a tree."

Robbins was ordered to undergo a 20-day competency evaluation at Bridgewater State Hospital.