Jurors Screened for Trial in 27 Bus Crash Deaths

Amid extraordinary security, jury selection began Wednesday for the trial of a man charged with 27 counts of murder in the nation’s deadliest accident alleged to involve drunken driving.

Larry Mahoney, a 36-year-old Worthville laborer, sat quietly in the sealed Carroll County circuit courtroom. He is charged with 82 counts for allegedly driving his pickup the wrong way on Interstate 71 and slamming into a church bus loaded with children returning from an outing.

Of the 27 people who died as a result of the fiery crash on May 14, 1988, all but three were children.

Besides the murder counts, there are 42 wanton endangerment charges, 12 assaults and one charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. Mahoney faces life imprisonment on each of the murder charges.

One wanton endangerment charge against Mahoney was dropped Monday. Assistant Atty. Gen. Paul Richwalsky, who was appointed special prosecutor, said the victim did not wish to testify.

Richwalsky said the woman involved was not in the bus from the Radcliff Assembly of God church, but was in another car on I-71 the night of the crash.

Forty-nine prospective jurors packed the tiny courtroom Wednesday. Similar groups will be interviewed today and Friday.

Everyone entering the courtroom was searched and had to pass through a metal detector. Nearly a dozen State Police officers were at the courthouse.

Judge Charles Satterwhite said the measures were designed to ensure an uneventful and fair trial. “We want to do it once and we want to do it right,” he said.

Prospective jurors are not using their names but are identifying themselves by numbers assigned by the judge. Satterwhite also has taken other extraordinary measures to protect the anonymity of potential jurors, even forbidding the news media to take their pictures while in the courthouse.

During the general questioning, prospective jurors were asked if the use of alcohol and youthful victims would influence their deliberations.

Evidence that Mahoney reportedly had nearly 2 1/2 times the legal limit of alcohol in his blood the night of the accident will be introduced during the trial.