UPDATE: Deadly Route 85 crash – local couple spared by inches

• Clifton Park man crossed into traffic.
• Second fatal crash in the same spot in less than a year.
• Local couple spared by inches.

SLINGERLANDS – A head-on fiery crash on Route 85 on Wednesday, May 1 claimed the life of a Selkirk woman and snarled traffic for miles. It is the second fatal accident in the past year on the stretch of road that straddles the Thruway near the City of Albany line.

According to police, at approximately 6:55 a.m . Bethlehem police, City of Albany Fire and EMS, Slingerlands fire, North Bethlehem fire and Delmar-Bethlehem EMS responded to a two-car accident on the Thruway bridge.

The crash involved a car traveling west bound driven by Matthew R. Monthie, 28, of Clifton Park crossed over the center lane and collided with a vehicle coming towards Albany, driven by Shawna D. Marzahl, 53, according to Bethlehem police. Both cars caught fire and were extinguished by Albany firefighters, according to witness reports.

It could have been much worse, however, especially for Agnes Zellin and Paul Tick of Delmar as they traveled to an early-morning appointment.

“As we were just coming across the bridge I saw a small dump truck coming on the other side of the road and then out of nowhere came a blue car that came into our lane. I swerved to the right to avoid it and it swerved away from me,” Zellin said.

They also said that Monthie was traveling at a high rate of speed when he crossed the line.

“Gravel kicked up all over the car as it went by.  It was so thick it was like we were in a cloud, we couldn’t see,” Tick said.  “It was so close I could feel the speed as it went by.”

Marzahl’s white Ford SUV was directly behind Zellin and Tick and they said they saw smoke behind them.

Marzahl’s vehicle flipped over and came to rest on the bridge. Monthie’s Subaru WRX was in the west-bound lane.  A number of good samaritans removed the drivers from the burning vehicles.

Marzahl died at the scene, Bethlehem police said, and Monthie was taken to Albany Medical Center Hospital with what was later described as serious injuries.

A third vehicle, driven by Thomas J. Nastars, 20, of Slingerlands sustained windshield damage from flying debris from the crash. Nastars’ vehicle was directly behind Marzahl’s, police said.

“I wasn’t even sure what had just happened,” Zillin said. “We said ‘Holy Cow,’ we could have just been killed. I looked in my rearview mirror and saw billows of smoke.”

Other witnesses said that the car could be seen still smoking as they passed under the bridge on the Thruway. They said that fire trucks were there.

The SUV was up against the east retaining fence and given its upside-down position could have gone over and onto the Thruway below, another person who was there said.

The road remained closed between Blessing and Krumkill Roads until late Wednesday night as Bethlehem police and the Albany County Crash Investigation Team investigated the cause of the crash.

Detectives interviewed Tick and Zellin later that night as well as many other witnesses. Standard operating procedures would dictate that if alcohol or drugs were suspected, police would request toxicology blood draws at the hospital. If taken, those results would take several weeks to come back.

The investigation is ongoing and no timeline has been set for potential charges, according to police.

Deadly crash 51 weeks earlier

The crash comes almost one year after a crash at the same location claimed the life of a Colonie High School senior after a head-on accident.

On May 11, 2023, Michael Kleinke Jr ., 17, died after his car was hit by a Mercedes driven by Thomas McGrath, 71, of Slingerlands.

The accident occurred about 200 feet from where the most recent one took place. In that accident McGrath crossed over the center line and collided head on with Kleinke’s vehicle. McGrath was hospitalized and submitted to blood samples for toxicology at the hospital.

On Tuesday, July 25, Detectives charged McGrath with manslaughter and aggravated vehicular homicide, both felonies, and DWAI-Drugs after an investigation. The case has not yet been adjudicated in court.

According to the Albany County District Attorney’s office, no indictment has come down from a grand jury. The office has a blanket policy of not commenting on cases in the pre-indictment stage and declined to answer other questions about the timeline of the case.

McGrath did post a $75,000 bond and is free under the supervision of Albany County Probation. His driver’s license was suspended pending prosecution.

On July 1, 2015 State Police arrested McGrath on Route 81 in Greenville and charged him with DWI. The case was adjudicated in Greenville Town Court and was pled down to DWAI.

The reduction to DWAI means that police can only charge him with misdemeanor DWAI-Drugs in the current case, not elevate it to a felony.

State law allows for those convicted of DWI charges within the prior 10 years to be charged with felony DWI, which holds a maximum sentence that includes time in state prison.

According to DMV, a person is eligible to apply for a conditional license one year after a conviction of DWAI. McGrath did have a license at the time of the accident.

An internet search of McGrath’s name also revealed additional felony DWI charges, as other media have reported, but those charges from 2011 were for Thomas J. McGrath of Pomona, not Thomas F. McGrath. Both men are now 71, but Thomas J was born in October and Thomas F. was born in May.

McGrath’s attorney Steven Coffey confirmed that he did not have a felony DWI in 2011.

The Road

The stretch of Route 85, a State highway, where both accidents took place is very unique because it is a four lane road where it starts at I-90 in Albany, but narrows to two lanes as it crosses the Thruway.

For people who travel the road, they know the reduction is coming and often jockey for an advance position before the bridge. The road is two lanes for approximately 1.4 miles and turns back to four lanes at the roundabout at Blessing Road.

The original project that installed the four roundabouts on Route 85, did not include making the stretch four lanes, but in subsequent years DOT did widen the shoulders as what appeared to be a preparation for the expansion. DOT said at the time that the section would be addressed in another phase of the project at a later time.

When Times Union columnist Chris Churchill contacted DOT last week to ask about the 2007 road project, DOT responded  “As Wednesday’s tragic incident along State Route 85 in the Town of Bethlehem is the subject of a police investigation, we cannot comment further at this time.”

Statistics from Bethlehem police reveal that the road has had many collisions, but most are from vehicle striking animals.

Between October 2020 and September 2023, 35 crashes have occurred on Route 85, of which 29 involved hitting an animal. Of the six remaining during that period, there was one fatality and five injuries.

After last week’s crash, Bethlehem Supervisor David VanLuven sent a letter to DOT asking the agency to review the road and make changes.

“The recent spate of tragic accidents on Route 85 between the Blessing Road roundabout and the Town line suggests that engineering improvements are needed,” VanLuven said. “Our initial review of crash patterns indicates that speeds are a major contributing factor to this two-lane undivided highway’s relatively high casualty rate.”

“The core issue we see again and again and again in accidents is drivers making bad decisions and going too fast,” he continued.

We will have updates on both stories as information becomes available.

“Our son just passed the bar exam and is going to be sworn in and I can’t help but think how it would impact our family if it was us that got hit. I can only imagine how it is affecting Shawna’s family. It is just a horrible thought,” Zellin said.

-30-

The post UPDATE: Deadly Route 85 crash – local couple spared by inches first appeared on Spotlight News .