Skip to content
NOWCAST News 9 Daybreak
Watch on Demand
Advertisement

Survivors of Randolph motorcycle crash say they're still coming to terms with trial verdict

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy found not guilty of 15 charges in crash that killed 7

Survivors of Randolph motorcycle crash say they're still coming to terms with trial verdict

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy found not guilty of 15 charges in crash that killed 7

IT'S BEEN A LONG THREE YEARS WAITING FOR THE TRIAL... AND SOME OF THEM TELL US THEY HAVE MORE QUESTIONS THAN ANSWERS. <JARHEADS2 - WADE08 :58;50 "I JUST HAD A FEELING IN MY STOMACH THAT WE WERE GOING TO GET SOMETHING OUT OF IT. MAYBE NOT THE MAX, BUT WE WERE GOING TO GET SOMETHING." 58:57> MANNY RIBEIRO SAYS HE REMEMBERS WHAT HE WAS FEELING WHEN HE WAS TOLD THE JURY IN THE VOLODYMYR ZHUKOVSKYY TRIAL HAD RETURNED A VERDICT. <JARHEADS1 - WADE01: 09;28 "I FELT SOMETHING GO THROUGH MY BODY...THE EMOTIONAL....I COULD BARELY WALK." 9:35> IT WAS A SIMILAR FEELING FOR DAWN BRINDLEY. THE TWO WERE MEMBERS OF THE JARHEADS MOTORCYCLE CLUB RIDING WITH THE FALLEN 7... WHEN THE CRASH HAPPENED IN RANDOLPH JUNE OF 2019. <JARHEADS2 - WADE08 :04;28 "THEY WERE GOOD PEOPLE. ALL OF THEM. THEY WERE ALL GOOD PEOPLE. WE LOST 7 GOOD PEOPLE THAT DAY." 4:35> THEN BRINDLEY AND RIBEIRO MADE THEIR WAY BACK TO THE COURTROOM TO HEAR THE VERDICT. <JARHEADS2 - WADE08 :00;23 "NOT GUILTY, NOT GUILTY, NOT GUILTY....WE WERE IN SHOCK. IN TOTAL SHOCK." 0:30> <JARHEADS1 - WADE:01 :10;44 "I THOUGHT I WAS IN ANOTHER NIGHTMARE AGAIN. IT ALL CAME BACK TO ME. " 10:47> OTHER JARHEAD MEMBERS SAY... THEY WISH THE STATE HAD CALLED UPON MORE WITNESSES... INCLUDING RIBEIRO HIMSELF... WHO WAS RIDING RIGHT BEHIND THE LEAD MOTORCYCLE. <JARHEADS2 - WADE08 :01;21 "WITHOUT MY PIECE OF THE PUZZLE I FEEL LIKE....IN THE END WOULD IT HAVE HELPED TIM? I DON'T KNOW. CERTAINLY IN MY MIND I FEEL LIKE IT WOULD'VE HELPED." 1:31> WITH ZHUKOVSKYY BEING CLEARED OF ALL 15 CHARGES... BRINDLEY AND RIBEIRO SAY THEY RESPECT THE WORK OF THE PROSECUTORS... BUT ADD IT'S IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER THE 7 LIVES LOST THAT NIGHT. BRIN
Advertisement
Survivors of Randolph motorcycle crash say they're still coming to terms with trial verdict

Volodymyr Zhukovskyy found not guilty of 15 charges in crash that killed 7

Some of the motorcyclists who survived the 2019 Randolph crash in which seven motorcyclists were killed say they have more questions than answers after the man accused of causing the crash was found not guilty.Crash survivors Dawn Brindley and Manuel Ribeiro said the not guilty verdict in the trial of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was not the outcome they were hoping for. They recalled feeling anxious and nervous when they heard a verdict had been reached."I just had a feeling in my stomach that we were going to get something out of it," Ribeiro said. "Maybe not the max, but we were going to get something."It took the jury less than three hours to find Zhukovskyy not guilty of all 15 charges he faced. "Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty — we were in shock," Ribeiro said. "In total shock.""I thought I was in another nightmare again," Brindley said. "It all came back to me."Brindley and Ribeiro said they respect the work of prosecutors, but they wish the state had called more witnesses, including Ribeiro himself who was driving right behind Al Mazza on the lead motorcycle before the crash. Ribeiro said he was sequestered but never called at trial. "Without my piece of the puzzle, I feel like, in the end, would it have helped? I don't know," Ribeiro said. "Certainly in my mind, I feel like it would've helped."With the trial now over, Brindley and Ribeiro said it's important to remember the seven lives lost that June night. "They were good people," Ribeiro said. "All of them, including Al. They were all good people. We lost seven good people that day.""I'll always remember them, and I hope everyone else does, too," Brindley said. "They were good people. They were really good people."Brindley and Ribeiro said the case has been hanging over them for three years, but they now will begin a new chapter as they try to move on and heal.

Some of the motorcyclists who survived the 2019 Randolph crash in which seven motorcyclists were killed say they have more questions than answers after the man accused of causing the crash was found not guilty.

Crash survivors Dawn Brindley and Manuel Ribeiro said the not guilty verdict in the trial of Volodymyr Zhukovskyy was not the outcome they were hoping for. They recalled feeling anxious and nervous when they heard a verdict had been reached.

Advertisement

"I just had a feeling in my stomach that we were going to get something out of it," Ribeiro said. "Maybe not the max, but we were going to get something."

It took the jury less than three hours to find Zhukovskyy not guilty of all 15 charges he faced.

"Not guilty, not guilty, not guilty — we were in shock," Ribeiro said. "In total shock."

"I thought I was in another nightmare again," Brindley said. "It all came back to me."

Brindley and Ribeiro said they respect the work of prosecutors, but they wish the state had called more witnesses, including Ribeiro himself who was driving right behind Al Mazza on the lead motorcycle before the crash. Ribeiro said he was sequestered but never called at trial.

"Without my piece of the puzzle, I feel like, in the end, would it have helped? I don't know," Ribeiro said. "Certainly in my mind, I feel like it would've helped."

With the trial now over, Brindley and Ribeiro said it's important to remember the seven lives lost that June night.

"They were good people," Ribeiro said. "All of them, including Al. They were all good people. We lost seven good people that day."

"I'll always remember them, and I hope everyone else does, too," Brindley said. "They were good people. They were really good people."

Brindley and Ribeiro said the case has been hanging over them for three years, but they now will begin a new chapter as they try to move on and heal.