Gaudreau brothers: Driver charged with killings appears in court [Video]

PHILADELPHIA –

The driver charged with killing NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew as they bicycled on a rural road had a blood-alcohol level of .087, above the .08 legal limit in New Jersey, a prosecutor said Friday.

Gaudreau, 31, and brother Matthew, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on Aug. 29, the evening before they were set to serve as groomsmen at their sister Katie’s wedding.

The driver, 43-year-old Sean M. Higgins of nearby Woodstown, New Jersey, is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle. At a virtual court hearing Friday, a judge ordered that he be held for trial after prosecutors described a history of alleged road rage and aggressive driving.

“’You were probably driving like a nut like I always tell you you do. And …