By MaryAnn Spoto/The Star Ledger
TOMS RIVER — On a gorgeous summer night nearly five years ago, five friends set out in a 17-foot Boston Whaler along the Metedeconk River in Brick Township after having dinner together.

On their way toward Barnegat Bay, the serenity of the night was shattered when Anthony DiGilio’s 27-foot Imperial speedboat ran over the smaller boat, killing Robert Post and seriously injuring his wife and a friend, prosecutors told jurors in the opening of DiGilio’s criminal trial in Toms River this morning.

DiGilio’s conduct, Senior Assistant Ocean County Prosecutor Hillary Bryce argued, Read more....



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Sucks reading about stuff like this. However it is a great reminder for me to be a little more cautious. In the end it's a big black eye for our hobby.

Thanks Tim I want to hear why he hid the boat if he didnt do it

imperial boats,does this look like a speed boat???twin v6 that will do 51 to 70 mph ..rite...

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...1112&noOfPic=2

Doesn't look like the same boat:

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/200...peed_boat.html

So I guess he gave up on the hitting a log story?

Joe, I was told the boat was picked up on Toledo Dr. If that is the case, there couldn't be an attempt to hide it in a garage as the press claims. There is no house on Toledo Dr that has a 35ft + deep garage to put it in let alone one unexpectedly storing one in such a garage. If it was stored at a relatives's house off of Mantoloking Rd I can see it possible, and even there it wouldn't need to be inside a garage to hide it as there is a very long driveway.

After seeing the damage of both boats, I have a hard time believing the Imperial was the boat that went through the side of the Whaler . If they have evidence to prove that I would love to see how they explain it.

My thoughts are the Imperial may have been the second boat to hit debris of the Whaler after it was already hit by another boat.

If they just pull the camera footage from all of the bridges surrounding this area they will know for sure whether or not the Imperial and the Whaler were the only two boats on the water that night.

I would like to know how the Imperial went up over the top of the whaler as the Prosecutor claims yet the boat shows no sign of damage to the drive, propeller or tabs let alone the strakes of the boat. From what I can tell, no damage at all to the Port side of the bow of the boat. Some markings on the starboard side appear to me to be the Trailer stop .

Bottom line, the only damage I saw on the boat appears to be trailer damage as if he missed the rollers or bunks. Keel had chips just as if it slid on the I-beam. A slight black mark more like creosote from a piling but to see how little damage there is to the boat I am amazed it would be the first boat to hit the whaler.

It was a performance boat based on the fact that his attorney stated the whaler should have heard him coming "with his loud exhaust "

Yes, it is a tragedy, but why was this case even brought?

Madame-Super-Prosecutrix and her overcharging, hyperbolic, and emotively theatric language aside ... not to mention contributory social issues, like drinking and boating by one or both parties ... I would think has a serious problem with long and well established Admiralty Law, Customs and Conventions.

One can argue speed, prudence, impairment, inattention, narrowness, non-functioning bow light, etc.etc. but from the pic of the Whaler, he was clearly the crossing vessel and is (with limited and narrow exceptions) responsible for avoiding a collision.

This is a political show trial, right?

Bob

That's what I read on the Harley Forum, loud pipes save lives.