Ont. man accused of driving 173 km/h in deadly Clearview Twp. 2023 crash denied bail

A man accused of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm will be spending Christmas behind bars after a failed bid to be released from custody.

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A man accused of dangerous driving causing death and bodily harm following a deadly 2023 crash in Clearview Township in September 2023 will be spending Christmas behind bars after a failed bid to be released from custody.

Dan Richie, 35, argued for his release in a bail review Friday in a Barrie, Ont. courtroom with the mother of his six children proposing herself as his surety along with a family friend.

Justice Susan Healey ordered Richie be sent back to jail after ruling the sureties and plan of release proposed by the defence were not suitable to allow Richie to be bailed out.

Richie is accused of driving 173 km/h with five kids in the car before running a stop sign along the 9th Concession in Clearview Township on the morning of September 23, 2023. The crash killed 31-year-old Katie Marshall and her two dogs and injured Marshall’s husband who was airlifted to hospital in serious condition.

The Marshalls were on their way to feed their horses at her patents’ farm in New Lowell when the crash happened.

Richie, who has had about six different lawyers appear on his behalf in dozens of court appearances since his arrest in December 2023, is set to stand trial in the fall.

Richie has been charged twice with failing to comply with a release order, previously arrested by provincial police in February for failing to inform police of an address change. Investigators said at the time, Richie may have intended to flee.

Richie was arrested again months later and pleaded guilty in a Chatham courtroom in August with failing to comply with his second release from custody. Richie was under strict conditions at the time including house arrest on a pledge of $75,000 under his mother’s supervision following a bail hearing in March.

After pleading guilty to the breach in late August, Richie was mistakenly released from jail without his GPS ankle monitor and brought back into custody in September following a hearing in Collingwood before Justice Angela McLeod.

The mother of Richie’s six children pledged $30,000 to serve as a surety for him, their friend pledged $5,000 as a second proposed surety.

Though Justice Healey agreed with the defence that an error in law was made by Justice McLeod during her reasons for Richie’s detention in September, Justice Healey raised several concerns with the new release plan including the suitability of the sureties and sent Richie back to jail.

Richie is scheduled to return to court early in the new year. The allegations against him have not been tested in court.