Two Dead In Aftermath of Highway Contractor’s Holiday Party

A Marshfield man is facing charges of manslaughter after crashing a pickup truck owned by his employer, HiWay Safety Systems, Inc., and killing a 13-year-old early in the morning of December 29.

According to a statement from the Plymouth County District Attorney, Gregory Goodsell, 31, was allegedly driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol when he crashed into a smaller vehicle carrying two 13-year-old girls and a 50-year-old driver on Route 139 in Pembroke.

The Boston Globe reports that Goodsell had told police at the crash site that he had been drinking heavily at his employers’ holiday party the night before.

Authorities are also investigating the death of another HiWay Safety Systems employee, Joseph Amaral of Rockland, who was found unresponsive in a Rockland Comfort Inn the same morning and later died in a hospital, according to a report from Boston 25.

In an arraignment hearing on Dec. 30, Goodsell pleaded not guilty to a long list of charges that include one count of manslaughter, two counts of causing serious bodily injury while operating under the influence, driving with an open alcohol container, speeding, failure to stop at a signal, and various other traffic violations.

HiWay Safety Systems sells highway signs and pavement marking services to municipalities and state highway departments throughout New England. Customers include the City of Boston, where open spending data for 2019 shows two payments to the company worth $245,000, and the MassDOT, which spent $4.3 million on contracts to HiWay Safety Systems in 2019.