State Police Have Not Arrested John Corcoran’s Killer

A State Police spokesperson has informed StreetsblogMASS that the suspected killer in last week’s homicide on the Paul Dudley White Bike Path in Cambridge has not been arrested, although their driving license has been suspended.

On the afternoon of Monday Sept. 24, the driver of a Mercedes SUV struck and killed John Corcoran, aged 62, of Newton, while he was riding a bicycle along the Paul Dudley White bike path next to Memorial Drive in Cambridge.

Eyewitness reports allege that the killer steered their vehicle off the roadway and onto the bike path to drive head-on into Corcoran.

According to Tim McGuirk, the Interim Director of Media Relations for the Massachusetts State Police, the suspect in the homicide was “cooperative” and “remained on the scene” in the aftermath of the crash, and state police let them go without making an arrest.

When StreetsblogMASS asked McGuirk whether the State Police considered the driver who killed Corcoran to be an ongoing threat to public safety, especially in a motor vehicle, McGuirk said “I think that’s a really unfair question.”

McGuirk also admonished against “stoking fear” about a driver who drove an SUV at lethal speeds onto a crowded bike and jogging path in broad daylight.

On Friday morning, the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office confirmed that the suspect’s license had been suspended while the investigation continues.

However, a suspended license is a weak deterrent against dangerous driving. Out of 594 people who were involved in fatal crashes in Massachusetts in 2022, the last year for which data is available, 61 drivers – more than 10 percent – were driving with a suspended license or no license at all, according to federal Fatality Analysis Reporting System data.