Trial Postponed for Wayland Native Accused in Trooper's Death

The man accused in the death of State Trooper Ellen Engelhardt will wait several more weeks before he goes to trial on charges of vehicular homicide.

Wayland native William Senne was scheduled to go to trial on the charges Wednesday, May 15 in Plymouth Superior Court, but that trial has been postponed as Plymouth Courts are currently handling the high-profile trial of Keith Luke, according to the clerk's office of Plymouth Superior Court.

Luke is accused of two racially motivated murders, according to WCVB.

Senne has already served two-and-a-half years on charges related to the 2003 car crash that permanently disabled Engelhardt. According to WCVB, Senne, a Wayland High School graduate, was 18 on July 26, 2003, when he slammed into Engelhardt's cruiser parked in the breakdown lane of Route 25 in Wareham on his way from Wayland to his family's home on the Cape. He pleaded guilty in 2005 to charges of drunken driving and driving to endanger.

But Engelhardt never recovered from her injuries and died June 11, 2011. When she died, prosecutors decided to pursue a motor vehicle homicide charge against Senne, and he was indicted by a Plymouth County Grand Jury in September 2011.

Senne has pleaded not guilty to the new charges of motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of liquor with recklessness and motor vehicle homicide while operating under the influence of alcohol. 

Since Senne's release from jail in 2007, he has earned a college degree and founded a successful real estate business in Cambridge, according to a Boston Globe article.

In January, he told the Globe he knew the new charges were serious and that he was "terrified."

"This has the potential to destroy what I look at as years of trying to live a good life out of respect for the pain I’ve caused," Senne told the Globe. "I work hard, I don’t drink or do drugs, I stay out of trouble, I’m a good guy, and now it’s all put in jeopardy by this charge."

The clerk's office said a new trial date has not yet been set, but could be named as early as Friday.