AUGUSTA — An Albion man who struck and killed two toddlers while critically injuring their mother pleaded guilty to two counts of manslaughter Wednesday.
Benjamin Lancaster, 44, struck and killed 2 1/2-year-old twin brothers, Bradley and Noah Bordeaux, on July 11, 2025, in what police described as a hit-and-run crash on Hussey Road in Albion.
Lancaster was sentenced at the Capital Judical Center to 25 years in prison, but with all but 15 years suspended, and four years of probation, as part of a plea agreement. That means he’ll serve 15 years in prison and be released on probation. If he violates any condition of his probation, he could serve up to the full 25-year sentence.
The toddlers were with their mother, Mollie Egold, 34, of Albion, on a walk on a Friday afternoon when the crash happened. Egold’s injuries were substantial. A family friend said both her hips were broken, as was one leg. She required at least three surgeries. A large piece of glass was embedded in her back at the base of her spine, and bones in her hand were also broken. She returned home after two months’ recovery in the hospital and rehabilitation.
Egold said in court, through a victim advocate who read astatement on her behalf, that she was out walking with the boys, as they did several times nearly every day, when they were hit by Lancaster. She said she was enjoying their walk then woke up, after blacking out from the collision, to see her sons spread out in the yard. She tried to get up to go check on them, but couldn’t stand. She said many days she just sits and cries, and her 6-year-old son Connor misses his baby brothers deeply.
Martha Collins, a family friend with whom Egold and her sons were living, said in court through tears that she considered the twins to be like her grandsons. She said she held Noah in her arms after he was taken off life support four days after the crash, rocking him and kissing him and crying, as he passed away.
Egold was unable to be there when Noah was taken off life support, because she remained in the hospital in Bangor, undergoing treatment for the injuries she suffered in the crash.
Collins said she then returned home and had to tell Connor that the twins were never coming home and were with Jesus. She said the boy cried hysterically.
“Our lives are forever changed,” Collins said, while Lancaster sat, staring straight ahead, in the courtroom at Capital Judicial Center. “I live with anger every single day, I live with the fear that something will happen to Connor. I will never forgive you for what you did to our family. I don’t think you have a conscience. I hope your time in prison will be pure, living, hell.”
Lancaster initially denied to police that he was driving that day and also initially pleaded not guilty to nine charges against him, including two counts of manslaughter. However, he pleaded guilty to all nine counts in court, as part of a plea agreement according to Frank Griffin, deputy district attorney for Kennebec and Somerset counties.
Lancaster did not speak in court, other than to answer Superior Court Justice Daniel Mitchell’s questions.
His lawyer, Andrew Dawson, said if Lancaster had the ability to go back and make different decisions the day of the crash, he would, but he cannot.
Dawson said Lancaster agreed to the plea deal to take responsibility and spare the family from having to sit through a trial.
“A trial would be incredibly difficult for every single person in this room,” Dawson said. “He’s made the decision, on his own, to spare everybody that. And it’s something that will hopefully allow the family closure.”
About a dozen family members, friends, and supporters of the victims were in court for Wednesday’s hearing, as were a half-dozen state troopers who worked on the case.
Griffin acknowledged Egold’s family members were not fans of Lancaster’s sentence. But, he said, no sentence could make up for the loss of the boys. He said the facts of the case are horrible, and it was the most serious manslaughter case of his career.
Griffin said a state trooper trained in drug use recognition noted signs of impairment indicative of drug use by Lancaster.
After Lancaster was taken into custody, he refused to take field sobriety tests or submit his blood to be tested.
Griffin said police obtained a search warrant for Lancaster’s blood, which tested positive for THC; methamphetamine; Clotiazepam, an anti-anxiety drug; and methadone.
A man interviewed by police said that an hour before the crash, he and Lancaster smoked crack cocaine at a home in Vassalboro, then Lancaster dropped him off and drove away.
State police linked Lancaster to the crash on Hussey Road by piecing together surveillance video from the area, damage to Lancaster’s vehicle and an account from his brother. His brother told police Lancaster had come home yelling that he’d hit someone.
Troopers arriving at his home saw a white Hyundai Veloster with significant damage to the left front, including a missing mirror. A white mirror was found at the crash scene.
When accused of driving the vehicle that struck the children and their mother, Lancaster told police he wasn’t the one behind the wheel.
The charges Lancaster pleaded guilty to include: two Class A counts of manslaughter, one count of aggravated assault, three counts of aggravated criminal operating under the influence, and three Class C counts of leaving the scene of an accident involving serious bodily injury or death.
All charges are felony-level offenses.
State troopers, along with local fire and EMS personnel, responded to the crash shortly after 5 p.m. after a neighbor, Rocky Fuller, called 911, according to police affidavits after finding the family in his front yard.
The tragedy is not the first for the family. In 2017, Egold and her then 5-year-old son, William Egold, were canoeing in a Vassalboro stream when the canoe capsized. While both were wearing life jackets, William was held under water by debris and drowned.
