PORTLAND – The speedboat that crashed into a small motorboat last year on Long Lake, killing the two people aboard the smaller craft, was traveling at 50-65 mph, an expert in maritime navigation and safety estimated Monday.

The 32-foot cigarette-style boat appeared to have hit the smaller boat from behind, said William Chilcott, who testified in Cumberland County Superior Court. He specializes in boat crash reconstruction.

He said the larger boat was at fault, regardless of whether the smaller boat’s lights were turned on at the time. The cause of the crash was high speed at night, he said.

Robert LaPointe, 39, of Medway, Mass., and Bridgton, is facing two counts of manslaughter in connection with the deaths of Terry Raye Trott, 55, of Harrison and Suzanne Groetzinger, 44, of Berwick. LaPointe was driving his new speedboat, equipped with twin 425-horsepower engines. Trott and Groetzinger were in Trott’s 14-foot boat with a 115-horsepower outboard motor.

The crash occurred shortly after 9 p.m. on Aug. 11, 2007, near the middle of the 11-mile-long lake. LaPointe was headed north at the same time Trott and Groetzinger were out on the water to watch a meteor shower, investigators have said.

Chilcott said LaPointe’s boat would have become airborne after the initial contact. He could make out no scratches on the foredeck of the smaller boat.

LaPointe and his passenger, family friend 19-year-old Nicole Randall, then of Harrison, fell out of the larger boat after the collision, swam about 1,000 feet to shore and were treated for minor injuries, officials have said.

The speedboat would have landed on its bow and veered off to the right at the same speed as before the crash, Chilcott said.

A medical examiner testified last week that both Trott and Groetzinger sustained severe injuries, likely from the propellers on LaPointe’s boat.

LaPointe probably did not have his hands on the engines’ throttles when it hit Trott’s boat, Chilcott said. Otherwise, he likely would have injured his wrist.

The distance LaPointe’s boat traveled after it ran aground helped Chilcott estimate its speed before the crash, he said.

It hit the east shore at Bear Point near the Naples town line and traveled 160 feet into woods with its engines still running, according to reports.

“It went farthest up a hill that I’ve ever seen a boat go,” he said.

A Maine game warden said earlier Monday that the driver’s seat in LaPointe’s boat was in the up position, suggesting he was seated at the time of the crash, thereby limiting his visibility of obstructions in the water ahead of the boat.

After examining the filament of the light wand on the back of Trott’s boat, Chilcott said it likely wasn’t lit at the time of the crash.

Visibility problem

Even if Trott’s bow lights had been lit, which they might have been because the switch was pulled out in the “On” position, LaPointe might not have seen them because he approached from behind, Chilcott said.

According to the rules of navigation, LaPointe should have: looked out for objects in the water better; operated at a safer speed; better assessed his risk of collision; and taken action to avoid an obstacle. Moreover, he said, the overtaking boat must give way to the boat in front and steer clear of it.

Whether Trott’s lights were working or LaPointe was going slower than the speed estimated by Chilcott doesn’t change the conclusion that LaPointe was at fault, Chilcott said.

On Monday morning, Maine State Crime Laboratory chemist Steve Pierce estimated that LaPointe’s blood-alcohol level at the time of the crash was about .15 percent, nearly twice the legal driving limit in Maine. He said it could have ranged between .11 percent and .18 percent. Three hours after the crash, at the time a nurse drew his blood, the level of alcohol in his blood was .11 percent.

Defense attorney J. Albert Johnson of Boston sought to discredit Pierce’s estimation, citing articles on the subject, calling it scientifically unreliable. He also, during cross-examination, questioned the reliability of the blood-alcohol testing procedures at the state’s lab.

After viewing the boats involved in the crash on a screen in the courtroom last week, the jury got to see them first hand on Monday.

Prosecutors had the boats brought to Portland and parked in front of the courthouse. Jurors circled the boats, bending to peer at the propellers and climbing a ladder to gaze inside the larger boat.

They inspected the scrape marks on the bow of LaPointe’s boat named, “No Patience,” written large in orange and yellow letters across its side.

LaPointe’s boat was parked behind the smaller boat, but was moved in front of it before the jury viewed the boats, at the request of defense attorneys.