Tuesday, July 18, 2017
YOUNGSTOWN
Judge John M. Durkin of Mahoning County Common Pleas court expects to have a verdict in Dr. Joseph Yurich’s vehicular homicide trial Wednesday.
Dr. Yurich, 38, of Poland, faces several charges stemming from a fatal Berlin Reservoir boat crash May 9, 2015, that left one man dead and another man injured.
Dr. Yurich testified Monday that he heard an “explosion” when the boats collided, which caused him to relive a battlefield explosion from his time in Iraq.
“The last thing I remember is an explosion,” he said. “That explosion triggered memories. I don’t remember anything else until I got to the state park” near the south side of the reservoir.
Dr. Yurich did three tours of duty in Iraq as part of a medical unit. He became choked up while remembering an explosion that hit about 100 yards away from him during his first tour. He was knocked to the ground and had to operate on a number of nurses who were injured in the explosion.
“I remember being scared,” he testified about the moment he recovered his senses near the state park. “I was not sure what the explosion was. I remember wanting to get home.”
Read more about the case in Wednesday's Vindicator or on Vindy.com.