Rancher Nathan Marcy of rural Hay Springs has been sentenced to consecutive terms of 4-to-8 years in prison for an early morning crash on Hwy 87 south of Hay Springs just over a year ago that killed a young couple from western Minnesota.
Under Nebraska’s good time rules, the 46-year old Marcy will be eligible for parole in 4 years and for mandatory release in 8 years.
Marcy had pleaded guilty to single counts of manslaughter and motor vehicle homicide in a plea agreement that saw prosecutors drop an additional count of each.
Killed in the crash were 24-year old Josey Tensen and his 22-year old girlfriend Remington Harder.
The Jan 29, 2021, accident occurred 6 miles south of Hay Springs about 3:20 a-m when Marcy ran a stop sign at a rural intersection and pulled onto Hwy 87 while driving a pickup pulling a stock trailer.
The pickup hit Tensen and Harder’s small SUV, which rolled over. Both Tensen and Harder were ejected from the SUV and pronounced dead at the scene. Since both were outside the vehicle, investigators couldn’t conclusively prove which was the driver.
Marcy was transported to Chadron Community Hospital by ambulance with non-life-threatening injuries.