Three brothers charged in a Lowell murder case that a suspended trooper investigated could soon post bail after being held behind bars for more than five years, court papers show.
Justice Dalila Argaez Wendlandt of the Supreme Judicial Court on Monday temporarily paused an order from a lower court judge, who hours earlier set bail for the three men at $25,000 each, records show.
The siblings, Billoeum Phan, Billy Phan, and Channa Phan, have all pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the September 2020 slaying of Tyrone Phet, 22, in Lowell.
Their first trial ended in a hung jury in November 2024, and they’ve been held without bail for years while the case has been pending, legal filings show.
Their retrial was delayed in late January, when prosecutors disclosed that State Police Sergeant Scott Quigley, a key investigator in the case, was allegedly drunk when he crashed his unmarked cruiser head-on into a medical van in Woburn in December 2023, seriously injuring Angelo Schettino, 37, a disabled man who died a month later.
The crash is currently under criminal investigation by Suffolk District Attorney Kevin R. Hayden’s office.
Quigley, whom State Police suspended in late January, has denied being drunk during the crash and voiced confusion over medical records indicating his blood alcohol level at the hospital was 0.10, legal filings show. The legal limit for driving is 0.08.
His blood alcohol level came to light in civil litigation brought by Schettino’s family that remains ongoing.
On Monday, Middlesex Superior Court Judge Christopher K. Barry-Smith cited the allegations against Quigley in granting the Phans bail with stipulations, including home confinement.
The bail order was previously reported by the Boston Herald.
Barry-Smith said the brothers’ retrial “would now be complete if not for the Commonwealth’s disclosure, on the sixth day of empanelment and more than two years after the December 2023 crash, of the incriminating information concerning Sergeant Quigley, who was not merely an identified witness but a lead investigator in this case and a member of the prosecution team.”
Soon after the judge granted bail, prosecutors appealed to the SJC.
Wendlandt, in agreeing to pause the bail order, directed prosecutors to file their full petition on the matter by 4 p.m. Wednesday, with defense counsel to file responses by 4 p.m. Friday, records show.
Material from prior Globe stories was used in this report.
Travis Andersen can be reached at travis.andersen@globe.com.