SALEM, NJ – The driver accused of killing an NHL hockey player Johnny Gaudreau and his brother Matthew while riding their bikes on a rural New Jersey road, appeared briefly in court Tuesday, where the judge extended the window for prosecutors to seek an indictment.

The brief hearing, in which the judge gave prosecutors an additional 30 days to seek formal charges in the Aug. 29 deaths of the Gaudreaus, marked the first time the Gaudreau family and the defendant, 44-year-old Sean M. Higgins, they faced each other in court. Previously, Higgins appeared at video hearings from behind bars.

Authorities say Higgins, who is from Woodstown in southwest New Jersey, was impaired after drinking five or six beers the day he rode the brothers’ bikes and has a history of road rage and aggressive driving.

Johnny Gaudreau, 31, and Matthew Gaudreau, 29, were killed near their childhood home in South Jersey on August 29, the eve of their sister’s wedding. The family, including their father, Gus Gaudreau, declined to comment on the case Tuesday in Salem County Court.

Higgins told police that on the day of his arrest, he drove for two hours while talking to a friend on the phone after having an upsetting conversation with his mother.

A driver in front of Higgins told police that Higgins was driving aggressively. When she and the vehicle in front of her slowed and moved to the left to avoid the bicyclists, Higgins accelerated and turned right, hitting the Gaudreaus, she said.

Higgins had a blood-alcohol level of 0.087, which is above the state’s legal limit of 0.08, and failed a field sobriety test, police said. He faces preliminary charges of two counts of vehicular death, reckless driving, possession of an open container and consumption of alcohol in a vehicle.

Higgins faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted. The judge said that made him a flight risk and ordered him locked up until trial.

Defense attorney Matthew Portella called Higgins “a loving father of two daughters” and a good person who “made a horrible decision that night.” Portella declined to comment after Tuesday’s hearing.

Johnny Gaudreau, known as “Johnny Hockey”, he played 10 full seasons in the NHL and was about to start his third with the Columbus Blue Jackets. He played his first eight seasons with the Calgary Flames.