Charged with trying to kill Grand Isle County deputy sheriff
By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
The man charged with trying to kill a Grand Isle County deputy sheriff by running him over with a car two months ago has been granted bail with home detention.
Kevin J. Marx, 36, of Grand Isle will be released in the coming weeks if his family posts $100,000 cash or surety bond and his mother prepares room for him at her Burlington condo, officials said.
Besides the bail, Vermont Superior Court Judge Navah C. Spero ordered Marx to comply with a 24/7 curfew except for attending medical and legal appointments.
His mother, Susan Marx, 70, can leave him alone at her condo at 33 North Avenue when she goes for her appointments, errands or a walk, the judge said during a court hearing Thursday.
Kevin Marx also must refrain from driving a motor vehicle and shall not have any kind of contact with Sgt. Nicholas Pillsbury of the sheriff’s department, Judge Spero said.
Spero said she might consider allowing Marx an occasional chance to leave the condo with his mother perhaps three or six months down the road if he proves trustworthy and follows all bail conditions.
Susan Marx, who testified she is retired, was told that she would need to report any violations of bail conditions immediately to law enforcement. Failure to report a violation could lead to a forfeit of the $100,000 bail.
Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito initially asked that Marx be held without bail due to the serious nature of the charges – attempted first degree murder, aggravated assault and reckless driving.
Marx has pleaded not guilty to the three charges.
After a court hearing March 26, Judge Spero ruled on April 7 that Marx was entitled to possible release and set the bail at $250,000 with various conditions. During the hearing on Thursday, she agreed to drop the bail to $100,000.
DiSabito said he still had serious concerns about home detention because Marx, while he has no known criminal record, may wish to flee due to the serious nature of the crimes and potential penalties. Mrs. Marx had testified that she had not much contact recently with her son.
“Given the allegations in this matter, the state is really concerned about the safety of the public, as well as his risk of flight, given that he allegedly ran over this officer and then left,” DiSabito said before a packed courtroom.
Marx fled about 2 or 3 miles on foot to his apartment in the nearby town of Grand Isle where he was found by state police and the Grand Isle County Sheriff’s Department. He initially refused to come out of his residence, but eventually surrendered, police said.
DiSabito asked the judge to add one other condition, that Marx stay out of Grand Isle County except for his court hearings. The judge agreed.
Pillsbury reported that he has stopped Marx on March 4 after recording him on a dash-cam video running a stop sign on Ferry Road and turning onto U.S. 2 in South Hero. Marx was agitated during the traffic stop claiming Pillsbury was trying to ruin the driver’s life, records show.
Pillsbury showed Marx the video and he became more rude and began a string of profanity-filled name-calling
lines at the deputy, records show. Pillsbury explained without the profanity. Marx was only going to a warning, but now he deserved a ticket.
Pillsbury, in an effort to deescalate the situation, opted to end the traffic stop and planned to mail, the civil ticket to Marx, records show. As Pillsbury walked back to his marked cruiser, Marx made a U-turn, ran into the officer and dragged him under his car across a nearby lawn, state police said.
It took seven seconds between starting the U-turn and hitting Pillsbury, the judge said in reviewing the video. She said Marx drove his green Subaru Forester, with Pillsbury pinned underneath, for about 80 feet across the grass before stopping.
Car records show the car’s speed increased from 8 miles per hour to 26 mph while Pillsbury was still underneath it, Spero wrote. In talking with County Sheriff Ray Allen, Pillsbury said he thought Marx had tried to kill him, Spero noted.
The judge wrote that Sgt. Christopher Hein, head of the Vermont State Police Crash Reconstruction Team, had opined that Marx had shown a “wanton disregard for human life.”
As the hearing ended, the court was told that Marx, who has had a lawyer appointed at taxpayer expense for two months, would be retaining Burlington attorney Brooks McArthur of Gravel & Shea.
McArthur, a former state prosecutor, is considered one of the top defense lawyers in Vermont.