By Michael Donoghue
Vermont News First
BRADFORD — A Vermont State Police search on Wednesday in Bradford for the missing skull of a local man that authorities believe was murdered in January 2025 was apparently unsuccessful.
Members of the Vermont Crime Scene Search Team and the Major Crime Unit descended on the town of Bradford throughout the day to follow up on a tip, but found nothing, according to Vermont State Police spokesman Adam Silverman.
Silverman declined to say which case and what evidence was sought, but Vermont News First learned it centered on the death of Corey Crooker, 43, of Bradford in January 2025.
James D. Nickles Jr., 43, pleaded not guilty in May 2025 to a state charge of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Crooker.
Nickles also has denied a felony charge of unauthorized removal and disposal of a body without a state permit and a misdemeanor count of false information to Vermont State Police, records show.
Investigation has shown Crooker was fatally shot at a home shared by Nickles and Lisa Akey and his body was later burned, records show.
Vermont State Police later found some bones, but detectives were unable to locate the skull. The investigation continues.
Silverman said Wednesday that state police continue to investigate cases even after arrests are made.
Bradford area residents were interested in the large green state police truck and the staff in the community.
Vermont News First reported in March 2025 about reports circulating in the community that Crooker was shot and set on fire at 660 Old Post Road in Bradford. His remains were either scattered or disposed of by one or more suspects, reports indicated.
“Defendant James Nickles confessed to killing a man at his Bradford residence on or about Jan. 14, 2025, using a .40-caliber Taurus Tactical handgun,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan A. Ophardt eventually wrote in federal court papers.
Ophardt made the statement as he tried to get Nickles detained after his arrest on federal charges of illegal possession of two firearms as a three-time convicted felon on Feb. 4, 2025 when state police conducted a court-ordered search at his home.
Nickles also denied illegal possession of the two firearms — a 12-gauge Remington Supermag shotgun and a .40-caliber Taurus Tactical handgun — also on Feb. 4 while being an unlawful user of controlled substances.
Those federal gun and drug charges were based on a state police raid on Feb. 4, 2025 at his home at 660 Old Post Road in Bradford. They were later dropped and made way for Orange County State’s Attorney Colin Seaman to file state charges.
The judge also imposed strict conditions for Nickles, including staying away from and having no contact with several potential witnesses and family members. They include Salwa Crooker, Diane and Thomas Cobb, Alisha Wedge and Lisa Akey.
Aikey, 42, the suspect’s live-in girlfriend pleaded not guilty to various charges, including obstruction of justice and accessory after the fact in the second-degree murder of Crooker.
Akey also denied two other charges that Nickles now faces: a felony charge of unauthorized removal of a body without a permit and a misdemeanor count of false information to state police.
She remains at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
Nickles, who has been jailed since his federal arrest in February 2025, is currently detained at the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport.
Seaman charged Nickles on May 15, 2025 with the unlawful intentional killing of Crooker on about Jan. 14, 2025.
Seaman also charged Nickles with removing Crooker’s body from the Nickles/Akey residence and burning it without a state permit.
The false information to state police charge stems from Nickles and Akey both telling investigators during a court-ordered search on Feb. 4 that Crooker had been picked up from the residence by an unknown woman in an SUV in January, court records show.
The false information was designed to implicate somebody else and deflect the investigation away from the actual details, Seaman charged.
During the search at the Bradford house, investigators found two guns, including the possible homicide weapon, suspected bones and bone fragments in an exterior burn pile and a missing person flier for Crooker on the dresser in the master bedroom of the home, federal court records showed.
There also was a sign in the master bedroom that said, “No Trespassing, we’re tired of hiding the bodies,” police reported.
The basis for the three charges against Nickles is outlined in the same 27-page affidavit filed by now-Detective Lt. Isaac Merriam of the Vermont State Police for the four charges in Akey’s case.
Detective Sgt. Lyle Decker spoke to a confidential informant (CI) that said he learned “Nickles shot Crooker with 2 shots to the head and a shotgun blast to the chest,” Merriam wrote. The CI said Nickles and Akey burned the body and dismembered it.
The investigation indicated the body was burned for three days and the fire was fueled with wood and gasoline, Merriam said. He said reports also indicated Crooker had come to the house because he was “dope sick” and wanted help.
Nickles was a prime suspect early on in the grisly death of Crooker, authorities have said.