State’s attorney disputes advanced notice of Harley Breer furlough

By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First

Vermont Corrections Commissioner Nick Deml has pulled the plug on releasing a dangerous inmate into the community after deciding he failed to meet three basic requirements for a prison furlough.

Harley Breer Jr., 55, originally from Washington County, will remain in custody until further notice, according to Deml.

“This decision was based on three primary factors: the significant risk he poses to public and victim safety, his history of repeated noncompliance with community supervision, and his high likelihood of fleeing from the jurisdiction of the Department of Corrections and the Vermont criminal justice system,” Deml said in a statement Friday afternoon.

That was great news for Vermont, especially Essex County according to State’s Attorney Vince Illuzzi, who said he appreciated the commissioner’s reconsideration.

Illuzzi, however, continued to question the ongoing breakdown in basic communications by the Department of Communications in the case. The prosecutor said the Corrections Department never told him about the reconsideration decision Friday — he learned it from the news media again.

Illuzzi has said he first learned on Dec. 31 from Vermont News First — not the Vermont Corrections Department — that Breer was going to be furloughed to Essex County from the Northern State Correctional Facility in Newport.

Illuzzi, in an interview Friday morning, reported Deml had falsely claimed in an email that Corrections had notified the prosecutor on Nov. 19 about Breer’s proposed release to Essex County.

Deml repeated the Nov. 19 claim Friday afternoon in his news release, but Illuzzi, when reached by phone, said he had checked his emails again and never received any notice from Corrections.

Illuzzi added Essex County Sheriff Trevor Colby also had been left in the dark by Vermont Corrections.

Sheriff Colby received his first email from Corrections about 3:15 p.m. Dec. 31, about 3 hours after Vermont News First began asking state officials questions about Breer’s planned release, Illuzzi said.

Deml did not respond to phone inquiries on Friday to clarify the discrepancies about the official notifications.

After the proposed release became public on Dec. 31, Illuzzi and many residents in the Canaan area had raised serious questions about how Breer was going to be supervised by Corrections. They noted Vermont Probation and Parole does not have an office or officers in Essex County.

Canaan is a community of about 900 residents at the very most northeastern tip of Vermont. The town borders both New Hampshire and Canada. Canaan disbanded its part-time police department in 2023 and now contracts with the Essex County Sheriff for about 20 hours of patrols each week.

Breer, who has been a thorn in the side of criminal justice for almost four decades, has a lengthy criminal history that includes arrests for sexual assault, kidnapping, aggravated domestic assault and numerous violations of probation and parole, court records show.

Residents in Essex County and also in Washington County, where Breer committed many of his crimes, have expressed fear over the inmate’s potential release because of his ongoing violent past, especially involving women, officials said.

Residents also are concerned for local women that may meet a furloughed Breer and not know his violent history, officials said.

With the loud public outcry this week, Deml said he ordered a further review of Breer’s case “due to my concern regarding the significant risk he poses to public safety and the Department’s ability to effectively supervise him in the community.”

Deml said that both Vermont law and Department policy require individuals considered for Community Supervision Furlough to “demonstrate significant progress in reentry programming and must not pose an unreasonable risk to victims or public safety.”

In the end, Breer, one of Vermont’s most dangerous inmates, apparently wasn’t able to meet those standards.

Few, if any, state probation officers work after 5 p.m. to conduct regular nightly in-person checks with those on furlough, probation or parole.

“I believe it is important in this case to address and alleviate public concerns,” said Deml, who has been commissioner since November 2021.

“This decision underscores the Department’s unwavering commitment to public safety and to ensuring that our policies and Vermont law are applied with integrity and diligence,” he said.

Deml pledged the department will conduct a thorough review of policies and make necessary changes to improve the furlough review process.

Breer’s furlough plan had him living alone at the residence of Gordon E. Noyes Jr., at the southern end of Canaan on Vermont 102 near the Lemington town line.

Noyes, 57, a registered sex offender, is serving a mandatory sentence of 25-years-to-life sentence after an Essex County jury convicted him in July 2019 for two felony sex crimes: aggravated repeated sexual assault on a child and lewd and lascivious conduct with a child, second offense, records show. His first L&L conviction was in Windham County, records show.

Noyes will not be needing his house until at least Dec. 8, 2042 when his minimum prison sentence expires, records show. He still faces other pending felony sex crime charges in Essex County.