Also – Shooting, dead man in Rutland apartment / threatening at Woodstock Inn
by Guy Page
The Vermont State Police Sept. 2 arrested a suspect on murder charges arising from the shooting deaths of a mother and son whose bodies were found Friday night, September 1 inside their home in Whitingham.
The victims are identified as Michael Garvin, 52, and his mother, Lucy Garvin, 79, both of whom lived in the home at 2173 Vermont Route 8A where the incident occurred.
Through investigation, the Vermont State Police identified a suspect and learned that Michael Garvin’s truck was missing. Members of the Brattleboro Police Department located the vehicle Friday night, conducted a traffic stop and ultimately detained the driver, 54-year-old Christopher Ellis.
State police detectives learned that Ellis had been living with the Garvins since April. According to court papers prepared by detectives, Ellis shot Michael and Lucy Garvin earlier in the week and stole Michael Garvin’s 2001 Dodge Ram pickup truck, police say. The killings were reported to the Vermont State Police after a relative who was unable to contact the Garvins located them dead inside their home Friday night and called 911.
Ellis was arrested on two counts of first-degree murder and an additional charge of operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. He was ordered jailed without bail pending arraignment, expected to be held at 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 5 in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Brattleboro.
The Vermont State Police was aided by the Wilmington Police Department in the initial response to the scene, and the Brattleboro Police Department in apprehending the suspect. State police are working closely with the Windham County State’s Attorney’s Office. VSP’s Crime Scene Search Team is processing the Garvin home Saturday. The victims’ bodies will be transported to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for autopsies.
In 2018, Ellis – then of Whitingham – was charged with assaulting a woman with a box cutter and other crimes. According to a Brattleboro Reformer report, state prosecutors had the option of arguing for life imprisonment under habitual offender statute. Ellis reportedly was found guilty of unlawful mischief (1989), grand larceny (1994), burglary and grand larceny (1996), escaping custody (1999), and possession of stolen property (2015).
One man dead, another shot many times in Rutland apartment – Santoneio Miller, 35, of Albany was found dead in a Cherry Street, Rutland apartment Saturday September 2, Rutland police report.
Police do not list Miller’s apparent cause of death. Responding to reports of a violent altercation, city police found an as-yet-unidentified man suffering multiple gunshot wounds. They also found Miller dead inside the apartment.
The incident is under investigation.
Vandalism, threatening at Woodstock Inn – A 30-year-old man with an arrest record of violence and threatening has been arrested and charged with unlawful mischief and criminal threatening following a Sept. 3 incident at the Woodstock Inn, according to the Woodstock Police Department.
Connor A. Hersey is alleged to have spray painted the Inn’s brick wall and threatened an employee who discovered the vandalism.
Police say the incident occurred on Court Street on September 3, 2023.
Hersey reportedly fled the scene on a bicycle but was later located on the Woodstock Inn property on the morning of September 4.
Officer Tarleton, who led the investigation, established probable cause to charge Hersey. Woodstock Police located and arrested Hersey in the area of the Woodstock Inn on the morning of September 4, following a report of his whereabouts.
Hersey was lodged at the Southern State Correctional Facility and is scheduled to appear in Vermont Superior Court, Criminal Division, Windsor County on September 5.
Anyone with additional information is asked to contact the Woodstock Police Department at 802-457-1420.
In 2021, Hersey – who police said has mental problems – was charged with making public disturbances and threatening Hartford police with a knife, and making statements asking them to end his life, according to media reports. He previously was charged in a machete-wielding incident. – includes information from Newport Dispatch
Busted for furnishing alcohol to minors – Travis Omnik, 26, of Waterbury was cited this weekend for providing alcohol and tobacco products to several minors, and enabling them to consume it, on August 8, state police say.