By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
(A version of this story appears in the Vermont Standard newspaper)
WOODSTOCK — The estate of a New Hampshire man, who police say was gunned down outside a Woodstock home two years ago has filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against the mother of the gunman in the homicide-suicide case.
Dieter Seier, 67, of Cornish, N.H. was fatally shot multiple times in the torso by Jay Wilson, 45, of Woodstock, outside a Slayton Terrace home on June 14, 2022, Vermont State Police said.
After a 9-hour-plus standoff with Wilson, police reported hearing a single gunshot after they made entry into the home to begin a room-by-room search. A medical examiner said Wilson died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. A handgun was found nearby.
Now Wylie Burke, the administrator of the estate for Seier, has filed the wrongful death lawsuit against June Wilson, formerly of Rutland and now living in Florida.
June Wilson had allowed her son, Jay Wilson, to live rent-free at the Slayton Terrace home and knew before the June 2022 shooting that he was dangerous and possessed guns, according to the civil lawsuit filed by Burke in Vermont Superior Court in Woodstock earlier this year.
The lawsuit maintains June Wilson antagonized her son on the day of the shooting by telling him she was going to sell the home where he was living. That is when he pulled out a gun and fatally shot Seier, the lawsuit noted.
“June had a duty to disclose the past dangerous and unsafe behaviors of which she knew and should have known about her son, Jay. She also had a duty to disclose the presence of firearms,” the lawsuit notes.
“June did not disclose that information to Dieter. Instead, June advised Dieter that Jay was safe and that he could stay at the home without risk of harm.”
The lawsuit maintains after Jay Wilson shot Seier, he bled out on the pavement in front of the home and suffered mental and physical pain and anguish. The estate wants to be compensated for the suffering.
Burke is seeking compensatory and punitive damages, attorney’s fees and other relief ordered by a jury. She is represented by the law firm of Lynn, Lynn, Blackman and Toohey in Burlington.
June Wilson, a beloved and retired Woodstock Union High School teacher is being defended by attorney Shap Smith Jr. of the Burlington law firm Dinse P.C.
Smith, a former state legislator and Speaker of the House, filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit in late July on the grounds that he believes the plaintiff failed to state a claim in which relief could be granted.
“Vermont law is clear; June Wilson had no duty to protect Dieter Seier from the conduct of her adult son. Plaintiff’s complaint must be dismissed with prejudice,” Smith wrote in his 4-page motion.
He maintains June Wilson also had no duty to control Jay Wilson or warn about his alleged threatening behavior.
The court has not set a date for a hearing in the case.
One month after the shooting, June Wilson, then 73, told the Vermont Standard that she continued to struggle over the loss of her boyfriend and her son in the homicide-suicide that shocked the Windsor County community.
The Vermont Standard reported extensively on the shooting case at the time, including the wounding of then-Woodstock Police Sgt. Joe Swanson, who responded to the scene about 1:15 p.m. June 14, 2022 and was wounded by Jay Wilson.
Swanson, who returned fire, recovered several weeks later from a gunshot that grazed his left arm and other injuries when he fell while trying to avoid more gunfire. The 15-year veteran of the department was later named police chief in Woodstock.
Jay Wilson barricaded himself inside the two-story white home with black trim after he shot Seier and eventually a judge issued a search warrant for police to breach the home when negotiations failed to end the situation. Wilson shot himself about 11 p.m. and his body was found on the second floor. Tear gas and flashbang grenades had failed to get Wilson to surrender.
Four months later then-Attorney General Susanne Young and Grand Isle County State’s Attorney Doug DiSabito both independently cleared Swanson in the case. DiSabito stepped in when Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough withdrew because of his working relationship with his hometown police department.
A Woodstock Police cruiser was struck 5 or 6 times during the shootout, then-Police Chief Robbie Blish told the Standard at the time. At least two shots went through the cruiser’s roof.
The lawsuit
The lawsuit maintains Jay Wilson made threats of violence when he was displeased, and that June Wilson acknowledged to police in June 2022 that he often frightened her.
Jay Wilson also frightened neighbors and others in the community, according to Pietro J. Lynn, the lead attorney in the lawsuit.
“June was aware generally that Jay was not stable and that he possessed a risk of serious harm to others,” the lawsuit said.
Jay Wilson had no independent means of support and June Wilson provided money to support him, the lawsuit said. Some of that money allowed Jay Wilson to buy firearms, Burke’s lawsuit claims.
June Wilson came from her Florida home to Vermont on June 1, 2022. She planned to sell the Woodstock home and change her will, the lawsuit said. Jay Wilson became “extremely angry and threatening” when she went to the lawyer to discuss changes to her will, court papers note.
The lawsuit maintains the following:
The lawyer forced Jay Wilson to leave the law office and threatened to call police if he did not depart.
June Wilson visited Seier on June 5, 2022 and asked her longstanding friend for help in cleaning out the Woodstock home, which she hoped to sell.
In an effort to calm Jay Wilson, his mother offered him $50,000. The two of them went to the People’s United Bank on The Green in Woodstock to withdraw the money. It is now known as M&T Bank.
“Jay behaved in a way that was threatening and frightening. Jay was agitated and loud. In fact bank employees called the police because Jay’s behaviors made them afraid that he would harm them. Jay was angry because he was not getting enough money from his mother,” the lawsuit said.
Before police arrived, Jay Wilson fled the bank. After he was gone, employees at People’s United locked the doors during business hours because he seemed dangerous to them and afraid he might return and turn violent, court papers note.
The next day Seier was invited by June Wilson to accompany her to the Slayton Terrace home, but never mentioned Jay Wilson’s behavior from the previous day, the threats or the fear by bank employees, the lawsuit said. June Wilson also never mentioned her son had firearms, Burke’s case maintains.
“June failed to disclose important information which would have caused Dieter to reconsider his decision to accompany June. If there had been full disclosure, Dieter would have not have come to the home,” the plaintiff claims.
The primary reason for the visit on June 14, 2022 was to exchange cars. June Wilson had agreed to give Jay Wilson her better and more expensive Honda if he gave her his older Toyota. June Wilson thought more financial support would calm him down.
“She was badly mistaken,” the lawsuit said.
When June Wilson and Seier arrived at the home there were angry words with Jay Wilson, who refused to leave the home and he claimed he had COVID, records show.
Dieter Seier decided to leave, but June Wilson begged him to stay, the lawsuit said. Seier was afraid it was unsafe, but June Wilson talked him into staying without disclosing again the earlier unsafe behaviors, or that he had firearms, the lawsuit said.
Jay Wilson eventually emerged from the home and shot Seier with a pistol. Jay Wilson called 911 within minutes and claimed he had been attacked by a man.
“Jay was so mentally ill that he believed that his statements were true and that he acted in self-defense,” the lawsuit said.
Smith, countered in his motion to dismiss, that while threats had been made to members of the community, including bank employees, none had been directed at Seier.
The aftermath
Then-Woodstock Police Cpl. Mark Donka arrived quickly after the shooting and soon officers from the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department, state and Hartford police responded.
Police later said June Wilson reported her son had produced a handgun during the argument and she heard two shots. Seier fell on his face and she ran down the street to a friend.
As police cordoned off the area, the Vermont State Police SWAT team arrived to try to talk Jay Wilson out of the house with no luck.
A large area surrounding the house was put into lockdown as people who lived within the cordoned-off streets waited anxiously to be reunited with their families on the other side of the yellow police tape.
Jay Wilson’s body was discovered with a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the second floor.
June Wilson told police that she had provided $50,000 to her son at the People’s United Bank the day before the shooting, but she told the Vermont Standard a month later that she had no idea what happened to the money.
June Wilson reported to the bank tellers during the June 13, 2022 incident that she feared her son may become violent, according to police records obtained by the Vermont Standard.
By the time police responded to the bank, Jay Wilson had left on foot. Police Chief Blish said a corporate security officer for People’s United told Swanson that the threatened tellers would not cooperate and would forego any written statements. June Wilson also passed on pressing charges, police said.
Blish said the investigation stopped there until about 27 hours later when the shooting was reported.
Dieter Seier’s family told the Vermont Standard that they had never been told by police about the bank incident and only learned about it by reading the newspaper.