By Michael Donoghue, Vermont News First
Jozef I. Eller, wanted on an attempted second degree murder charge for the near fatal stabbing of his former boss at a Brandon restaurant on Saturday, has been jailed at the Marble Valley Correctional Center in Rutland.
Eller, 32, of Hancock was ordered held without bail on the attempted murder count and for violating a no-trespassing order, Vermont State Police said.
The former employee of Cafe Provence had been ordered to stay away from the Center Street restaurant, but he showed up about 4:30 p.m. Saturday and used a knife to attack the owner/chef multiple times in the head, authorities said.
The stabbing victim, Robert Barral, 71, of Brandon, was transferred from the Rutland Regional Medical Center to the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington where listed in stable late Saturday.
The Restaurant’s Chef owner Robert Barral is originally from the Languedoc area of France.
According to the Cafe Provence website, Robert is the former executive chef at New England Culinary Institute.
State Police said they located him about 10:10 p.m. Saturday in the town of Rochester and arrested him without incident. Vermont State Police were called in partly due to a staffing shortage with town police in Brandon, a community of about 4,200 residents. Five Brandon officers have departed since January, including three to the Rutland City Police and one to Middlebury. The department was down to the chief and one officer.
Eller is due to appear for arraignment at 12:30 p.m. Monday in Vermont Superior Court in Rutland.
Rutland County State’s Attorney Ian Sullivan worked with police into the night to develop the criminal charges.