By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
BURLINGTON – Three people arrested on federal drug charges as part of an investigation into the fatal shooting of an Orleans County woman found in the Missisquoi River in Troy last week, will remain in prison, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.
Meanwhile the investigation into the death of Kayla Wright, 29, of Derby, who was shot multiple times and at least once in the head, continues.
Jakiy Tramaine-Corey Keith, 24, appeared in U.S. District Court in Burlington for his detention hearing on Tuesday afternoon. Defense lawyer Chandler Matson of Stowe said his client, also known as “AB” would not contest the detention request by the government.
Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle set a probable cause hearing for Feb. 22 on the criminal complaint filed by U.S. Homeland Security Investigations in Derby.
Earlier in the afternoon, Thomas P. Rooney, 34, and his wife, Bryanna F. Rooney, 29, both of Vermont 100 in Troy appeared in federal court for their joint detention hearing.
Defense lawyer Mark Oettinger, on behalf of the husband, explained they were asking for a delay because the Vermont Corrections Department was no longer cooperating in trying to help inmates get placement at Valley Vista.
Oettinger said he would try to develop a treatment plan with an after care living situation.
He said his client is free on conditions from state court in a domestic assault case that involves his wife as the victim, and Rooney was told by the court he could not live with his wife while the case is pending.
Defense lawyer Robert Sussman, on behalf of Mrs. Rooney, concurred with the delay request.
Doyle said he was willing to return to court to hear about possible release plans for both defendants once they could be developed.
Doyle also set their probable cause hearing for Feb. 22.
Oettinger acknowledged after court that the probable cause hearings could be lost if a federal grand jury opts to indict them in the interim.
The Caledonian Record was the first to report their arrests on federal drug charges on Feb. 7.
The following day they each appeared briefly in federal court for their initial hearings, but all were continued until Tuesday when detention motions could be considered in detail.
No charges have been filed in the homicide case and the case remains under investigation.
Wright’s death was ruled a homicide by the office of the Vermont’s Chief Medical Examiner last Wednesday afternoon, Vermont State Police said.
Wright, who comes from a well-known local family and has a twin sister, had last been seen in Troy early Friday Feb. 2, state police said.
State police received a call about 1 p.m. Tuesday Feb. 6 from a member of the public who reported having discovered a possible human body inside a large toolbox on a sand bar in the Missisquoi River. It was in the area of Big Falls of Missisquoi State Park on River Road, police said.
The investigation into the suspicious death continued through the night after the body was found. Investigators conducted interviews with people who might have critical information.
Multiple law enforcement agencies later executed a court-ordered search warrant last Wednesday at the Rooney home, which had been the focus of the federal drug investigation led by HSI.
HSI Special Agent Scott Labor said periodic surveillance was conducted at the residence at 7021 Vermont 100 in Troy, court records show. Labor said at least two drug sales were monitored at the house.
Kayla Wright had been associating with Keith, who also uses the name “Anthony Borrow,” and others at the house, Labor said. When state police did an emergency ping on Wright’s cellphone, it came back as being at the house, Labor said.
State Police Sgt. Daniel Lynch went to the home on Feb. 3 and spoke to Bryanna Rooney, who later surrendered Wright’s phone after finding it in a pile of clothes, Labor said..
State police said they were looking for evidence that could be connected to the homicide.
The Vermont Drug Task Force, Vermont State Police, the Orleans County Sheriff’s Department, Newport City Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are part of the wide-ranging criminal investigation.
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Categories: Drugs and Crime
another day at the vermont zoo/// this case needs to be watched by the public as to the out come///
I was put on blast by the media and pictured on the front page of the two largest papers in the state, fired from my job, harassed and threatened, with no due process- for just being in attendance at a first amendment protected political protest in another state- when was the last time a drug dealing murderer or someone accused of being a drug dealing murderer even been pictured on the front page of BFP or 7Days? Let alone WCAX. A literal murdering drug dealer is treated with more respect and is considered less of a threat to the community by the media than a conservative activist.
You got it. Same on the federal level with Biden targeting pro-life Catholics or Trump supporters. I certainly hope that you collected evidence and filed a suit with the EEOC, if not a private claim of action. You and others like you deserve no less.
Consider yourself lucky they didn’t throw you into a Federal prison or the DC gulag with no due process, surpressed evidence, deleted evidence, mentally and physically assaulted by your captors, railroaded into pleading guilty to a misdemeanor for a light sentence only to be sentenced 10 years or more – way over sentencing guidelines, and basically left to rot as a hostage, prisoner of war in the alleged United States of America. Yes, anyone who stepped foot on the DC Capitol Complex on Janaury 6, 2021 is subject to be taken hostage by the belligerent, installed regime anytime, anywhere to this day. Equal justice under the law? I don’t think so. Digraceful, unethical, and disgusting conduct courtesy of the Justice Department and Congressional delegation.
Holy crap, man. You deserve a medal for risking your life. I get why the Right fears protesting, but it’s gonna have to come some day… You got my respect.