by Guy Page

Vermont State Police say the death of a Brattleboro woman in southern Vermont remains under investigation following an autopsy completed Sunday in Burlington.

The victim has been identified as 31-year-old Angelica Barbour. The Chief Medical Examiner’s Office determined her cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head and neck. Investigators said Barbour had not been shot, contradicting initial reports, and that her manner of death remains pending.

Detectives believe the incident that left Barbour fatally injured occurred on Vermont Route 11 near Mansfield Lane in Londonderry. A person who was initially detained by Bennington police in connection with the case has since been released.

The case began Friday afternoon when Barbour was dropped off at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington with severe head injuries that hospital staff at first believed to be a gunshot wound. She was pronounced dead shortly after arrival.

Bennington police determined no shooting had taken place at the hospital and quickly notified the Vermont State Police, who took over the investigation. Troopers later secured a residence on Route 11 near Thompsonburg Road in Londonderry as a possible crime scene. The highway was closed temporarily while evidence was collected.

The investigation is being led by members of the VSP Major Crime Unit, Bureau of Criminal Investigations, Crime Scene Search Team, Field Force Division and Victim Services Unit.

Police are urging anyone with information about Barbour’s death to call the Westminster Barracks at 802-722-4600 or submit an anonymous tip at vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

Burglary at the Leicester General Store – Troopers from the New Haven Barracks responded to a report of a burglary in progress at the Leicester General Store at about 9:23 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 24. When troopers and Middlebury police officers arrived, the suspect or suspects had already fled.

Investigators determined that seven new propane tanks had been stolen from an outdoor storage locker after a padlock was removed. A surveillance photo captured the suspect vehicle in the parking lot at the time of the theft.

The incident remains under investigation. Police are asking anyone with information to call the New Haven barracks at (802) 388-4919 (Option 3) or submit an anonymous tip through the Vermont State Police website.

Homeless man arrested on out-of-state drug possession warrant – Deputies with the Windsor County Sheriff’s Department arrested 31-year-old Andrew D. Picknell, who is homeless, during a motor vehicle stop Saturday evening, Aug. 23.

Deputies stopped a vehicle around 8 p.m. near the Hartland Laundromat after observing a traffic violation. Police said Picknell, who was a passenger, initially provided a false name. Officers from Windsor Police Department assisted in confirming his identity.

Deputy Buchanan ultimately found probable cause to arrest Picknell for providing false information to law enforcement. Picknell also had an extraditable warrant from New Hampshire on a fentanyl possession charge. He was additionally charged in Vermont as a fugitive from justice.

Picknell was processed at Windsor Police Department and lodged at Southern State Correctional Facility on $10,000 bail. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Aug. 25, on the fugitive warrant and again Oct. 14 to answer to the false information charge.