Vermont’s homicide squad hopes to gain momentum to match the 2023 record

WILLISTON, Vt. (WCAX) – The number of homicides in Vermont is on track to reach last year’s record highs. It comes as two recent cases of parricide, or the killing of parents, make their way through the court system.

Jordan Lawyer, 29, was back in a Franklin County courtroom Wednesday, a little more than two weeks after he was arrested for the murder of his father.

Prosecutors showed a video interview with the lawyer’s mother, Robin, who spoke to police about the incident at her home in Enosburgh. “I intervened and told him to stop and leave him alone. He just had that look on his face. I know that look. Jordan wasn’t there, there was something bad,” she said in the video.

Experts say cases in which defendants kill family members are often an indication of mental illness. “The assumption: If you have a conflict with your family and are an adult, you can break off this contact. “In general, we question mental illness the younger or older the paricide perpetrator is,” said Penny Shtull, professor of criminology at Norwich University.

The same is true in Pawlet, where Brian Crossman is accused of shooting three family members last month. Court records indicate that the suspects in both cases had a history of mental health issues and had received inpatient treatment.

The five deaths in those two murder cases bring the total for the year to 19, putting Vermont on track to match last year’s total of 27, which is its highest level in three decades. And this comes after a similarly high total of 25 murders in 2022.

Shtull says much of this higher trend is due to drug-related killings. “We mirror the rest of the country in terms of gun-related homicides, dispute-related homicides or drug-related disputes. “In this case, it’s broadly the same thing,” she said.

Further examination of the data shows that more than 80 percent of murders this year were committed by men, which Shtull said is in line with national crime rates. The police managed to catch the murderers, but only one of this year’s cases remained unsolved.

Jordan Lawyer is in the custody of the Ministry of Mental Health. Judge Allison Arms said Wednesday she will make a decision on whether he will continue to be held without bail. His next hearing has not been scheduled.

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