ROYALTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s homicide rate last year continued an upward trajectory, topping numbers not seen in nearly three decades. While authorities are still trying to solve several open cases, they’re also trying to understand what’s behind the recent surge.
Vermont State Police say for the second straight year, homicide numbers topped 20.
“We’re prone to have some violence like all states do, but in a small state with a low population, it certainly has a greater effect on people when they hear about it,” said VSP Maj. Dan Trudeau.
2023 saw 24 homicide investigations involving a total of 27 deaths. The violence took place across across the state, from Brattleboro to the Northeast Kingdom.
Over the last seven years, the state’s homicide numbers ranged from 17 in 2017 to as low as 11 the following year. Since then, they have been on the rise. “We’ve typically been in the low teens to mid-teens, maybe for an annual sometimes lower than that. It’s certainly concerning,” Trudeau said.
Of the 27 homicides, more than half involved the use of a gun. And of the cases investigated by state police, seven are known to be drug-related, involving both suspects and victims from out of state.
“It’s turned to the source and supply is now coming to Vermont. There are certainly Vermonters that sometimes attempt to steal or rip off the drug dealer themselves, and there can be some degree of turf war between drug dealers,” Trudeau said.
In October alone, state police investigated seven homicide cases and one suspicious death in just over three weeks, draining VSP resources.
Penny Shtull, a criminology professor at Norwich University, says that’s not the only impact on the state. “It can increase people’s perception of fear or safety. It can impact tourism or impact people’s willingness to go to areas that have seen an increase in homicide,” she said. Shtull says while only two years of data do not make a trend, it’s important to parse the data to figure out solutions to the problem. “Nationwide, we’re looking at what type of programs or practices — whether that’s law enforcement or on a governmental level in terms of policies and practices — may have reduced the overall, nationwide crime rate and whether those can be applied to places like Vermont.”
Several cases from last year remain unsolved, including the murder of Honoree Fleming in Castleton, the homicide in Wheelock, and double homicides in Eden and in Burlington. Another a case in the town of Washington is still classified as a suspicious death but police are treating it as a homicide.
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