gnomony
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MONTPELIER, Vt. (AP) Relatives of a 78-year-old woman abducted from her Sheffield home and killed nearly three years ago are struggling to get closure because no one has been charged in her death.
Two cited in Mary Pat O’Hagan’s deathPosted: Mar 07, 2014 8:39 AM CST Updated: Mar 07, 2014 10:46 AM CST
By Jennifer Reading
Vermont State Police confirm to WCAX that investigators believe they have probable cause to charge three men who they believe were involved in O'Hagan's murder. They are filing documents at the courthouse today detailing what they believe allegedly happened. State police say Keith Baird, 33, will be charged with first-degree murder, burglary and kidnapping. Richard Fletcher, 27, will also face first-degree murder, kidnapping and burglary. A third individual, not named by police yet, will also face charges. All three men are already behind bars for other crimes. Police say they will be arraigned Monday in St. Johnsbury.
UPDATED 1:35 PM EST Mar 07, 2014
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. —Two men are facing murder charges stemming from the fatal shooting of a 78-year-old Sheffield woman over three years ago.
Hunter’s discovered Mary ‘Pat’ O’Hagan’s body in the woods of Wheelock on October 3, 2010, three weeks after she was reported missing. According to police, O’Hagan was killed inside her home during a botched break-in on September 10.
Read more: http://www.wptz.com/news/vermont-ne...mary-pat-ohagans-death/24861028#ixzz2vJZWZt2x
Court documents described the crime as a burglary gone wrong, with the suspects looking for prescription pills or money for drugs.
A third man, 23-year-old Michael Norrie of St. Johnsbury, has been cited into court to face the same charges as Fletcher and Baird...
Fletcher, Baird, and Norrie, who police said is a cousin to Fletcher and Baird, have sat in state or federal cells for much of this time on unrelated criminal charges, leaving O'Hagan's children wondering if the murder case would ever be wrapped up.
O’Hagan’s remains were found Oct. 3 in Wheelock, about 10 miles from her home, police said. She was found face-down, wearing a sweatshirt, socks, and white sneakers... She was nude from the waist down, and a yellow rope, a red tie-down strap, and an electrical cord were found next to her body, Letourneau wrote.
Investigators allege O’Hagan was killed after Fletcher, Norrie, and Baird confronted her inside her home. They struggled, and Fletcher, either by accident or to scare O’Hagan, fired a shotgun into the kitchen ceiling, the affidavit said.
Norrie allegedly then shot O’Hagan in the back of the head, killing her, Letourneau wrote. The men moved O’Hagan’s body to an abandoned property located next to the woman’s home. O’Hagan’s body was moved again from that property, which was searched after she went missing, police said.
Lawyers representing three men charged in connection with the killing of a Vermont woman in 2010 have asked for more time to prepare for a trial.
One of three Vermont men arrested last year and charged with the abduction and murder of an elderly Vermont woman was charged Friday with sexually assaulting two inmates.
Vermont State Police say 28-year-old Richard E. Fletcher, a Rutland native, was charged with lewd and lascivious conduct following an investigation into two criminal complaints originating from within the walls of the Marble Valley Correctional Facility.
Troopers say the investigation revealed Fletcher sexually assaulted an 18-year-old male inmate and a 33-year-old male inmate, although troopers say the victims didn't sustain any injuries.
Michael Norrie, 24, pleaded not guilty last year to first-degree murder, kidnapping and burglary in connection with the 2010 slaying of O'Hagan during a botched burglary. Norrie is scheduled to change his plea in July in Vermont Superior Court in St. Johnsbury.
Norrie's lawyer Rob Sussman on Monday declined to provide specifics of the agreement until the court date, but he said his client's plea will not be contingent on his testifying against the remaining co-defendant, Keith Baird, 34...
In March, a third suspect, Richard Fletcher, 28, agreed to plead guilty to burglary, kidnapping and other charges in exchange for his cooperation in the cases against Baird and Norrie. Murder charges were dropped against Fletcher as part of the agreement. Sentencing will take place later.
Norrie said little as Judge Robert P. Gerety Jr. imposed a sentence of 27-50 years, all suspended except for 23 years to serve with one year of credit for time served. Norrie also gave up his right to appeal and agreed to a lifetime of supervision on probation...
In exchange, Norrie pleaded guilty to first degree murder, kidnapping and burglary for shooting and killing O'Hagan, 78, in her Sheffield Village home...
Norrie's co-defendant, Richard Fletcher, 28, has already agreed to testify in the murder case against the third suspect - Keith Baird, 34 - in exchange for a sentence of 15-30 years. Norrie's plea deal does not require him to cooperate with the state in the future prosecution of Baird.
A Vermont Superior Court judge has dismissed a first-degree murder charge against a man accused in connection with the death of Sheffield resident Mary "Pat" O'Hagan...
Baird remains accused of kidnapping and burglary... Baird has pleaded not guilty.
Keith Baird was accused of murder in the killing of 78-year-old Mary Pat OHagan in her home. He also faces charges of burglary and kidnapping related to the case.
In 2016, a Superior Court judge dismissed the murder charge against Baird, ruling that prosecutors could not meet the necessary burden.
However, in a 4-1 decision, the Supreme Court ruled that because Baird allegedly helped plan the burglary with two others, and the three brought guns with ammunition, he could be charged with first-degree murder. Another man admitted pulling the trigger.
Keith Bairds murder trial will likely take place early next year.
However, the exact location remains unknown.
On Wednesday, the court told Bairds attorney - Robert W. Katims of Burlington - and Caledonia County States Attorney Lisa Warren that it was looking to schedule a two-week trial sometime between January and March of 2018.
Keith Bairds murder trial will take place in Chittenden County next year.
According to prosecutors, Bairds trial has been scheduled for the last week of April and the first week of May, 2018, in Chittenden Superior Court in Burlington. Judge Michael Kupersmith will preside.
Murder suspect Keith Baird is still trying to get access to prosecutors notes leading up to the plea deal reached by his co-defendant in the Pat OHagan murder case.
In April of 2016, Bairds defense attorney, Robert W. Katims of Burlington, called the agreement between prosecutors and Bairds half-brother Richard Fletcher a pretty sweet deal.
Prosecutors say murder suspect Keith Baird abused his half-brother and co-defendant Richard Fletcher while growing up and that Baird has been threatening Fletcher and their cousin Michael Norrie while in prison.
On Friday, prosecutors filed a notice in Caledonia Superior Court declaring their intention to enter evidence at Bairds murder trial that he repeatedly abused Fletcher over a period of years while they were growing up in Sheffield to the point where Baird was removed from the home for about 18 months in his early teens.
Warren argues in her motion that the relationship between Baird and Fletcher is key to explaining why Fletcher and Norrie gave police multiple versions of the murder to throw police off course during their investigation.
Keith Baird, of Sutton, who was scheduled to go on trial next week for his role in the murder of Mary Pat OHagan, struck a plea deal with the state on Friday.
In exchange for pleas of no contest to charges of burglary and kidnapping, the state dropped the murder charges against Baird. Baird was sentenced today in Caledonia County Superior Court in St. Johnsbury, to a 15-year to 30-year sentence for the burglary charges. He will be sentenced to an additional 15 to 30 years for the kidnapping charges on May 29. Baird will serve the sentences concurrently.
However, that punishment isnt enough for OHagans children, given Bairds lengthy criminal record and their view that the three men shared responsibility equally for crafting the ill-fated plot that turned violent.
To walk out with what he walked out withits terrible, said Mark OHagan of Bolton, Massachusetts. Its a tragedy.
Im not happy, added Shawn OHagan of Manchester, New Hampshire. I feel we let my mother down. I cant fathom it right now.
Eight years after the tragic murder of a Sheffield grandmother, two men connected to the crime were sentenced Tuesday.
In 2015 Michael Norrie admitted he was the one who shot and killed O'Hagan. He is currently serving a 23-year sentence for 1st degree murder.
Tuesday, the two others involved in the crime, Richard Fletcher and Keith Baird, were sentenced for their part. Baird received 15 to 30 years for burglary and kidnapping, after pleading no contest to those charges back in April. Fletcher pleaded guilty to the same charges, but he was sentenced to 15 years with an additional 15 suspended after he agreed to testify against the other men if the case went to trial.
Matt O’Hagan, the victim’s son, speaking outside the courthouse after the two hearings, was asked if the proceedings, in which the two remaining defendants pleaded to lesser charges, brought closure.
“Not really,” he said, expressing disappointment in the length of the sentences. “If my mom was here, she’d want us to make sure they didn’t get back out so they couldn’t do it to anybody else.”
Baird had displayed little emotion earlier as two of O’Hagan’s children, Maureen O’Hagan and Shawn O’Hagan, spoke of their mother’s life, and their feeling of loss in coping with her death.
They described a woman who doted on her children and grandchildren, and volunteered around Sheffield, helping out at the library and the local food shelf. She loved crossword puzzles, they said, and watching the game show, “Jeopardy” on television, answering question after question.
Kupersmith, handing down the sentences Tuesday, called the crimes leading to O’Hagan’s death “terrible,” “unspeakable,” “miserable,” and “despicable.” He also told both men he understood their intention wasn’t to kill O’Hagan.