Editor’s note: This article is by Mike Faher of the Brattleboro Reformer, in which it was first published Nov. 21, 2014.
BRATTLEBORO — As Robin O’Neill sat in a police cruiser moments after being detained on suspicion of a double murder, she recited prayers; requested red wine and cigarettes; and told herself, “you can go to prison for the rest of your life, ’cause you killed the (expletive),” according to court documents released Thursday.
Wearing neon green prison garb, O’Neill appeared in Windham Superior Court Criminal Division on Thursday and pleaded not guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in connection with the shooting deaths of 60-year-old Steven Lott and his son, 28-year-old Jamis Lott, on Tuesday night in Townshend.
An affidavit released after O’Neill’s arraignment says Steven Lott had broken off his engagement to O’Neill the same day as the killing. Later that night, after drinking “a lot” of wine, she allegedly shot both men in the kitchen of the home she shared with Steven Lott.
“The next thing she remembered, she either picked up a gun or she had the gun in her hand. Lott and Jamis were on the floor lying in a lot of blood,” State Police Detective Sgt. Scott Dunlap wrote in court documents. “O’Neill told us Lott was on the kitchen floor, and Jamis was under the kitchen table. O’Neill told us they were dead, so there was no need to call 911.”
Police were alerted to the incident via a phone call from a friend of O’Neill’s, Stanley “Mike” Bills, who served with O’Neill and Steven Lott as town listers. Bills told police he received a call around 9 p.m. from O’Neill, who “started explaining that he needed to come and take care of her dog, or to get someone else who would be able to take care of it.”
“When Bills asked what was going on, O’Neill stated something to the effect of, ‘I did it. I just shot and killed Steve and Jamis,” according to the affidavit.
“Bills thought O’Neill sounded drunk,” police wrote. “He did not believe her at first but then realized she was serious. O’Neill commented she did not care what happened to her, but she was worried about her dog.”
Troopers responded to the Abby Road home, and O’Neill surrendered without incident. Inside, police found spent shell casings and the bodies of the Lotts: Steven Lott had “multiple wounds consistent (with) gunshot wounds to his head, torso and groin area,” police said, while Jamis Lott — who apparently had come to the home to do laundry — had “at least one wound consistent (with) a gunshot wound to the neck area.”
Police found three handguns in the kitchen area — a 9 mm semiautomatic, a .25-caliber semiautomatic and a .22-caliber revolver.
O’Neill “appeared unsteady on her feet, had bloodshot glassy eyes, slurred speech and a moderate odor of an alcoholic beverage on her breath,” police said. She was handcuffed and placed in a police cruiser.
Dunlap’s affidavit says “O’Neill made several unsolicited statements to include reciting the Catholic prayer Hail Mary, the Lord’s Prayer, ‘I actually done this just the other night which I have pictures of — of the beating the holy crap out of me,’ and ‘You understand that the reason I shot the (expletive), oops, wait a minute, I didn’t just say anything.'”
When alone in the cruiser, police said O’Neill made several other statements including “he put you through amazing amounts of hell, hell, hell, hell and hell again. He made you so. He tried terribly to make you (inaudible).”
Later at the state police barracks in Brattleboro, O’Neill told investigators that she and Steven Lott had lived together since February and had gotten engaged in July. Things became “weird” in September, when Lott began hanging around a female friend, O’Neill claimed.
She also told police that Lott “became physical” with her during two recent arguments.
“O’Neill told us she had multiple bruises on her body from Lott,” Dunlap wrote. “During her interview, I observed bruising on both of O’Neill’s arms.”
Tuesday, the day after one of those allegedly physical arguments, O’Neill said Lott told her that “the engagement was off … and he wanted her to get out of his house” as they rode together to work at the town office, the affidavit says. That night, before the shooting, O’Neill drank wine “because she was shaking,” she told police.
While O’Neill contended she had been physically assaulted by Lott, an acquaintance who was at the home hours before the shooting told police that she “had never seen anything physical between O’Neill and Lott.” Another friend of Lott’s told investigators that “O’Neill was crazy, and she was jealous about everyone.”
The affidavit also includes a story from another acquaintance who said Lott had mentioned an argument he had with O’Neill as they lay in bed Nov. 15.
“O’Neill told Lott, ‘I’ll fix you,'” court papers say, recounting the alleged incident. “O’Neill then leaned over to her bedside stand, and Lott reached across and slapped the drawer out of her hands. Lott knew O’Neill had a gun, and he thought she was getting her gun. Lott got up quickly, got dressed and got out of there.”
Contact Mike Faher at 802-254-2311, ext. 275.
