[P]olice arrested three people in connection with a fire in Northfield that killed one and severely injured another.
Tammy Wilder, 45, and Jonathan Zampieri, 33, both of Montpelier were arrested by the Vermont State Police Tuesday evening. A third person, Howard Hoisington, 32, was arrested early Wednesday morning.
The three are likely to face charges for conspiracy to commit robbery in federal court in Burlington later Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney Eric Miller.
The arrests follow a fire at a residence in Northfield early Monday morning. When fire and police crews responded to the scene, they found one victim in the building who had severe burns. They later located a second victim, who was dead.
According to a report by the chief medical examiner’s office, Brittany Burt, 22, of Northfield, died of smoke inhalation.
Another victim, Efren Serrano, 26, is currently being treated at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He is in critical condition, police say.
An affidavit signed Tuesday by Matthew Ekstrom, a special agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), details parts of the police investigation into the fire.
According to the affidavit, Serrano told medical personnel that somebody broke into his Northfield apartment, then poured gasoline on him and his girlfriend and set them on fire.
A neighbor told state police investigators that he heard screaming from Serrano’s apartment while he was watching the news. He opened the door and saw Serrano on fire, and called 911.
A confidential source told investigators that Zampieri, Hoisington and Wilder “went to that house last night to rob them.” The source said that the three were planning to steal drugs from Serrano and Burt.
Wilder and Zampieri were arrested Tuesday evening after a traffic stop. The state police later arrested Hoisington at his home in Berlin shortly after midnight.
The three are currently being held at Chittenden Regional Correctional Center.
Miller said Wednesday that his office will likely file charges against Wilder, Zampieri and Hoisington later in the day. He expected they will face charges for conspiracy to commit robbery.
Miller said that he worked closely with Washington County State’s Attorney Scott Williams on the case, and they together decided to prosecute the case in federal, rather than state, court.
“Together, we decided that this was a case where we the federal system had some better investigative and charging tools,” Miller said.
