[R]UTLAND — A judge is weighing a request from a Mount Tabor woman charged with fatally shooting her husband to be released from jail on electronic monitoring at the home of the dead man’s sister.
Scottie Frederick, of Wells, told a judge Tuesday in Rutland Superior Court that she doesn’t believe her brother, David Shores, 54, was shot by his wife, Peggy Shores, 52.
“Do you know what Peggy is accused of?” attorney Steven Howard, representing the murder suspect, asked Frederick.
“Of killing my brother,” Frederick replied.
“Do you believe that she committed his murder?” Howard asked.
“No,” Frederick responded, adding that she hadn’t ever seen Peggy Shores display violence. “She doesn’t have that character.”
At one point in answer to a question, Frederick said she would still take Peggy Shores in even if she ultimately became convinced Shores is responsible for the death.
Peggy Shores is accused of shooting and killing her husband in December at their Mount Tabor home as he walked up cellar stairs.
The defendant has told authorities her husband accidentally shot himself when he tripped and fell while carrying a loaded .44 Magnum revolver and trying to climb the stairs.
For more than two months, authorities investigated before arresting Peggy Shores in February. She has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder. If convicted, she faces 20 years to life behind bars.
An autopsy, conducted by Dr. Steven Shapiro of the state medical examiner’s office, showed that David Shores suffered a gunshot wound to his upper left side below his collarbone. A forensic exam of the T-shirt David Shores was wearing showed no pattern of gunshot residue, police wrote in an affidavit filed in the case.
Test firings of the revolver revealed it would have left a “pattern of residues” to a maximum distance of 48 inches to 72 inches, the affidavit stated. Also, according to the affidavit, due to David Shores’ arm length and direction of the shot, it was determined the maximum distance from which he could have shot himself was 27 inches.
Howard has maintained that the case is built on assumptions and there is nothing to show his client ever held the gun or pulled the trigger.
Judge David Fenster had earlier agreed to a request from Rutland County State’s Attorney Rose Kennedy, who is prosecuting the case, to hold Peggy Shores without bail, and the Vermont Supreme Court later affirmed that decision.
However, Howard has since filed a new motion, this time seeking his client’s release on home detention with electronic monitoring at Frederick’s residence, prompting the hearing Tuesday.
Kennedy contended at the hearing that Frederick was not being “credible” when she said a man who had been staying at her home has since moved out. That man, Kennedy said, has a criminal record that includes offenses involving the obstruction of justice.
The prosecutor also repeatedly alluded to the several pounds of marijuana police found in the Shores’ home after the shooting, leading to the possibility that Peggy Shores may have access to cash that could help her flee if released.
And with Frederick’s home located in a remote area of Rutland County with limited police coverage and cell service, Kennedy tried to show at the hearing that even with the electronic monitoring Shores could be gone for some time before authorities would be aware.
Since the home’s location in Wells lacks cell service, the state Department of Corrections would have to use an older version of the electronic monitoring equipment that relies on a landline.
“I was surprised there was still one left on the shelf,” Kevin Peck of the state Department of Corrections testified Tuesday about the landline version of the electronic monitoring equipment.
Howard countered through his questioning of witnesses Tuesday that his client had no intention of running away to avoid prosecution. Two other siblings of David Shores, who testified they didn’t believe Peggy Shores killed her husband, added that she loved her family so much, including her children and grandchildren, that she would never flee.
Shane Shores, David Shores’ brother, testified Tuesday that he couldn’t recall Peggy Shores ever handling a gun, much less one the size that fired the fatal shot in this case.
“It’s as big as her arm,” he said of the .44 Magnum revolver.
David Shores’ relatives have strongly backed Peggy Shores and her declarations of innocence. They have filled rows of seats behind her at court hearings, including the one Tuesday, and voiced words of encouragement to her.
“We love you, Peggy,” one said as the latest hearing came to a close.
Judge Fenster made no decision Tuesday about releasing Peggy Shores. He asked the attorneys in the case to file briefs on the matter before making a ruling.
A trial is not expected in the case until sometime in 2018.
