[A] Highgate woman apprehended by police early Tuesday morning in the killing of a 35-year-old man has been charged with first-degree murder. Her boyfriend has pleaded not guilty to charges of being an accessory after the crime.
In an affidavit filed in Franklin County Superior Court, Erika Guttilla, 31, told police that she shot her ex-boyfriend in the head while he was sleeping in early December.
The body of Troy Ford was wrapped in plastic and dumped in a garbage bin that sat on the porch of Guttilla’s home until her current boyfriend, Corey Cassani, and her mother, Carmen Guttilla, helped transport the remains to an abandoned playground in the woods nearby. The three left the body wrapped in a maroon sheet on top of the frozen ground and covered it with tree branches.
Neighbors who were walking their dogs found Ford’s remains on Saturday. Vermont State Police arrested Carmen Guttilla Sunday and she was charged with first-degree murder on Monday.
Erika Guttilla and Cassini fled the family home in Highgate and drove to Swanton, where they later abandoned their car. They were apprehended early Tuesday morning near a motel on Route 7 in South Burlington.
Erika Guttilla faces 35 years to life in prison if convicted in the slaying. Her defense attorney said he would take 24 hours to file a plea in response to the charges of premeditated murder. She pleaded not guilty to charges of obstruction of justice.
Her attorney also asked that Guttilla, who is being held without bail, be administered a blood test.
Cassani, 28, has been charged with three counts: acting as an accessory after the fact for moving the body; removal of a dead body; and obstruction of justice. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges. If he is convicted, he faces a combined sentence of 17 years and $7,000 in fines. Cassani refused to speak to police.
Guttilla says she dreamed of “clubbing” Ford to death
Erika Guttilla alleges in the affidavit that Ford drank heavily and supplied several family members with drugs and had turned her father, Michael Guttilla, 59, into a “trained dog” by continually supplying him with drugs. The father told police that he was addicted to cocaine and heroin.
The father told police he believed that Ford had tried to sexually assault his daughter in the family home and “grabbed” his wife. Everyone in the family was scared of Ford, Michael Guttila said.
In an affidavit, Erika Guttilla told police that a month before the slaying Ford raped her in the bathroom of the family home. The two then started fighting and she says he hit her in the head with a full bottle of Hennesy cognac. Guttilla did not seek medical assistance or inform police, according to the affidavit.
After that, Guttilla said she “dreamed” of clubbing Ford in the head and practiced shooting a gun in a nearby field.
On the day of the killing in early December, Guttilla and her mother came home and accidentally woke up Ford. “It was like starting a war and a big fight ensued,” she told police. Her mother put a handgun on the dresser and the two of them discussed how the plan to kill Ford would be carried out, according to the affidavit.
When Ford fell asleep in her bedroom she began pacing, walking in and out of the room 15 times — then shot him in the head. His eyes were closed and she put the gun right up to his face and pulled the trigger.
“It was inevitable what was going to happen,” Erika Guttilla told police.
After she shot Ford, blood pooled on the bed and the floor. Her father and her brother Dakota were in the house but both denied knowing about the shooting.
Erika Guttilla said she was sick for several days afterward but also said she also felt a sense of relief. She sold the Glock she used to kill Ford, which was owned by her mother, for $350 to a man named J who sold it in New York City. She also sold Ford’s iPhone 6.
She told another boyfriend Eddie Bennett about the shooting because she wanted him to help move the body. He was shown the body and the bloodied room where the killing took place, but left the house without moving the body and broke up with her shortly afterward.
After being jailed on an unrelated offense, Bennett told police about the killing on April 12. That was the first time police became aware of the slaying. Bennett told police that all of the family members have addictions, especially crack. He also said that Erika’s brother, sister and parents were aware that she had killed Ford in her bedroom.
Guttilla then started dating Cassani, one of Bennett’s friends, in January. Cassani told Bennett that while he was watching television one day in the Guttilla home, he heard a “thump, thump, thump.” It was Erika Gutilla dragging the plastic garbage bin with Ford’s body into the house. Together they brought it out to the family’s black van, according to police affidavits.
Carmen Guttilla took the wheel and drove to the nearby playground and pulled the body onto a tarp. As they dragged it across the concrete, blood was going “everywhere,” according to Bennett’s recollection of what Cassini had told him.
They continued to pull the body through the snow into the woods where they covered the body with a maroon sheet and layered tree branches over it.
Months later, after police found the body last Saturday, they interviewed Melissa Gutilla and asked her to call her sister, who was on the run. Police recorded the call.
Melissa asked about the gun and Erika said “I took care of it today.” When Melissa said police were in the driveway, Erika swore loudly and the line cut out.
Melissa called back and Cassini picked up the phone and wanted to know what police were talking about. She asked him if the body police had found was “him” — apparently referring to Ford.
“No,” Cassini said “It would not matter if they did, they have no proof.”
