[W]EST DOVER — While police continue to investigate the death of a 43-year-old woman at Snow Creek Inn in West Dover on Friday, friends and neighbors are mourning the loss of the woman, Tara Oliveri.
Oliveri, who lived alone in an end-unit apartment at the Snow Creek Inn, died of an apparent gunshot wound Sept. 14, police said.
State Police Lt. John-Paul Schmidt did not yet know results of an autopsy, which was performed Saturday by the chief medical examiner’s office in Burlington. Schmidt declined to say more as the investigation continues.
Police received a 911 call from Jeffrey Pahkala, 37, around 2:12 a.m.
Oliveri died in Pahkala’s apartment, which is directly up the stairs from where she lived.
Neighbors said Oliveri and Pahkala were good friends who regularly spent time together.
“It was a tragic mistake,” said James “Holiday” Giesen, who lives a couple doors down.
About 15 people live at the Snow Creek Inn, an extended stay hotel, which has 14 rooms and two apartments. Some of the tenants work at Mount Snow.
Oliveri had lived at the inn on Route 100 for four months, ever since she moved to Vermont from New York.
Hours before she died, Oliveri and Pahkala were seen drinking together. They dressed in Halloween masks and knocked on neighbor’s doors. Both of them were drunk, friends said, but nothing seemed unusual.
“They were always pulling pranks,” said Giesen. “They were fun to be around.”
Friends said both Oliveri and Pahkala had issues with alcohol and they supported each other.
“They liked to drink but they were very mellow,” said Candis Muuss, who has managed the property since January. “They didn’t cause trouble. They were happy-go-lucky people.”
Muuss, who also lives in the building, was sleeping at the time Oliveri died. Muuss woke up around 3 a.m. Friday, when she saw police at the property.
“I was in shock,” she said. “It’s a case of what happens when you mix firearms and alcohol.”
The property is owned by Robert Finkeldey, who lives in Connecticut.
The Snow Creek Inn has a reputation in the community as being a “drug house,” though tenants say the property has improved in recent months.
“Each town has that one spot they have problems with,” said Dover Police Chief Randall Johnson, who has not been part of the death investigation as he is out on sick leave.
Pahkala’s belongings are still at the inn, though Pahkala hasn’t been seen since the incident. Friends say he is in a detox program.
Bobby Farkas, who lives in the apartment next door to Oliveri, said Oliveri was like a second mother to his four children, ages 6-11. They made meals together and had ice cream nights.
Most recently, his children cooked stuffed mushrooms with both Oliveri and Pahkala, who called himself “Chef Jeff.”
“I had just seen her,” Farkas said. “I had just heard her laugh.”
Farkas said he was best friends Pahkala, who he has known for 20 years.
Farkas said Pahkala always kept a gun in his backpack. One day Pahkala planned to show Oliveri how to use the gun, said Farkas.
“He’d never hurt anybody,” Farkas said. “It was just an accident.”
Farkas’ daughter, Anna, 11, said she couldn’t sleep the night Oliveri died.
Anna woke her father up that night after she heard a bang. Farkas, who didn’t hear the noise, told his daughter to go back to sleep.
Anna and her sister Destiney, 6, spent Sunday afternoon making a memorial for Oliveri on the grass behind their apartment. They planned to light candles and share memories of Oliveri that evening.
“She was family,” said Anna. “She may not have been blood, but I know she was someone I could talk to.”
