[W]ATERFORD — Investigators wearing white evidence collection suits spent Wednesday afternoon going in and out of the Waterford home where homicide victim Michael Pimental lived with his girlfriend, who is now jailed on federal drug charges.
It marked the second day Vermont State Police detectives searched the Duck Pond Road residence as they seek to solve the mystery of who shot Pimental multiple times and left his body off a rural dirt road in Concord, about 15 miles from his Northeast Kingdom home, where it was discovered Sunday.
According to documents filed Wednesday in federal court by FBI agent Colin Simons in support of a warrant to search the home, investigators during Tuesday’s search found $5,000 in cash at the property and two “bundles” of suspected heroin in the living room.
Police said $1,000 was found in a duffel bag in the short driveway leading to the one-story home, and another $4,000 was located on the floor of the master bedroom.
No information was immediately available about what, if any, evidence police seized Wednesday from the home, which sits close to the road and down a slight slope.
About a half-dozen green and gold Vermont State Police vehicles lined the road across from the home throughout the afternoon as investigators removed items placed in clear plastic bags from inside the residence.
A large mobile crime scene command post vehicle sat in the driveway, amid a slew of other vehicles parked through the front of the property. Those vehicles included a dirt bike, an ATV, a sports car, a white pickup and a sedan.
Troopers at the scene Wednesday referred comment on the status of the probe to state police Capt. Dan Trudeau, head of the major crimes unit.
Trudeau, reached later Wednesday afternoon, said he had little new to report, other than detectives were continuing to search the Waterford home.
No arrests have yet been made in connection with Pimental’s slaying, he added.
Trudeau did say that investigators are expected to search a property in Lyndon on Thursday as the probe into Pimental’s death continues.
Pimental’s girlfriend, Krystal Whitcomb, 27, who lived with him at the Waterford home, has been jailed since Sunday on a federal charge of dispensing heroin. Her father, Shawn Whitcomb, 51, was also arrested Sunday on the same charge and is also being held.
The Whitcombs and Pimental had been the subject of a drug-dealing investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force since July, according to court filings this week.
That investigation involved a series of “controlled buys” made by informants from the Whitcombs, with the most recent one taking place Wednesday, Oct. 10, from Krystal Whitcomb in a parking lot in St. Johnsbury, court records state.
Another of those controlled buys took place Sept. 6 at the Duck Pond Road residence, according to court filings.
The arrest of the father and daughter on Sunday followed the discovery that day of Pimental’s body alongside a driveway of a property off Victory Road in Concord. Police say Pimental died of multiple gunshot wounds.
Both Whitcombs have been questioned in Pimental’s death, though neither has been charged, according to authorities and court filings.
Police have not termed the Whitcombs suspects, but have said they are persons of interest, as are others.
Trudeau said Wednesday that authorities have received a “variety” of statements and are working “to determine the veracity of what we learn during interviews.”
Court records shed little light about what either of the Whitcombs said to investigators, other than to say Krystal Whitcomb told them that she travels out of state with Pimental to pick up heroin.
The Whitcombs are due in federal court late Thursday morning in Burlington for hearings to determine whether they will remain jailed on the drug charges that have been filed against them.
Police began searching for Pimental on Saturday, though investigators and court filings provide no insight on what prompted them to start looking for him.
While Pimental has a lengthy criminal record in Caledonia County, the most recent offense dates back more than two years when he was charged with driving with a suspended license in May 2016. His license was suspended as a result of a prior drunken driving offense, court records stated.
According to court records, Pimental has 25 convictions in total, all for misdemeanor offenses. Many of the charges deal with driving offenses, with several convictions for driving with a suspended license.
He also has misdemeanor convictions for possessing marijuana and cocaine, court records state.
Shawn Whitcomb had no criminal convictions on file in Caledonia County, and Krystal Whitcomb was arrested for drunken driving in 2015, though that charge was dismissed and she entered a guilty plea to an offense of negligent operation of a motor vehicle, according to court records.
Documents connected to Pimental’s 2016 arrest state that he was born in Fall River, Massachusetts, and he worked as a general contractor in Vermont.
