[B]URLINGTON — A federal prosecutor says that a man facing a firearms charge was arrested after he was recently spotted trying to dig up the handgun in a field that fired bullets “consistent” with the ones recovered in a Vermont slaying last fall.
Magistrate Judge John Conroy pressed the prosecutor during a hearing Thursday in federal court in Burlington for detailed evidence in the case against John Welch, 33, who is charged with being an unlawful user of a controlled substance knowingly in possession of a firearm.
According to the prosecution, they say they have evidence linking Welch to the handgun used in the shooting death of 37-year-old Michael Pimental of Waterford.
Police and prosecutors have been tightlipped about the investigation into Pimental’s death since his body was found Oct. 14, 2018, along the side of a dirt road in Concord, about 15 miles from his home.
According to court and state records, Pimental was shot multiple times in the head and torso.
His girlfriend, Krystal Whitcomb, and her father, Shawn Whitcomb, were charged with federal firearms and drug charges shortly after Pimental’s body was located. A third person, Michael Anthony Hayes Sr., has also been charged with conspiring to unlawfully possess ammunition.
At the time of his death, according to court records, Pimental as well as the Whitcombs were under investigation by the Vermont Drug Task Force for allegedly dealing large quantities of heroin and fentanyl.
But, no one has yet been charged directly with killing Pimental, though prosecutors have said in court filings they are considering bringing offenses that carry the possibility of the death penalty as their investigation continues.
Welch, who this week became the fourth person charged in connection with the homicide probe, was in court Thursday for a hearing where the prosecution sought to have him detained pending trial on the firearms offense.
“The government has recovered a firearm and has evidence which links that firearm to Mr. Welch,” Assistant U.S. Attorney John Boscia, a prosecutor in the case, told Magistrate Judge Conroy.
“I’m interested in hearing what that evidence is,” Conroy replied.
Boscia responded that Krystal Whitcomb had provided a lengthy, though at times conflicting, statement to police after her arrest “implicating Mr. Welch as the shooter of Mr. Pimental.”
The prosecutor then added, “The sensitivities about the ongoing investigation curtail a little bit the ability to speak to the exact link of that gun to Mr. Welch.”
“So you are not prepared to tell me what evidence the government has to link this defendant to that firearm beyond the statements of Krystal Whitcomb,” Conroy said to the prosecutor.
Boscia responded that the firearm was “recovered” from a field in New Hampshire last week after Welch been seen going to that field reportedly to retrieve a firearm to sell to another man.
“Law enforcement saw Mr. Welch at the field at that time and he was arrested on a warrant in an unrelated case,” Boscia said.
“Subsequent to that, last week law enforcement went back to the field, and through investigation, was able to locate the firearm that Mr. Welch had been seen trying to dig up in that field,” he said.
Conroy continued to push the prosecutor, saying that the strength of the case against Welch is a critical factor in weighing whether to detain Welch pending trial.
“That’s why I’m pressing you about whatever evidence the government might have to link this individual to the firearm,” the judge said to Boscia. “You’re asking for the court to hold him in custody. ”
Boscia added that the bullets found at Pimental’s home and also in his body following an autopsy were “consistent” with those that are fired from a Taurus 9mm handgun, the weapon found buried in the field.
The prosecutor also said that Welch continued to have an “ongoing and unaddressed” substance abuse issue, adding that he has tested positive for fentanyl and cocaine.
Robert Behrens, a Burlington attorney representing Welch, contended during the hearing that his client could be released pending trial.
Welch, Behrens said, had a job, a place to live, and while testing positive for drugs, his use of drugs was not “chronic.”
Behrens said Welch had recently completed a drug treatment program, and his client did not need to spend weeks in jail awaiting the possibility of placement in a residential program.
“He can certainly get the help on the outside and adhere to strict conditions of release,” the defense attorney said of his client.
Conroy, after listening to arguments from both sides, decided to continue to hold Welch behind bars.
“The government has spoken only in generalities with regard to its evidence concerning this offense,” the judge said. “It’s a strong case, but, again, the government has not laid out its case in its entirety.”
The judge appeared more concerned about the prospect of releasing Welch without a more structured plan in place to address his drug use.
“He has a serious unaddressed substance abuse problem,” Conroy said. “I simply can’t release Mr. Welch to just go back to what he was doing because what he was doing was not working, using cocaine and using fentanyl.”
The judge added, “Fentanyl is killing people, and if Mr. Welch reverts to using fentanyl he may very well end up as another statistic and I’m not ready to let that happen.”