BURLINGTON — The stepson of a man who was shot and killed on a dirt road in Hinesburg in July was charged with first-degree murder Friday afternoon.
Kory Lee George, 31, pleaded not guilty to the murder charge, as well as to charges of burglary and obstruction of justice in Vermont Superior Court in Chittenden County.
Judge Gregory Rainville ordered George to be held without bail — though he is already behind bars for a pending federal charge of illegally possessing a stolen firearm related to the same incident.
Court documents allege that George and his mother, Angela Auclair, worked together to plan and carry out the killing of David Auclair this summer.
According to an affidavit, George’s ex-girlfriend overheard the two planning together. She told police that the pair discussed a plan wherein George would purchase a burner phone, drive out to a remote location in Hinesburg, and use the phone to call Auclair and tell him he had broken down and needed help. Then, when Auclair arrived, George would shoot him, according to the affidavit.
The day before Auclair was killed, he and his wife went out to dinner with a friend, James Synnott, in Colchester, court papers say. While they were out, George allegedly went to Synnott’s house and stole three guns, one of which police say was used to kill Auclair.
George pleaded not guilty to federal charges for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon in September. He was held without bail pending a federal trial. In determining to hold George without bail on the state charges Friday, Rainville noted George’s “long criminal record” including felonies, violence, and an escape conviction two years ago.
The prosecution offered 16 names that they wanted included on a no-contact list for George. The defense, however, argued strongly against one of those names — that of George’s wife, Kirsten Stillwell.
Defense attorney Stacie Johnson said the pair have been in contact “several times a day” throughout George’s incarceration. She called the prosecution’s list “overbroad and not necessary to protect the integrity of the case or protect anyone.”
“He has a pretty fragile mental stability right now, and his psychiatry says the one thing keeping him from self-harm right now is contact with his wife,” Johnson said.
Deputy State’s Attorney Andrew McFarlin argued that there were “extreme concerns about witness tampering” if George could be in contact with Stillwell. McFarlin cited instances referenced in the affidavit where George had pressured witnesses in the past, including a case where he told a witness to “stick to the story,” and a separate instance where a witness received an anonymous threatening letter to the same effect, which prosecutors linked to George.
Rainville ruled to bar George’s contact with all 16 people on prosecutors’ list, pending documentation from a mental health provider in favor of allowing him to contact his wife. He also agreed to schedule a hearing on the weight of the evidence for later in the month.
After the arraignment, Chittenden County State’s Attorney Sarah George said that though there are other individuals with links to the case, there is no one else that she anticipates facing charges imminently.
“Right now, the two people that we believe to be the most culpable are arraigned,” George said.
She said the investigation will continue as attorneys on both sides prep for the upcoming trials, and that there is still much more that could be learned.
“There’s a lot of moving parts,” George said. “It was a very detailed and planned event. Some parts of it very well planned and other parts not so much, and sort of teasing out all of the different players and all of the different parts of the plan was complicated.”
She said there have been rumors about a financial motive for the crime, but that there hasn’t been evidence to confirm that one way or another.
Hearings are set next week in both Kory George and Angela Auclair’s cases.
Kory George faces a possibility of life in prison without parole if found guilty.
