BURLINGTON — The victim’s estranged wife and stepson each pleaded not guilty Tuesday morning to a new charge of conspiracy to commit murder, connected to the 2019 killing of a Williston man at a trailhead in Hinesburg.
Kory George, 34, formerly of Monkton, was charged with first-degree murder in the death of his stepfather, David Auclair, in 2019. George also faces related charges of burglary and obstruction of justice.
Angela Auclair — George’s mother, who was married to David Auclair — was charged with aiding in the murder and with obstruction of justice in 2019.
The courts have closely guarded an appeal in George’s case, going so far as to seal briefs and oral arguments in the Vermont Supreme Court, thereby keeping them out of public view. An entry order from the high court this spring stated George “made a proffer to the State,” meaning he offered to provide information to prosecutors. The Supreme Court’s decision did not give any details on the proffer.
George and Auclair have both been held at Northwest State Correctional Facility and Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility, respectively. The new conspiracy charge carries a penalty ranging from 35 years to life without parole, which is the same possible sentence as first-degree murder.
Documents filed in the Chittenden Superior Court criminal division allege George and Auclair worked together to plan David Auclair’s murder. According to an affidavit by Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. James Vooris, an ex-girlfriend of George overheard a conversation between George and his mother in which they plotted his killing.
In that conversation, George allegedly said he would get a burner phone to call David Auclair and pretend his car had broken down, as a way to lure David Auclair to a deserted road where nobody would hear the gunshots.
On the night of July 11, 2019, Hinesburg police responded to reports of gunshots near LaPlatte Headwaters Town Forest in Hinesburg. Police found David Auclair, 45, in the town forest parking lot around 10:40 p.m. He had been shot multiple times, and his death was later ruled a homicide.
George denied any involvement in his stepfather’s death, and told police he was at a friend’s house in Burlington that night. The police affidavit alleges “preliminary digital evidence” from George’s cellphone shows he was not in Burlington, but rather in the region including Hinesburg, Monkton and Williston, before and after the time of the killing.
George’s friend, who had previously corroborated his alibi, later told police she wasn’t sure what time George arrived that evening. The friend recalled George had told her he was teaching his girlfriend to shoot, and didn’t want to get in trouble with his parole officer for possessing firearms, so he had asked for ammonia to wash gunshot residue from his clothes and hands.
George was sentenced in November 2021 to seven years in prison on a federal charge of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.
Alan Keays contributed reporting.