Two people appeared in court Monday to face charges they had kidnapped a woman, bound her with duct tape, put a bag over her head, placed a rag with chemicals on it around her face and drove around with her in a truck before the woman was able to get free.
The allegations against Mack Varnum, 45, and Nichole Cloutier, 36, both of Peacham, were outlined in an affidavit made public following their court hearing in Caledonia County Superior criminal court.
According to the prosecutor and charging documents made public Monday, Varnum expressed “outrage” and said he wanted to kill the woman, who had been living with him, after she allegedly took his truck to get drugs, and had stolen and sold his AR-15 rifle.
The woman told police that about a month earlier, she and two other people had stolen an AR-15 from Varnum and sold it for “$300 to an out of state drug dealer,” the charging affidavit stated. “She stated that Varnum was upset about his gun being sold and that she was supposed to get the AR back, but that she couldn’t.”
Varnum, appearing for Monday’s hearing by video from jail, invoked his right to wait a day before entering a plea to charges of kidnapping, unlawful restraint in the first degree, and first-degree aggravated domestic assault.
Varnum had also been facing a charge of attempted first-degree murder, but Judge Justin Jiron said he didn’t find probable cause for the offense in the paperwork submitted for the arraignment. Tom Paul, the Caledonia County deputy state’s attorney, told the judge he would file additional paperwork providing details that support the charge of attempted first-degree murder.
Varnum was ordered held without bail while awaiting his arraignment Tuesday.
Cloutier pleaded not guilty Monday during her arraignment on charges of kidnapping, unlawful restraint and aggravated assault. Jiron agreed to Paul’s request to hold Cloutier without bail until a further hearing in the case.
The investigation began Thursday at about 11:30 a.m., when St. Johnsbury police and other emergency personnel went to Bay Street for a report of a woman in a vehicle whose hands were bound together with duct tape, according to police reports. The woman also had a bag with duct tape on it partially covering her head.
First responders freed the woman and she was taken to Northeastern Vermont Regional Hospital, where she was treated and released, according to police.
The woman told police the incident took place in Danville and Peacham. She said Varnum and Cloutier, who were in Varnum’s truck, picked her up on the side of the road near Varnum’s and the woman’s residence in Peacham. At that point, police said, she was forcibly restrained and bound, and her life was threatened.
At one point, according to police, she was left alone in the vehicle and was able to drive to St. Johnsbury, where police were notified.
The woman told police that she had gotten into an argument with Varnum earlier in the day at their residence about borrowing the truck and getting drugs, according to charging documents. The woman reported she had left her residence shortly before Varnum and Cloutier picked her up, initially telling her they would give her a ride to her mother’s house, according to court documents.
In the back seat of the Toyota pickup, the woman told police, Cloutier and Varnum bound her hands and feet together with duct tape, and Varnum said he was going to “gas” her and kill her.
“She stated that while going down the road, he pulled over and put a rag over her face that smelled like spray paint,” according to the charging documents. “She stated she pretended to pass out and that Varnum taped her even more and put a bag over her head.”
The woman said Varnum and Cloutier then struck her in the head, according to the filing.
Eventually, Varnum and Cloutier drove back to Varnum’s and the woman’s residence, where they went inside and left the woman bound in the vehicle, the documents stated. The woman was able to free herself enough to grab the keys in the vehicle and drive away, according to the filing.
The woman told police the truck ran out of gas in St. Johnsbury as she was on her way to her mother’s house. She then reported blacking out or falling asleep and the next thing she knew police were checking on her.
Cloutier and Varnum were arrested the next day. According to the charging documents, Cloutier said that the kidnapping was Varnum’s doing.
“Cloutier stated she was afraid of Varnum and didn’t want anything to do with what Varnum had done to the victim,” the filing stated.
Other than telling police his truck had been stolen, Varnum declined to provide a statement, according to the charging documents.
If convicted, both Varnum and Cloutier face life in prison.
