A Montgomery man has denied shooting another man in a dispute over the maintenance of a private shared road where they both live.
Robert Morrell, 77, pleaded not guilty Friday in Franklin County Superior criminal court to a charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in the shooting of Kevin Temple, 54. Both men live on Highland Springs Road.
Temple was hospitalized after the shooting Thursday afternoon for serious but not life-threatening injuries, according to police.
Judge Martin Maley released Morrell on conditions sought by Franklin County State’s Attorney John Lavoie, including that Morrell must stay away from Temple and abide by a 24-hour curfew at his home except for medical needs. If he is driving on the road, he cannot stop, he cannot possess firearms and he cannot grade the road, the conditions state.
Lavoie told the judge that Temple and his family plan to move out of their home because they fear Morrell. They expect to pick up their belongings over the weekend while Morrell is under curfew, he said.
Maley asked why the Temple family is being forced to move out instead of Morrell finding another residence. Morrell’s attorney, Paul Groce, responded that his client had nowhere else to go.
According to an affidavit written by Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Angela Baker, the shooting stemmed from an ongoing dispute over the private road where the two men live.
On Thursday afternoon, Morrell shot Temple in the torso with a .22-caliber revolver, according to Baker’s document, which was filed in court. He remained at the scene and was taken into custody by responding police.
Mary Temple, Kevin Temple’s wife, told police that she was at a grocery store when her daughter messaged her telling her to “come home now,” Baker wrote.
When Mary Temple got to the house, according to the affidavit, her husband had been shot and was lying on the ground mumbling, “He shot me. Honey, he shot me. I can’t believe he shot me.”
Mary Temple told police her husband had past run-ins with Morrell over the road, but none were violent, according to the affidavit.
Police later interviewed Kevin Temple at the hospital, where he reported that Morrell had been grading the road, widening it onto the Temple’s property. Temple said he parked his truck and sat on the tailgate to stop Morrell from grading, Baker wrote, and Morrell came back with his tractor.
“Temple advised Bob pointed a gun at him and was not sure what happened next but, Bob shot Temple,” she wrote. “Temple advised he fell and asked Bob to call 911. Bob replied, ‘get fucked.’”
Temple told police the two men have argued about the road for some time.
Morrell told police that he and a neighbor had been “scraping” the road Thursday, alleging that Temple threw a rock at him when he passed Temple’s residence. Baker wrote in the affidavit that Morrell had no marks or bruises indicating he had been hit by a rock. Morrell, who had his gun with him, then said he shot Temple, according to the affidavit.
“Bob said he was not trying to kill Kevin,” Baker wrote. “He said, ‘I could have killed him. I could have shot him two in the eyes. That wasn’t my intention.”
Morrell, according to the document, claimed his actions were in self-defense.
“I asked Bob (his) thoughts on shooting Kevin and he said, ‘It don’t bother me a bit,’” Baker wrote.