A Whitingham man charged with two counts of murder in the fatal shootings last week of a woman and her son has pleaded not guilty to the offenses.
Christopher Ellis, 54, entered his not guilty pleas during his arraignment Wednesday in Windham County Superior criminal court in Brattleboro. Judge John Treadwell granted a request from prosecutors to hold Ellis without bail while the case is pending.
Joshua Atkisson, a public defender representing Ellis, did not object to that request, though he reserved the right to challenge it in the future.
Ellis faces two first-degree murder charges in the deaths of Lucy Garvin, 79, and her son, Michael Garvin, 52, last week in a home they all lived in on Route 8A in Whitingham.
Ellis, who spoke to investigators after he was taken into custody Friday night, told them he had been thinking about killing Michael Garvin for weeks, and that he also killed Lucy Garvin because she was home at the time he decided to act, according to charging documents.
Ellis also allegedly told police that he had been “thinking how he is getting older and doesn’t have a retirement plan” and that “he would rather be in jail than an ‘old folks home.’”
If Ellis is convicted, each charge of first-degree murder carries a maximum penalty of up to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
