Updated at 5:47 p.m.
Vermont State Police say they have identified the body of a man found Friday in Plainfield as a Barre resident and ruled his death a homicide.
An autopsy completed Sunday by the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed the man who was killed was 42-year-old Jeffrey Caron, Vermont State Police said in a press release Sunday.
Police said Caron died from a gunshot wound to his torso. The manner of his death was ruled a homicide.
Caron’s body was discovered by a hunter around 4:30 p.m. Friday in the woods along Gore Road, which runs along the southern edge of the L.R. Jones State Forest, where the Spruce Mountain hiking trail is located.
Police said their investigation to this point indicates Caron’s death was a “targeted, isolated incident” and that there is no danger to the public.
Two weeks before his body was found, Caron was charged with drug trafficking following a police raid at an apartment in Barre. But on Monday, State Police Maj. Dan Trudeau said at a press briefing that he couldn’t say if Caron’s killing was drug-related.
“I think it’s a little too soon to actually determine what the motive is right now,” he said.
Trudeau said investigators do not believe there is a connection between Caron’s homicide and six other suspicious deaths this month in Vermont.
Caron was arrested in the early morning of Oct. 13 along with Jonie Bresett, 51, of Barre, following a raid by Barre police of an apartment on North Main Street. Caron and Bresett were found with 22.77 grams of cocaine, as well as fentanyl and $3,500 in cash, according to a press release issued by Barre police following the raid.
Both Caron and Bresett were charged with fentanyl trafficking, sale of cocaine, dispensing out of a dwelling and possession of a regulated drug, according to police.
Caron had been cited to appear in court, though the date of the hearing was not immediately available Monday. Bresett was taken into custody and pleaded not guilty on Oct. 13 in Washington County Superior criminal court. Bresett was released on conditions.
Authorities had for several months been investigating drug dealing at the North Barre Manor apartment on North Main Street where Caron and Bresett had been arrested, according to an affidavit by Barre Police Cpl. Amos Gaylord filed in support of the charges against Bresett.
Residents of the complex, the affidavit stated, had complained about “an increased amount of traffic to Bresett’s apartment.” Police began to conduct directed patrols to keep an eye on it.
In September, following a traffic stop, police seized a handgun, as well as cocaine and nearly $5,000 in cash, from an unnamed 17-year-old juvenile, the affidavit stated.
The teen later told Gaylord, according to the affidavit, that he had been staying at the apartment where Bresett and Caron were staying. There, “he was taught how to sell crack cocaine and then made crack cocaine sales for a drug trafficking organization,” Gaylord wrote.
Police continued to investigate activities at the apartment and, upon reviewing the complex’s security camera footage, reported “constant” foot traffic to and from Bresett’s apartment, the affidavit stated.
In a single 24-hour period starting at midnight Oct. 12, according to the affidavit, Bresett’s apartment had about 131 door openings. Hours later, the filing stated, around 6 a.m. on Oct. 13, police raided the apartment with Bresett answering the door and Caron found in the bathroom.
Barre Police Chief Braedon Vail did not return a call Monday seeking comment.
