BENNINGTON — A Bennington man accused of shooting and killing another man last month has been charged with second-degree murder, and his girlfriend with being an accessory to the crime.
Authorities allege that Elliot Russell, 46, killed Ulysses Ivey, 39, at a Green Mountain Power substation in Bennington on the night of Oct. 26. He was arrested in the neighboring New York village of Hoosick Falls the following day but has yet to appear in Vermont state court to answer to the charge.
Bennington police allege Russell shot Ivey, then fled, according to a police statement of probable cause in support of the murder charge. Before Ivey died at the substation, investigators said, he made a 911 call in which he said he’d been shot in the head and named “Elliot Russell” as the shooter.
The motivation for the shooting is unclear.
Police said a surveillance camera at the power plant recorded the incident — showing Ivey’s car pulling in, followed by a Honda SUV, before two shots were fired by an occupant of the SUV.
Investigators said the Honda SUV matched the description of a vehicle that Russell was driving Oct. 4, when police conducted a traffic stop. The SUV is registered to the mother of Russell’s girlfriend, Erin Wilson, and Wilson was in the vehicle with him during the traffic stop, according to the affidavit.
Hours after the shooting, in a conversation with police, Wilson apparently told them she and Russell had been in Hoosick Falls when Ivey was shot. But the affidavit indicates Wilson’s mother told investigators Wilson had admitted to a family member that she’d seen Russell fatally shoot another man that night.
Wilson, 29, has been charged with being an accessory after the fact. She pleaded not guilty Oct. 31 in Bennington Superior criminal court and has not been taken into custody, provided she abides by court conditions.
Her charge carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison. Second-degree murder is punishable by up to life in prison.
— Tiffany Tan