Police said Brian Crossman, Erica Crossman and 13-year-old Colin Taft died as a result of gunshot wounds. As of Tuesday night, Sept. 17, nobody was in custody.
By Ethan Weinstein/VTDigger
Days after the bodies of three people were found dead in a Pawlet home, Vermont State Police identified the victims late Tuesday. They did not, however, name a suspect.
Police said in a press release that the deceased were Brian Crossman Sr., 46, a member of the town Select Board; Erica (Pawlusiak) Crossman, 41, who was married to Brian; and Colin Taft, 13, a son of Erica and stepson of Brian.
According to the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, all three died as a result of gunshot wounds and were ruled homicides.
“The medical examiner determined that Brian Crossman’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso, Erica Crossman’s was a gunshot wound to the head, and Colin Taft’s was multiple gunshot wounds. All three deaths were ruled homicides,” an updated police report Tuesday night stated.
As of Tuesday night, nobody was in custody and that an investigation into the deaths remained “active and ongoing.” They appealed to members of the public to contact the agency with any information relevant to the case.
On Tuesday morning, Crossman’s colleagues on the Pawlet Select Board issued a statement mourning his death. “Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard,” they wrote.
“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving. Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss,” read the statement, which was signed by the board’s chair, Mike Beecher. “The town of Pawlet will work to get through this as we always get through hard times, by supporting each other and doing our best to carry on.”
State police on Sunday first announced three “suspicious deaths” in Pawlet, with the victims found at a home on Route 133. At the time, police called the incident “isolated” and said there was “no identified threat to the community.”
On Sunday, Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the state police criminal division, told WCAX that police received a report of a “person that had some blood on them” on a “roadway.” That person was later detained, he said.
Ian Sullivan, Rutland County State’s Attorney, said Monday afternoon that his department was “working closely” with law enforcement.
Teacher remembers Crossman as ‘humble,’ ‘kind’
Decades ago, JeanMarie Oakman served as Brian Crossman’s teacher and principal during her tenure at Wells Village School.
She said Crossman was a “humble, sweet, gentle boy,” the kind of kid who made others feel at home at the small, rural school.
“He looked after all of his cousins and relatives. He was so kind to his sister,” Oakman said, noting that Crossman was part of a large “salt of the Earth” family.
After falling out of touch, she said, she caught up with Crossman at a wedding in recent years, and she “beamed with pride” to see how well he was doing.
“Imagine, he wanted to sit with his old teaching principal,” she recalled. “I remember leaving that wedding thinking, ‘what a remarkable human being’.”
Now, she was questioning how such a tragedy could befall Crossman and his family.
“Why them? I can’t fathom. It’s been very upsetting,” she said.
