Police: Man rapes and murders elderly neighbor in Enosburg

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• Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven days
• Darren Martell Jr.

An 82-year-old woman found dead in Enosburg this week was sexually assaulted, murdered and then partially burned in the woods by a 23-year-old neighbor, Vermont State Police said Friday.

Suspected killer Darren Martell Jr. pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges in a St. Albans courtroom on Friday – the most serious charge under state law, which carries a minimum sentence of life in prison without parole.

Roberta Martin disappeared from her home on Butternut Hollow Road, where she lived alone, sometime between 11:30 p.m. on July 16 and noon the following day when two neighbors reported her missing.

The neighbors, close friends of Martin, had gone to check on her at the request of Martin’s daughter, police said. At Martin’s home, they found her air conditioner had been removed from a window and was on the porch. The sliding glass door was open and Martin was gone, state police investigators reported in an affidavit filed in court Friday.

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• Vermont State Police ©️ Seven days
• Robert Martin

A police officer arriving at the scene noticed balls of tape in Martin’s bedroom and next to the tracks of a wheelbarrow leading from Martin’s house to the neighbor’s yard. Police later discovered more tape in a fireplace there.

While search crews were looking for Martin, investigators came across Martell Jr., who had recently started living in a mobile home in the neighbors’ backyard. The Department of Children and Families told investigators that Martell Jr. had a history of “violent behavior” toward his girlfriend. The woman also reported that Martell Jr. had stolen a relative’s underwear and “implied that he was using it for sexual gratification.”

A sister of Martell’s girlfriend later told investigators that Martell Jr. and his girlfriend asked their grandmother to tell police that Martell Jr. was at their house the night of Martell’s disappearance.

On July 18, police executed a search warrant on the RV and seized Martell Jr.’s property. Days later, they learned that Martell Jr. was using a wooded area near Sand Hill Road to grow marijuana. At the location, less than a mile from Martin’s residence, police found a gas can and Martin’s remains scattered and “appeared to be burned.”

A day after Martin’s remains were discovered, detectives with the Vermont State Police found Martell Jr. on a public path in St. Albans. He was masturbating, police say. Martell Jr. ran into the woods and forced a local school into lockdown before police arrested him. He has been incarcerated at the Northwest State Correctional Facility since Monday on charges of lewd and lascivious conduct.

After that arrest, Martell Jr. told police he had never spoken to Martin or entered her property. However, vaginal swabs taken from Martin’s body found male semen with DNA that “tentatively” matched that of Martell Jr.

Numerous members of Martin’s family attended Martell Jr.’s arraignment in St. Albans on Friday afternoon but declined to speak to the press. A public defender representing Martell Jr. questioned whether the evidence presented by state police was sufficient to support the murder charge, citing the lack of a cause of death determination or other evidence linking Martell Jr. to the crime scenes.

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• Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven days
• Roberta Martin’s family at the arraignment of Martell Jr.

Chief Judge Robert Katims denied the motion, saying Martin was “clearly” murdered “based on the manner in which the body was found” and DNA evidence pointing to sexual contact. He ordered Martell Jr. to remain in custody without bail at least until another hearing at which the state can present more evidence, including autopsy results.

The state police and the prosecutor’s office are closely controlling information about the case and do not want to say much beyond the affidavit in court.

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• Derek Brouwer ©️ Seven days
• Bram Kranichfeld, Franklin County District Attorney

After the hearing, Franklin County Attorney Bram Kranichfeld said the murder was a “terrible tragedy for our community.”

“My office, the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office, is committed to holding the perpetrator of this crime accountable and bringing him to justice,” Kranichfeld said.