NEWS

Herring couldn't own a gun. Police say she had one.

Zach Despart
Free Press Staff Writer
Jody Herring is lead into the Barre District Court and State Office Building in Barre on Monday, August 10, 2015. Herring is accused of killing a social worker in Barre.

Jody Herring's criminal convictions prohibited her from possessing a firearm. So where did she get the gun police say she used to kill a social worker?

Absent from a lengthy affidavit prosecutors filed before Herring's arraignment Monday on a murder charge were details about how the authorities believe Herring obtained the .270-caliber Remington rifle used in the killing.

According to court papers, Herring was disqualified from possessing a gun or ammunition under the Brady Handgun Violence Prevention Act, a 1993 federal gun-control law.

According to the Vermont Crime Information Center, people are disqualified from owning, possessing or purchasing a gun if they have a felony conviction, a domestic assault conviction or a domestic assault charge that includes an element of violence, such as simple assault.

Herring was arrested on a misdemeanor count of domestic assault in 2005. She later resolved the case to a disorderly conduct conviction and received a suspended 60-day jail sentence and probation, court records show.

Defense lawyer David Sleigh, who represents Jody Herring, declined to discuss how she might have acquired the rifle.

"That's the state's bailiwick," Sleigh said.

Assistant Attorney General John Treadwell said police are investigating how Herring procured the gun. He declined to comment further.

Should police determine someone purchased the gun on Herring's behalf, Treadwell said that person could have committed a crime.

"If a person is prohibited from possessing a firearm, it may be unlawful to knowingly provide them with a firearm," he said.

A Remington Model 700 rifle rests near the body of a DCF worker shot and killed outside Barre City Place Friday night.

Prosecutors also have yet to detail how Herring came into possession of dozens of rounds of ammunition. Police recovered .270-caliber ammunition from Herring's car and her South Barre home. Police also found a June 2 receipt for $20.08 worth of ammunition purchased from Wal-Mart in Berlin, according to court papers.

State law-enforcement authorities say that Herring, in addition to fatally shooting Department for Children and Families social worker Lara Sobel, might be responsible for the killings of three relatives, whose bodies were discovered Saturday morning in a Berlin farmhouse.

Prosecutors are expected to bring charges related to those killings. An affidavit of probable cause supporting those charges could include details about how the state believes Herring obtained the rifle. Treadwell declined to say when the Attorney General's Office intends to file new charges.

Herring has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and is jailed without bail.

Court records show Herring has convictions for a number of misdemeanors including drunken driving, narcotics possession, credit card fraud and petty larceny.

Herring most recently was arrested in June on suspicion of DUI while driving north on Interstate 91 in Rockingham.

EARLIER COVERAGE

This story was first posted Aug. 12, 2015. Contact Zach Despart at 651-4826 or zdespart@burlingtonfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ZachDespart.