Authorities in New York have arrested the 23-year-old son of a Vermont politician in connection with the fatal shootings of the man, his wife and his stepson.
Brian Crossman Sr., 46, his wife Erica (Pawlusiak) Crossman, 41, and Erica’s son and Brian’s stepson, Colin Taft, 13, were found dead in their Pawlet, Vt., home early morning on Sunday, Sep. 15, the Vermont State Police said in a statement earlier this week.
On Friday, Sept. 20, the New York State Police arrested Brian Sr.’s son Brian Crossman Jr., after VSP obtained an arrest warrant for three counts of aggravated murder against him, the department said in an updated statement.
The investigation began Sunday when VSP received a call about a “suspicious person” before locating the three family members at their home, authorities said in their initial news release.
Later in the day, state troopers confirmed the deaths were “considered suspicious,” and positively identified the victims following autopsies from the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office.
All three victims died of gunshot wounds. The medical examiner ruled their deaths homicide, according to the VSP.
Brian’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso, Erica’s was a gunshot wound to the head and Taft died of multiple gunshot wounds, according to police.
Brian and Erica wed this past June, according to the Bennington Banner. A neighbor told the outlet that it was “hard to even make sense of what happened,” describing Brian as “good” and “hardworking.” Neighbor Oliver Ihasz told CBS affiliate WCAX that it was “very hard to comprehend.”
“It just hasn’t sunk in,” Ihasz said. “We just visited the family three nights before the deaths.”
Erica Crossman and Brian Crossman.
Brian Crossman/Facebook
Per the town of Pawlet’s website, Crossman was serving a one-year term as the Liaison to Buildings and Development and Liaison to Town Highway Department. At the Pawlet Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, members and attendees observed a moment of silence in his honor, according to a video shared by CBS 6 Albany.
“Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard,” chairperson Mike Beecher said in a statement, according to WCAX, NECN and the Associated Press.
“This tragedy that struck him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shaken and grieving,” he said, according to the video shared by WCAX and CBS 6 Albany. “Our hearts go out to everyone affected by this devastating loss.”
VSP says they connected Brian Jr. to the killings using “significant evidence” such as “digital information, statements, injuries, and various interviews,” per the statement. He is currently being held in custody in Glens Falls, N.Y., and was scheduled to appear in court on Friday afternoon Glen Falls, N.Y. His arraignment has not yet been scheduled, per VSP.
