Man accused of killing 3 family members had cellphone with searches about serial killers, Vermont police say
A New York man accused of killing his father, stepmother and 13-year-old stepbrother in Vermont earlier this month appeared in court in Lake George on Thursday and waived having an extradition hearing, according to the district attorney.
Brian Crossman Jr., 23, of Granville, New York, faces three counts of aggravated murder in the fatal shootings of Brian Crossman Sr., 46, Erica Pawlusiak Crossman, 41, and Colin Taft, 13, in their Pawlet, Vermont, home on Sept. 15, state police said. He will be moved to Vermont to face charges.
The investigation found significant evidence linking Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries and various interviews, Vermont State Police said. His public defender representing him in New York did not return a phone message seeking comment.
A search of his cell phone found multiple internet searches related to serial killers and unresolved murders, police said. Relatives told police that he had a troubled relationship with his father because of Crossman Jr.'s mental health and learning disability.
He was spending the weekend with his father and stepmother while his mother was out of town, according to a police affidavit. The couple had married in July and Erica Crossman told her husband's friend that didn't feel safe with Crossman Jr. at the home and she was afraid to be there alone with him, according to a police affidavit. Crossman Jr. called police shortly before 4 a.m. on Sept. 15 to report that he had found the three family members shot, and that the residence was covered in blood, police said.
He then agreed to meet with Vermont State Police Corporal Joseph Duca who said when they met, Crossman Jr.'s clothes were covered in blood, according to the affidavit.
Crossman Jr. said he his clothes had blood on them because he tried to drag his deceased father outside of the house and load him into a utility vehicle to take him to his grandmother's house across the road, police said.
Police said they found multiple guns and ammunition around the house as they were investigating the killings, including a semi-automatic handgun on an area rug in the mudroom, a 12-gauge shotgun on a table in the dining area, another shotgun on a couch, and an open firearm cabinet and firearm safe.
Crossman Jr. was admitted to a mental health unit of the Glens Falls Hospital on Sept. 15, according to police. New York State Police arrested him on Sept. 19, and he made an initial court appearance in Warren County Court on a charge of being a fugitive from justice on Friday. He is being held without bail.
State police previously said autopsies determined Brian Crossman Sr.'s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso, Erica Crossman died from a gunshot wound to the head, and Colin Taft's cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
Brian Crossman Sr. was a selectboard member in Pawlet. Mike Beecher, chairperson of the five-member board, said in a statement last week: "Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking community member who just this year stepped up to join the Pawlet Selectboard.
"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."
Neighbors told CBS affiliate WCAX-TV that the shooting left them shaken.
"It's very hard to comprehend. It just hasn't sunk in. We just visited the family three nights before the deaths," next-door neighbor Oliver Ihasz told the station.
Brian and Erica Crossman got married in June of this year, the Bennington Banner reported.