Vermont man guilty of luring, killing teacher

BURLINGTON, Vt. -- A part-time snowplow driver was convicted Wednesday of luring a prep-school teacher out of her northern Vermont home under the guise of a broken down car, then killing her.

The 32-year-old defendant, Allen Prue, cried when the jury announced its verdict, as did relatives of the victim, Melissa Jenkins.

"It took a lot of weight off of our shoulders. We were just hoping that was how it was going to turn out," said Jenkins' aunt Linda Gadapee, of East Haven. "All the evidence was there."

The jury rejected arguments by Allen Prue's defense that his wife, Patricia Prue, killed the 33-year-old Jenkins in a jealous rage. Prue's attorney did not speak outside of court.

Prosecutors said the Prues lured Jenkins from her St. Johnsbury home on March 25, 2012, as part of a long-planned crime. Patricia Prue's computer had been used to conduct online searches for "how to kidnap a girl," investigators said.

Allen Prue told police he and his wife went out to "get a girl" and "wanted somebody they could play with," Caledonia County State's Attorney Lisa Warren told jurors.

Jenkins, a single mother and a teacher at St. Johnsbury Academy, was reported missing after her vehicle was found idling on her rural road with her 2-year-old son inside.

Jenkins' nude body was found the next day in the Connecticut River. She had been strangled and beaten. A coroner found stun gun burns on her body, and authorities said they found a box for a stun gun in the couple's home, but not the weapon itself.

Allen Prue was convicted of first-degree murder, conspiracy and attempted kidnapping. He could be sentenced to life in prison. Judge Robert Bent did not set a date for the sentencing.

Prosecutors said during the two-week trial that Allen Prue gave a detailed confession to police that implicated both him and his wife. His lawyer had argued his client had a low IQ and was unaware of his wife's plan to kill Jenkins.

Patricia Prue, 34, is being tried separately on an aggravated murder charge and other counts. Her trial is scheduled for February. If convicted of aggravated murder, she would get an automatic life sentence.

"It's going to be the same evidence and then some," Warren said.

Police were led to the couple by a business card for Prue's plow business and because Jenkins had told a friend she was suspicious that the Prues called her about their broken down vehicle. Prue, who had plowed Jenkins' driveway, and his wife were arrested two days after she was killed.