Wanted man found dead
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Reporters interview (left to right) New York State Police Captain Frank Pace, Vermont State Police Captain David Covell, (center) and Granville, N.Y. Police Chief Ernie Bassett at a press conference in Granville. JON OLENDER / RUTLAND HERALD |
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By Alan J. Keays Herald Staff - Published: September 16, 2006
A Granville, N.Y. man wanted by authorities for killing his wife apparently committed suicide in South Poultney, ending a two-day manhunt that involved more than a half dozen police agencies from Vermont and New York, police said.
Kelly Roberts, 38, told people before his disappearance he had no intention of being taken alive.
"He had said that he just could not go to jail, he could not survive jail," New York State Police Capt. Frank Pace said at a news conference Friday at the Granville police station.
Meanwhile, Granville Police Chief Ernie Bassett said police investigated numerous domestic disputes at the couple's house, most recently about a week ago. He said a nonviolent order of protection allowed the couple to be together but required that they "refrain from harassing, menacing, or threatening" one another.
Pace declined to discuss a possible motive for the killing, saying only that "there was a lot of angst" between the couple.
"We're never going to be able to interview the two individuals that were involved in this," Pace said.
Authorities say Roberts killed his wife, Dawn Roberts, 36, at the couple's home in Granville. Her body was found there at about 10 a.m. Thursday. Pace declined to say how Dawn Roberts was killed.
"With regards to this particular case, I'm sure that the death of Mrs. Roberts is going to be determined to be a homicide," Pace said. "We're confident the Mr. Roberts was responsible for her death." He appears to have acted alone, police said.
The discovery of Dawn Roberts' body set off a massive manhunt involving dozens of law enforcement officers on both side of the border. A nationwide bulletin was issued Thursday to police to stop and detain Kelly Roberts.
Vermont State Police Capt. David Covell said canine teams found Kelly Roberts' body at about 11 a.m. Friday, in a heavily wooded area about one-tenth of a mile from his 2005 Dodge Durango. The vehicle had been abandoned a day earlier on a dirt rural road in South Poultney.
The body was in New York, just across the Vermont border and about 5 miles from Granville Village. No suicide note was found.
Police and canine teams searched the same area Thursday evening, suspending their efforts at day's end.
Kelly Roberts' death is being investigated as a suicide because "everything at the scene right now is consistent" with that finding, Covell said.
"There were no accomplices," Pace said Friday. Although investigators are continuing to pursue a few outstanding issues, "for the most part I would say, unless something jumps out at us, it's for the most part closed."
He declined to say how Kelly Roberts died. Autopsies will determine the cause of both deaths.
The couple has three children, ages 12, 7, and seven months old. Authorities said Friday that Washington County Child Protection Services has custody of the children.
A Granville Police cruiser was parked in front of the couple's well-kept home on Mettowee Street Friday. A maroon Corvette was parked in the driveway.
"I think everybody is in shock over the whole situation," Bassett, the Granville police chief, said. "No one expected this to happen."
The village streets in Granville are lined with Victorian homes featuring large porches and slate roofs. On the outskirts of town are rolling hills with barns and large farmhouses. Granville, which has about 6,000 residents, bills itself as the Slate Capital of the World because of the slate that is excavated from its hills.
Shortly before the news conference Friday, a student in a school bus traveling in front of the police station stuck her head out a window and asked a question many in town had been wondering for more than a day.
"Have they found him yet?" the girl shouted to media members and police officers. An officer told her that they had.
At a convenience store near the police station, a clerk who did not want to be identified said he had heard from customers that Kelly Roberts had taken his own life.
"I'm not surprised," the clerk said of the news. "He said he didn't want to go alive."
Dawn Roberts had several Vermont ties.
She graduated from Burr & Burton Academy in Manchester and was a native of that town. Authorities said she moved to Granville about 10 years ago after marrying Kelly Roberts.
For the past six years, Dawn Roberts worked as assistant retail manager at the Mettowee Mill Nursery in Dorset.
"She was a wonderful person, vivacious," said Robin Chandler, the retail manager. "She was always the one here if somebody needed something, she would get it for them. If the guys were out plowing late at night, she would make sure that there were either goodies here or coffee for them when they came in."
Chandler added, "She just didn't deserve this."
Contact Alan J. Keays at alan.keays@rutlandherald.com.
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