Family of elected official murdered by his adult son

Left inset: Brian Crossman Jr. (Warren County Jail, New York). Right inset: Erica Crossman and Brian Crossman Sr. (Facebook). Background: The Crossman family home in Pawlet, Vermont (WRGB).

Police say they have solved a mysterious triple homicide that occurred Sunday morning in the small town of Pawlet, Vermont. Brian Crossman Jr., 23, was found to be the suspected shooter who killed his father Brian Crossman Sr., 46, his stepmother, Erica Crossman, 41, and his half-brother, Colin Taft, 13.

“Evidence indicates the murders occurred early Sunday morning, September 15, inside the family home on Vermont Route 133 that Crossman Sr. shared with his wife and stepson,” state police wrote in an update Friday.

The defendant, a New York resident, made his initial appearance Friday in Warren County Court and faces extradition to Vermont, where he is charged with three counts of aggravated murder.

Police previously said someone they did not identify drove him to the crime scene while he was covered in blood. They now say it was Crossman Jr.

More Law&Crime coverage: 10-year-old boy kills former mayor and his adult daughter following argument over video game credit card charges, police say

He lived with his mother in nearby Granville, New York, but was staying with his father in Pawlet for the weekend, according to an affidavit obtained by VTDigger. Cops said that shortly before 4 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15, Crossman Jr. contacted police and said he had gone out for a walk a few hours earlier, only to return to the scene of a triple homicide. Crossman Sr. and his new wife Erica Crossman, née Pawlusiak, were married in July. Colin was Erica’s son and Brian Sr.’s stepson.

Crossman Jr., whose clothes were stained with blood, was driving his father’s truck when he encountered police Sunday in the Wells Village School parking lot, cops reportedly wrote.

Police said they determined that at least two shotguns were used in the killings and that they were stored in a “gun room” at the father’s home.

According to police, relatives, including the defendant’s grandmother, said Crossman Jr. had a long history of mental health issues. The grandmother attributed those problems to Crossman Jr.’s “difficult relationship” with Crossman Sr., police said. She also said her grandson was “proficient with firearms.”

His father was elected to Pawlet’s board of directors this year.

A neighbor told the Bennington Banner that Crossman Sr. recently took over the family farm.

“He was cleaning and working on the farm,” the neighbor said. “I think he was just trying to get a fresh start and run the family farm. And yeah, that’s just the last thing I expected.”

Late Tuesday night, Vermont State Police identified Brian Crossman Sr., 46, his wife Erica (Pawlusiak) Crossman, 41, and son Colin Taft, 13, as the victims of Sunday’s homicide.

THE STORY HERE: https://t.co/ApsmJGE9VQ pic.twitter.com/maKpzgit0P

— CBS 6 Albany – WRGB (@CBS6Albany) September 18, 2024

The flowers now rest on the seat where Pawlet Select Board member Brian Crossman used to sit during town meetings.
He and his family were found dead in a home on Route 133 in Vermont Sunday morning. @CBS6Albany pic.twitter.com/xgGbSSZujh

– Briana Supardi (@CBS6Briana) September 17, 2024

Mike Beecher, chairman of the Pawlet board of trustees, remembered the slain man in comments to New England Cable News, a local NBC-owned cable news station based in Needham, Massachusetts.

“Brian Crossman was a friend and neighbor, a hardworking member of the community who just joined the Pawlet Selection Committee this year,” he said. “This tragedy that has befallen him and his family has also hit our community hard, and we are shocked and grieving. Our thoughts are with everyone affected by this devastating loss.”

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