Police catch accused killer, girlfriend in camper

Murder suspect Gregory A. Smith and his girlfriend were asleep in a camper in South Londonderry when police surprised them around 10 a.m. Thursday morning, ending a five-day manhunt.
http://www.rutlandherald.com/article/20150424/NEWS02/704249865

Police catch accused killer, girlfriend in camper By Susan Smallheer Staff Writer | April 24,2015 Gregory A. Smith SPRINGFIELD — Murder suspect Gregory A. Smith and his girlfriend were asleep in a camper in South Londonderry when police surprised them around 10 a.m. Thursday morning, ending a five-day manhunt. Smith, 30, of Springfield, who has been eluding police since he allegedly shot and killed Wesley J. Wing, 37, of Springfield, on Saturday, was arrested without incident by a Vermont State Police tactical support unit near the Winhall Brook Campground in South Londonderry. Police arrested his girlfriend, Wendy Morris, 25, of Springfield, as well. Springfield Police Chief Douglas Johnston and Vermont State Police Capt. J.P. Sinclair said at a news conference Thursday it was clear that Smith’s friends had been helping him during the past six days. These people may face criminal charges pending further investigation, the investigators said. Windsor County State’s Attorney Michael Kainen said later Thursday that Smith and Morris were arrested on property owned by Morris’ brother, Darrell Barror of Springfield. Asked if other family members had been helping Smith and Morris, the police chief said, “That’s still to be determined.” Smith, who was born in Springfield, grew up in Rockingham and Grafton. Sinclair said police had spent the past few days checking locations throughout southern Vermont where Smith might have been hiding. Police were “checking off” the South Londonderry location when they found Smith and Morris, the investigator said. Sinclair said four members of the tactical unit went to the camper trailer in South Londonderry and found the pair asleep around 10 a.m. There were no guns in the trailer, Sinclair said. Morris and Smith lived together in Springfield, in a house on Lark Lane in a small housing development nicknamed Birdland, across the street from Springfield High School. Police said Wing confronted Morris outside his home Saturday afternoon, accusing her of using heroin and bringing drug traffic into the neighborhood. Morris then drove home and complained to Smith, according to Wing’s wife, Sheila, who witnessed the confrontation. Morris and Smith then confronted Wing as he walked to Jake’s South Street Market, about a quarter-mile away, police said. Wing was shot four times in the right chest and abdomen; he died about eight hours later at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, police said. “We had a citizen who confronted a person he felt was dealing drugs,” Johnston said. The chief said police had received earlier complaints about drug dealing from the Morris-Smith home, but he didn’t know how those complaints were resolved. Kainen said the camper raided by police is on 3 acres owned by Barror near the Winhall Brook Campground, which is owned by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is part of the Ball Mountain Flood Control project. Sinclair said Morris would be charged with being an accessory after the fact, but he said the final decision on additional charges rested with the prosecutor. Kainen said at this point it wasn’t clear how much Barror knew about the pair hiding in his camper. Kainen said Smith, who has a lengthy criminal record including multiple charges of car theft, would likely face second-degree murder charges Friday in White River Junction criminal court. However, he said, pending the police investigation, those charges could be upgraded to first-degree murder. Police have already arrested another woman, who they have identified as another one of Smith’s girlfriends, and charged her in connection with hiding Smith. Kristin Walsh, 29, of Keene, N.H., who said Smith was her former fiancé, was arrested in Keene on Tuesday and charged with two felonies: hindering a police investigation and intimidating witnesses. She is being held for lack of $20,000 bail. Keene police said Smith fled there after the shooting Saturday night and stayed at Walsh’s apartment until late Sunday or early Monday. When police went to Walsh’s apartment Monday morning, he was gone. Johnston said police are still investigating where Smith had been during the past four days, and he said he didn’t know how long Smith and Morris had been at the South Londonderry camper. Johnston and Sinclair said, as far as they knew, the stolen Buick Rendezvous, which Smith allegedly stole from a friend of his Keene girlfriend, had not yet been recovered. However, police radio reports Thursday afternoon indicated a vehicle matching the Buick’s description had been found at a condo project at Magic Mountain Ski Area in Londonderry. The two police officers said they had the cooperation of local police from Chester and Weathersfield and national law enforcement agencies including the U.S. attorney’s office, the FBI and the U.S. marshal’s office in their efforts to track Smith. And they praised that cooperation and teamwork, saying it played a pivotal role in Smith’s arrest.