Woman convicted of Vermont double-murder even with drunken confession tossed
10/31/2017 5:04 pm PDT
UPDATE March 29, 2019:
The Brattleboro Reformer reports the Vermont Supreme Court denied the appeal of a woman who was convicted of killing a father and son in Townshend on Nov. 18, 2014.
Robin O'Neill was convicted by a jury of aggravated murder on June 28, 2017, for the deaths of Steven Lott and his son, Jamis. She was sentenced to life without parole.
MORE: O'Neill murder conviction appeal denied - Brattleboro Reformer
Oct. 31, 2017:
An ugly crime in the beautiful city of Brattleboro, Vermont.
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. But did this woman really kill her fiancé for calling off their wedding on Nov. 18, 2014?
A crazy intoxicated interrogation room scene unfolds.
Officer: "If you need anything just give me a holler, I'm on the other side of the wall, OK?"
Robin O'Neill: "Well how about another bottle of red wine and a pack of cigarettes."
More liquor was the last thing this lovesick woman needed. Just hours earlier, her fiancé and his son were shot dead.
"I don't remember a [---] thing except standing over bodies with lots and lots of blood," said Robin O'Neill.
Police learned about the killings when a man calls 911.
Caller: "I just had a phone call from a co-worker who tells me that she just shot and killed her boyfriend and his son."
Townshend, Vermont Police find Steven Lott with 12 gunshot wounds. His 28-year-old son Jamis was shot three times. Also at the house was Robin O'Neill.
O'Neill: "Are both my fiancé Steve and his little son Jamis both dead?"
Detective: "I don't know right now, OK?"
O'Neill: "Well I don't see how they couldn't be."
Investigators hauled Robin in for a questioning session like no other.
O'Neill: "Where exactly am I?"
Cops realize immediately she's highly intoxicated. At times confused, at other times seemingly quite aware of the trouble she's in.
O'Neill claimed she didn't remember a thing. But whatever did happen, she knew she wanted to take it back.
Officer: "Is there anything else I can get you?"
O'Neill: "Yesterday, thank you. Yesterday would be very good."
If O'Neill wasn't going back in time, then there was something else she wanted.
O'Neill: "Actually, if you could get me a loaded 9-millimeter or something."
And if she had indeed killed her fiancé, Robin wanted detectives to know why.
O'Neill: "It was this morning on our way to work that he said we were disengaged, not getting married."
It was an admission, she quickly regretted.
O'Neill: "I'm thinking this is something where I need a public defender or something because I've just given you motive."
Less than a year earlier, O'Neill had moved from Texas to Vermont to be with Steven Lott. Now he was calling off their engagement. It seemed the more she thought about her situation, the more angry she became.
O'Neill: "I hope you're dead. Because if anything, anyone who deserves to be dead on this, it's you, you [----]!"
Cursing one minute, praying the next.
Then O'Neill told detectives how they could better understand her story.
O'Neill: "My so-called diary and my computer could shed a whole lot of light on this."
O'Neill's personal diary did shed light on the case at her trial three years later. Prosecutors used it to document the demise of her relationship. But it turns out, Robin O'Neill sobered up big time.
O'Neill: "Of course I need a public defender."
Officer: "I'm not sure what you need right now, so."
O'Neill: "Yes, I need a public defender."
And none of her statements made to police that night could be used in court. A judge ruled detectives ignored O'Neill's requests for an attorney and questioned her anyway. The only confession jurors heard about was the one she made to her friend the night of the murders.
"She said 'Steve's by my feet in a pool of blood, and Jamis is under the table in his own pool of blood,'" Stanley Bills, O'Neill's co-worker, testified.
An expert for the defense testified that O'Neill was "creating false memories" when she confessed and was testing the assertion to see if it fit. The defense reminded jurors that O'Neill was drunk at the time and didn't remember killing anyone.
They also claimed there was "virtually" no forensic or physical evidence against her.
"DNA is a powerful new scientific tool for criminal investigations. What do you think that law enforcement tested for DNA in this particular case?" said defense attorney Ian Carleton.
Carleton said there wasn't enough evidence collected to connect anyone to the murders.
"They didn't test drinking glasses, there was drinking glasses all over the kitchen, there were beer cans, there were wine glasses. They didn't test cigarette butts, they didn't test door knobs, faucets, drains," said Carleton in court.
Her defense team also argued that if O'Neill had been the killer, she would've been covered in blood. But there was none on her clothes.
"They tested the three guns that were found in the kitchen. They tested the bullets that were found in the kitchen, and that's it," said Carleton.
Prosecutors told jurors while they may have doubts about parts of the case, there are no "reasonable doubts."
In the end, the jury agreed. Even without seeing her initial interrogation.
Robin O'Neill was found guilty of aggravated murder, carrying an automatic sentence of life without parole. Under Vermont state law, she's entitled to an automatic appeal.
UPDATE March 29, 2019:
The Brattleboro Reformer reports the Vermont Supreme Court denied the appeal of a woman who was convicted of killing a father and son in Townshend on Nov. 18, 2014.
Robin O'Neill was convicted by a jury of aggravated murder on June 28, 2017, for the deaths of Steven Lott and his son, Jamis. She was sentenced to life without parole.
MORE: O'Neill murder conviction appeal denied - Brattleboro Reformer