Concord (ap)
Don Leeman, of Rochester, N.H., is facing felony witness tampering and bribery charges. The Attorney General’s Office said Leeman was representing and voted in a district in which he was no longer domiciled at the time of the February primary.
The office said Leeman was living in a Rochester Housing Authority building outside of his district at the time. He allegedly asked a housing authority employee to provide a letter falsely saying his move was temporary and offered a donation in exchange for a transfer to a building within his district.
The office said Leeman voluntarily surrendered to Rochester police and is out on $50,000 personal recognizance bail.
A message left for Leeman wasn’t returned on Tuesday.
Burlington (vpr)
Police say 38-year-old Amos Beede, of Milton, Vt., was pronounced dead at the University of Vermont Medical Center on Sunday.
Beede was found on the morning of May 23 near a homeless encampment. According to police, “he had sustained facial fractures, a subdermal hematoma, and several broken ribs.”
Because of Beede’s transgender status, police say they are still investigating the beating as a possible “bias incident,” though Chief Brandon del Pozo said in an email to media there may have been another motive.
“The deceased was a transgender person who identified as male. The investigation suggests motives on the part of perpetrators independent of this fact,” del Pozo said. “The department has not ruled out the victim’s transgender status as a possible additional motive, and will seek to determine what role if any it may have played as the investigation continues. Until the attendant facts are clarified, we will continue to view this homicide as a possible bias incident.”
Burlington police say they are looking for Erick Averill, 21, and Myia Barber, 23, though police did not say whether they are suspects.
Anyone with information about the assault or the whereabouts of Averill or Barber are asked to call city police or Champlain Valley Crime Stoppers at 802-864-6666.