White River Junction
Adam Kniffin, of Manchester, was sentenced to serve two years in prison after entering his pleas during a hearing on Thursday in Windsor Superior Court in White River Junction.
“A lot of thought was put into this agreement,” his attorney, Jordana Levine, said. “It strikes a balance with him accepting responsibility and being punished for the conduct he engaged in, but it will allow him to avail himself of any programs he could participate in in Vermont.”
The sentence structure states that Kniffin is a candidate for work camp, which likely would be served at a facility in St. Johnsbury, Vt., if he is found to be eligible and if there is space available.
Deputy Windsor County State’s Attorney Karen Oelschlaeger said the woman who found the note, Woodstock resident Gail Dougherty, didn’t see a benefit to lengthy incarceration and would rather see him “get help and to get better.”
Exactly what she meant by that wasn’t explained in court.
Kniffin ended up taking a plea agreement in the case, so in exchange for his guilty pleas to grand and petty larceny, the state dropped the assault and robbery, larceny from a person and second petty larceny charges he faced.
The robbery took place on Jan. 4, 2016, when Kniffin entered the People’s United Bank on the green in Woodstock, handed the teller a note demanding cash and fled with about $3,000.
He wasn’t charged until a year later because the investigation proved lengthy, Woodstock Police Chief Robbie Blish said in a prior news release.
Less than two hours after the bank robbery, Dougherty found what would become a key piece of evidence in the case: a note bearing a striking similarity to the note Kniffin used to demand the cash.
Dougherty was in her kitchen that afternoon when she pulled out a sliding trash basket and saw a paper coffee cup that should have been in the recycling bin. She took out the cup and removed its lid to make sure there was no liquid inside. Instead she found a crumpled piece of paper that read: “This is a robbery give me the money quietly and no one will get hurt.”
She immediately reported the note to police.
Inside her home, Dougherty also found the disguise Kniffin used in the robbery, which was tied to him using a DNA analysis, according to an affidavit filed in the case. Kniffin was the boyfriend of Dougherty’s longtime cleaning lady, Tunbridge resident Heather Wheeler, the affidavit says.
The day after the robbery, police investigated a theft from the Dougherty residence, which included cash taken from two envelopes that were left as Christmas presents for delivery drivers. Kniffin’s guilty plea to the petty larceny charge was tied to that theft.
He received an 11-month sentence on that charge, which will be served at the same time as his two-year sentence on the felony grand larceny count.
The court left open the topic of restitution while the state obtains the precise amount of money Kniffin stole from the bank.
Reached by telephone on Thursday afternoon, Dougherty said she won’t seek restitution.
Kniffin declined to speak in court when asked by Judge Theresa DiMauro, whose last day on the bench was on Thursday.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.