WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — A man who has been named in federal court documents as a suspect in the 2018 murder of Royalton teen was arrested on Wednesday on charges of fentanyl possession and false reports to law enforcement authorities.
At 9:19 p.m. Wednesday, Hartford Police responded to a call about a man who appeared to be using drugs at Riverwalk Apartments at 34 Prospect St. in White River Junction.
Arriving officers observed Richard Whitcomb, 46, of Hartford, and an unidentified woman “standing between cars in the parking garage under the building,” Hartford Police said in a Thursday news release.
Police allege Whitcomb tucked a glass pipe into his satchel when he saw the police car pull up.
After police seized the satchel from Whitcomb, he identified himself as “Cory Grant” and attempted to shield his face, keeping his head down and his hood up.
“The behavior of hiding his face drew suspicion,” Hartford Lt. William Furnari said Thursday. “But the first officer on scene told me he almost immediately recognized Whitcomb.”
Authorities have previously said that Whitcomb was believed to be the last person to see Austin Colson, 19, of South Royalton, alive before he vanished on Jan. 11, 2018, the Valley News has reported.
Colson’s remains were found four months later in a barn on a Norwich property for which Whitcomb had served as a caretaker, police said. In June 2018, the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office of Vermont determined Colson’s death a homicide by gun.
Whitcomb pleaded guilty in September 2019 to a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm and Chief Federal Judge Geoffrey Crawford sentenced him to 37 months in prison in January 2020. Crawford also imposed three years of supervised release by the U.S. Probation Office and credit for the time served.
The investigation into Colson’s murder “remains open and active,” Vermont State Police spokesperson Adam Silverman said in an email to the Valley News on Friday. “I don’t have any further updates to share at this time.”
Reached Friday, Windsor County State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough declined to comment on the investigation.
When police encountered Whitcomb on Wednesday, they asked him to remove his hood and a hat he was wearing underneath. He removed the hood, police said, but continued to shield his face.
When he removed his hat, police said, he was found to be wearing a black wig.
Officers detained Whitcomb and checked for arrest warrants, determining that he had three Vermont arrest warrants for fentanyl trafficking, two warrants of false reports to law enforcement authorities and possession of stimulants, narcotics or depressants.
Whitcomb, the release said, also had an active arrest warrant from New Hampshire for violation of probation.
While searching Whitcomb after his arrest, police said they found “a small plastic baggie containing a white powder, later determined to be fentanyl.” Inside the satchel, Furnari said, police also found drug paraphernalia.
The unidentified woman Whitcomb was with was not arrested.
“There was no probable cause for a charge against her for anything,” Furnari said. “She was just standing there.”
Vermont Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann ordered Whitcomb to be held on $150,000 bail, in addition to the combined bail for his Vermont arrest warrants of $1,300. He was transported to Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield.