NORWICH – Former Vermont House member Noel Neely died two days before police found her body, according to details from search warrant applications.
The investigation, Vermont State Police wrote in an affidavit establishing probable cause to search her residence and a vehicle on the property, concerned “the suspected homicide of Noel Neely.”
First responders discovered the body of Neely, 82, on the morning of May 9 in a bedroom of her Douglas Hill Road residence in Norwich, Vermont State Police Detective Sergeant Zachary Van Valkenburgh stated in the affidavit.
Neely was lying on a neatly made bed with a white bag around her head and a plastic tube attached to a gas cylinder feeding into the bag, according to the affidavit.
The Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office noted that Neely’s cause of death was asphyxia due to nitrogen gas exposure, but her manner of death “could not be determined” and she died at an “unknown time,” according to her July death certificate.
However, the family physician, Dr. Adam Schwarz, informed police on May 9 that Neely’s husband, Donald Neely, texted him that his wife died two days prior, according to the affidavit.
On May 9, at around 10 a.m., Vermont State Police had been requested by the Hanover Rescue Squad for assistance at the Neely residence, “where a female was reported deceased, and had been deceased for a few days,” the affidavit stated.
Vermont State Police responded as the primary agency due to staffing issues with the Norwich Police Department, the affidavit explained.
Upon arrival, police knocked on the door and announced their presence, receiving no response.
VSP Sergeant Max Trenosky then located a ladder and used it to climb to a second-story balcony, where he observed a bedroom. Inside, he could see the body of Neely on the “neatly made bed” with a “white bag” around her head, according to the affidavit.
Entering the bedroom, “he observed that the bag was tight around the head and that a plastic tube fed into the bag,” the affidavit described. “At the other end, that plastic tubing was attached to a gas cylinder via a regulator. This tank resembles a tank that holds pressurized gas.”
The affidavit stated that Trenosky also found “a pink/red towel blocking the threshold/seam, placed along the seam from the outside hallway into the bedroom.”
While police were awaiting additional resources, Donald Neely drove up to the house in a blue Tesla, the affidavit said. Troopers did not allow him inside.
Law enforcement noticed white bags inside the Tesla he was driving “that resembled the bag on the deceased’s body,” according to the affidavit.
Neely informed troopers “that there was a long document that would explain the situation, including ‘exculpatory information,'” the affidavit stated.
“D. Neely explained that this document had been emailed to his lawyer and that he did not have it,” the affidavit continued. “He made a reference that he wanted to speak with his attorney before talking with the police.”
Neely had texted the family physician, Dr. Adam Schwarz, that day at around 9:30 a.m., informing him that his wife had died two days prior, on May 7 at around 8 p.m., Schwarz told Medicolegal Death Investigator Doug Jasmin in the affidavit.
“D. Neely also told Dr. Schwarz that she (N. Neely) was in bed, and that he needed a death certificate before calling the police,” the affidavit stated.
Schwarz also told Jasmin that he had not seen Noel Neely for care in approximately one year.
“Jasmin obtained a brief medical history for N. Neely, which included insomnia, stomach issues, hernia and hyperthyroid issues,” the affidavit said. “However, he could not see supporting documentation.”
A voicemail left for Schwarz was not immediately returned on Tuesday.
“Dr. Schwarz also mentioned that the last time he had seen N. Neely, she was under duress due to D. Neely’s failing business,” the affidavit added.
On Tuesday, the third-floor office space at 7 Allen St. in Hanover was locked, dark and stripped of Donald Neely’s orthodontic practice, Hanover Orthodontics.
The practice has been closed intermittently since May due to Neely’s death. Social media posts indicate that issues with the practice, including scheduling struggles and incomplete prepaid treatments, date back further than the spring, the Valley News previously reported.
Phone and email efforts to reach Neely were unsuccessful.
Noel Neely worked as the office manager in her husband’s orthodontics practice, the Valley News previously reported.
Following the news of her death, Vermont legislators in Montpelier held a moment of silence in memory of Neely, who served as a Republican representative from Pomfret from 1977 to 1982. At the time, her district also included Sharon and Royalton.
“Specifically regarding this case, the investigation into Noel Neely’s death remains open and active,” Adam Silverman, spokesperson for Vermont State Police, said in an email. “To avoid compromising that investigation, we don’t have any further details to share with the public at this time.”
Vermont State Police Detective Sergeant Zachary Van Valkenburgh submitted the affidavit in support of the search warrant applications on May 9 “for the limited purpose of establishing probable cause” to search the Douglas Hill Rd. residence and the blue Tesla Neely was driving, he stated in the affidavit.
That day, Windsor Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann approved the search warrants.
From the house, police seized numerous pieces of property, including plastic tubing, adhesive tape, a nitrogen tank, “Teva” pills, a towel and DNA, according to a search warrant return and inventory dated May 10.
Plastic bags, paperwork and folders were seized from the Tesla two days later.
“Speaking generally, the issuance of a search warrant means a judge has granted the police the ability to search a location, person, etc., for potential evidence of a crime,” Silverman said. “It does not mean that a crime has occurred.”
