White River Junction
Windsor Superior Court Judge Theresa DiMauro ordered Adam Kniffin held on $25,000 cash or surety bail in connection with felony charges of assault and robbery, larceny from a person and grand larceny, as well as two misdemeanor counts of petty larceny.
If released, the 28-year-old Kniffin is barred from having contact with Gail Dougherty, the homeowner who found a note inside the cup linking Kniffin to the alleged crime, and his girlfriend Heather Wheeler, who had cleaned Dougherty’s home for 16 years and whose DNA was found on the cup’s lid, according to police.
Kniffin’s case came to light when Dougherty returned to her home on Jan. 4, 2016, after being out of town.
She opened a sliding trash basket in her house and found a paper coffee cup in the trash that should have been in the recycling, she told police. She opened it to empty out any liquid and inside found a crumpled piece of paper that was nearly identical to the note Kniffin allegedly handed a bank teller that same day, according to a police affidavit in the case.
A lengthy investigation then ensued, and it wasn’t until last month that Vermont police issued an arrest warrant for Kniffin, who at the time was incarcerated in New Hampshire on an unrelated parole violation.
Kniffin wore a New Hampshire Department of Corrections jumpsuit at his Vermont hearing on Thursday.
In addition to allegedly robbing the bank, Kniffin is accused of stealing money that Dougherty left behind for delivery drivers, as well as jewelry.
Kniffin used to come to Dougherty’s home with Wheeler while she was cleaning, according to the affidavit.
Kniffin’s DNA was linked to both the money earmarked for the delivery drivers and the gloves used in the robbery, which Dougherty found in her home, according to the affidavit. Samples taken from the coffee cup lid matched Wheeler’s DNA, the affidavit said.
Kniffin has a pretrial conference scheduled for March 14.
Jordan Cuddemi can be reached at jcuddemi@vnews.com or 603-727-3248.