After capturing the suspected perpetrator of a hit-and-run incident in Norwich that killed a Vermont state trooper and spawned a three-day chase over much of the East Coast, law enforcement authorities must now decide who's best equipped to serve justice.
Involvement of federal prosecutors would allow Vermont, one of 12 states that has outlawed the death penalty, to seek this punishment for 23 year-old Lebanon, N.H. native Eric Daley in the courts. Officials are hinting that the repeat of such a phenomenon -- federal prosecutors in Vermont have worked on two capital cases in the past five years -- is not unlikely.
"I can clearly state he killed one of my troopers. He killed him as surely as if he fired a bullet from a gun," Vermont Public Safety Commissioner Kerry Sleeper told news outlets. "I hope he pays the highest penalty the state and federal government can impose."
Police arrested Daley at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday along the Appalachian Trail in northeastern Pennsylvania for his involvement in the death of Sgt. Michael Johnson, killed Sunday afternoon at milepost 76 along Interstate 91, two miles north of Hanover. Johnson, 39, a 16 year veteran of the Vermont State Police, was attempting to stop Daley's black 1991 Nissan NX coupe with road spikes when Daley swerved into the median and struck him.
Earlier that day, troopers had pulled over Daley in nearby Thetford, Vt. for driving 82 miles per hour in a 65 m.p.h. zone. Daley sped away, fleeing the troopers and launching the pursuit that ultimately slammed Johnson's body into a guardrail. Johnson died early Monday at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, according to the Vermont State Police.
As Johnson's colleagues tended to his injuries, Daley joined a stranger canoing on the Connecticut River and made his way over to New Hampshire, police officials said. From there, he made his way south through New England, aided several times by friends.
An assortment of law enforcement groups spent the next two days searching on foot, by car and helicopter for the Lebanon, N.H. native before being informed that he had been dropped off along the Appalachian Trail in Delaware Water Gap, a small town near the Pennsylvania-New Jersey border.
"Information was also learned that Daley was going to walk the Appalachian Trail to elude police," said Vermont State Police Director Col. Thomas Powlovich. "Pennsylvania State Police and the U.S. Forest Service entered the Appalachian Trail at opposite ends of the trailhead where Daley had been dropped off in an effort to apprehend him."
Powlovich added that at the time of Daley's arrest, "we do not know if he was armed or not." While Daley did make statements to authorities at the time of his arrest, they have not yet been released to the public. Police noted, however, that Daley had changed his appearance -- by shaving off his goatee -- while on the lam.
"It is expected that Daley will be arraigned in Pennsylvania on a fugitive from justice charge," Powlovich said.
Daley is also charged with gross negligent operation with death resulting, leaving the scene of a fatal accident and attempting to elude police. He currently remains in Pennsylvania, awaiting his return to Vermont.
Police believe that Daley, who faced pending drug charges in New Hampshire before Sunday's hit-and-run, was delivering drugs when he was first apprehended in Thetford. Police found in his car nearly $500 in cash, more than two pounds of marijuana and small quantities of cocaine and suspected LSD.
