STATE OF VERMONT

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY

VERMONT STATE POLICE

Police provide update on investigation into Rutland death

RUTLAND, Vt. (Monday, Nov. 23, 2020) — Following further investigation and an autopsy, the Vermont State Police is identifying the victim in this case as Jonathon Houghton, 35, of Holyoke, Massachusetts.

The autopsy, performed Monday at the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington, determined that Mr. Houghton’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso, and the manner of death is homicide.

Police believe this was an isolated incident, and there is no current threat to the general public.

The joint investigation by Vermont State Police and the Rutland City Police Department into this homicide is active and ongoing. Investigators continue to ask that anyone with information that may be relevant to the case call state police in Rutland at 802-773-9101. Anonymous tips also may be submitted online at https://vsp.vermont.gov/tipsubmit.

***Update, 3:10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020***

Maj. Dan Trudeau, commander of the Vermont State Police Criminal Division, will be available to speak with the media at 4 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020, regarding the suspicious death reported this morning in Rutland.

The media availability will take place at the Rutland City Police Department, 108 Wales St.

***Initial news release, 11:50 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 22, 2020***

The Vermont State Police and Rutland City Police Department are jointly investigating a suspicious death reported early Sunday morning, Nov. 22, 2020, at the Quality Inn in Rutland.

Police were called at about 3:40 a.m. Sunday to investigate a report of a disturbance in a room in the hotel, located at 253 South Main Street. Responding officers located a deceased adult man in the hotel room. Preliminary investigation indicates the death is suspicious.

The death investigation is in its earliest stages. Detectives with the Vermont State Police Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations, joined by members of the Crime Scene Search Team, are investigating the incident in conjunction with the Rutland City Police Department. No one is currently in custody in connection with this case.

The victim’s body will be brought to the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington for an autopsy to determine the cause and manner of death. The identity of the victim is under investigation.

Anyone with information that might be relevant to the investigation is asked to contact the Vermont State Police in Rutland at 802-773-9101.

No further details are available at this time. Updates will be provided as the investigation continues.

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