Jealousy motive in Bridgewater murder
Toolbox
By Josh O'Gorman Rutland Herald - Published: July 3, 2008
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Jealously over a woman led a Sharon man to beat another man to death in an isolated section of Bridgewater, police wrote in court records.
Casey Hadcock, 19, pleaded innocent Wednesday in White River Junction District Court to first- degree murder, a charge that carries a possible life sentence.
Another man, Scott D. Whitney, 25, of Woodstock, pleaded innocent to being an accessory after the fact, which carries a maximum penalty of seven years in prison.
Hadcock is accused of killing John Thiels, 38, of Canaan, N.H., early Sunday morning in a remote logging area in Bridgewater.
The investigation began shortly after 5 p.m. Sunday after an all-terrain vehicle operator discovered Thiels' body inside his pickup on Chateauguay Road in Bridgewater, Vermont State Police Detective Sgt. Timothy S. Page wrote in an affidavit filed Wednesday in court.
Police said they discovered Thiels suffered extensive head injuries and did not have identification on him. Police said they found that the truck was registered to Thiels and police went to his home on Beech Cobble Road in Canaan, N.H.
Police said they discovered that Thiels rented a portion of the house and they spoke to Thiels' landlords, Arthur and Elizabeth Cilley.
Arthur Cilley told police that the last time he saw Thiels was Saturday night, when Thiels said he was going camping with somebody named Casey, court records stated.
Police said the investigation eventually led to Casey Hadcock. Police said when they questioned Hadcock he told them he was supposed to go camping with Thiels.
Hadcock said Whitney had picked him up from work at the McDonald's restaurant in White River Junction early Saturday morning and took him to the P&C supermarket to meet Thiels, but Thiels never picked him up and Hadcock walked home, police said.
On Tuesday, police said they met with Whitney at the State Police barracks in Royalton. Whitney told police he had picked up Hadcock from work early Sunday morning and dropped him off at the supermarket, and during the ride discussed how angry he was at Thiels for the way he had been treating "Jules," accord-ing to the affidavit. Whitney told police that Hadcock said he planned to beat Thiels, according to the affidavit.
Whitney told police that later that night he got a call from Hadcock demanding a ride from a campsite on Chateauguay Road in Bridgewater, the affidavit stated. When Whitney arrived, he found Thiels dead and saw and heard a woman in the shadows of the campsite, according to court records.
Police said that Whitney told them that he and Hadcock put Thiels' body inside Thiels' truck.
Whitney said Hadcock took numerous items belonging to Thiels, including his driver's license, registration, insurance card and checkbook, court records stated. Whitney told police Hadcock then tried to set the truck on fire, but the fire did not consume the truck.
On Tuesday night, Whitney put on an electronic recording device and met Hadcock, court records state. Police recorded Hadcock telling Whitney that they were safe because police were going to blame another man for Thiels' death, police said.
Police promptly arrested Hadcock, and during questioning Hadcock told police that he had planned to kill Thiels for two weeks because he wanted Jules to himself, according to the affidavit.
Contact Josh O'Gorman at josh.ogorman@rutlandherald.com.
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