Sat. Nov 2nd, 2024

A man convicted in the 1986 murder of a convenience store clerk in Burlington died in a federal prison in Florida earlier this month, the Vermont Department of Corrections announced on Friday. 

Samuel Wright, 66, died on Oct. 19 at the Federal Correctional Complex USP Coleman I in Coleman, Florida, the department said in a press release. No cause of death was given. Wright, who was from Quebec, faced a long sentence and “deportation detainer” and thus was placed in federal custody, according to the release. 

“Mr. Wright was due to return to Vermont in 2026 to begin pre-release programming,” according to the department.

Wright was serving 60 years to life for a murder that occurred during a robbery of a Champlain Farms convenience store, newspapers reported at the time. Prosecutors alleged Wright bludgeoned and stabbed a 26-year-old clerk, and his fingerprints were found at the scene.

A second store employee was also found dead, but no one was ever charged in his death, according to later reports.  

Read the story on VTDigger here: Man convicted in 1986 Burlington convenience store murder dies in Florida federal prison.

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