A former Stowe man already charged in connection with the 2023 deaths of two Massachusetts men in Vermont has been indicted on new charges that could carry the possibility of the death penalty if convicted.
The move by federal prosecutors to file new charges in the case follows the recent confirmation of Pam Bondi to serve as the new U.S. Attorney General in the Trump administration.
Bondi earlier this month issued a directive calling to revive the federal death penalty and lift the moratorium on federal executions that had been in place during the Biden administration.
In that directive, Bondi called on U.S. attorneys in federal districts across the country to review cases and pursue the death penalty in those that could be eligible.
A federal grand jury had returned an indictment in September against 29-year-old Theodore Bland, charging him with a series of drug and firearms offenses.
On Thursday, a federal grand jury again brought drug and firearms charges against him.
In addition, according to a press release Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Vermont, the indictment charged Bland with using and carrying “a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime causing the deaths of Jahim Solomon and Eric White in circumstances that constitute murder under federal law.”
If convicted of the new charges, “there is a possibility the federal death penalty could apply. The United States has not yet reached a decision whether it will pursue the death penalty against Bland,” according to the release.
On Oct. 25, 2023, Vermont State Police said officers found the bodies of Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and White, 21, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, in a wooded area of Eden, about a mile apart from each other. Both men, according to state police, had been fatally shot.
The families of the two men had reported them missing 10 days earlier, telling authorities that the duo had been traveling together and had not been in touch for several days, state police said at the time.
According to court records in Bland’s federal case, the killings took place on Oct. 12, 2023, when “Bland’s firearm discharges caused the deaths of Jahim Solomon and Eric White.”
Federal prosecutors stated in Friday’s press release that Bland used social media messaging to communicate with others after the killings, “including communications about his attempts to conceal the homicides.”
According to court documents, Bland also “induced” others to help him move the bodies of White and Solomon to the wooded area in Eden, where they were later discovered by police.
The indictment returned this week also named a codefendant, Dilan Jiron, alleging he assisted Bland to prevent Bland’s “apprehension, trial and punishment.”
Bland is currently incarcerated, and an arraignment for him on the new chargers has not yet been set.
David Sleigh, Bland’s attorney, said Friday that he was not aware if a decision had yet been made with “finality” on whether federal prosecutors would pursue the death penalty.
“Personally, I’m opposed to the death penalty. I don’t think it’s effective,” Sleigh said, terming Bondi’s directive regarding the federal death penalty “arbitrary and reckless,” and her “zeal” in pursuing it “ghoulish.”
In addition to listing drug-trafficking crimes of violence as potential death penalty offenses, Bondi’s directive stated that “federal prosecutors are expected to seek the death penalty in cases involving the murder of a law-enforcement officer and capital crimes committed by aliens who are illegally in the United States.”
The directive added, “This policy applies to the recent murder of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent David Maland during a traffic stop in Vermont.”
Teresa Youngblut, 21, of Washington state, is the only person who has been charged in connection with Maland’s death during a traffic stop on Jan. 20 on Interstate 91 in Coventry.
Youngblut has only been charged with firearms-related offenses, and has not been directly charged with killing Maland.
After she was pulled over by Maland, according to court documents, Youngblut came out of the vehicle and opened fire. A passenger in the car, Felix Bauckholt, also drew a gun but was killed before firing a shot, court filings stated.
At least one other border patrol agent on scene returned fire, wounding Youngblut and killing Bauckholt, according to court records. The FBI, the lead law enforcement agency handling the investigation, has refused to say who fired the shot that killed Maland.
Acting U.S. Attorney for Vermont Michael Drescher could not be reached Friday for comment.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Ex-Stowe man faces new charges in deaths of 2 Massachusetts men that could carry death penalty .