BURLINGTON — A former Stowe man has pleaded not guilty to upgraded federal charges in the 2023 fatal shootings of two Massachusetts men in Vermont that could result in the death penalty, if convicted.
A federal grand jury last month returned the new indictment against 29-year-old Theodore Bland leading to a video arraignment Wednesday in federal court in Burlington.
Bland, who has been in custody since initially charged in the case more than a year ago, did not attend the hearing, which lasted roughly five minutes. Instead, he filed a written waiver of his appearance ahead of time, entering not guilty pleas to the latest charges.
All the attorneys in the case as well as Magistrate Judge Kevin Doyle took part in the proceeding by video.
Bland had faced firearms and drug-related charges prior to the indictment returned last month.
The new charges accuse Bland of 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.”
The new charges could carry the death penalty, if Bland is convicted, although prosecutors said no decision has yet been made about whether they will pursue the death penalty against Bland. Vermont does not have the death penalty, but federal charges Bland is facing could bring that punishment.
Both Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, Massachusetts, and White, 21, of Chicopee, Massachusetts, had been reported missing by their families in October 2023 after making a trip to Vermont, according to police.
The bodies of the two men were later found in a wooded area in Eden, about a mile apart. Both men, state police, had been fatally shot.
The upgraded charges against Bland followed the confirmation of U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi last month and her issuance of a directive calling on federal prosecutors across the country to seek the death penalty in violent federal cases.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Ex-Stowe man denies charges in double homicide that could carry the death penalty.