Updated at 6:03 p.m.
A Morrisville man has been arrested and charged with murder in the death of a Hardwick woman two months ago in Vermont.
Michael A. Williams, 60, was taken into custody Tuesday afternoon, according to Vermont State Police.
He pleaded not guilty Wednesday in Caledonia County Superior criminal court in St. Johnsbury to charges of aggravated domestic assault and second-degree murder in the killing of Tina Daigle, 38, who authorities said was strangled to death.
Daigle was killed in Caledonia County on June 19, according to state police. Her body was left and then discovered on the side of Route 14 in Woodbury.
Claire Burns, interim Caledonia County state’s attorney, argued during Wednesday’s court hearing for Williams to be held without bail.
“The weight of the evidence, the state contends, is great,” Burns told Judge Michael Kainen. “In this instance, we have a 17-page affidavit detailing roughly two months of thorough, consistent investigation undertaken by the Vermont State Police.”
Williams has a previous conviction for aggravated domestic assault involving a different woman that resulted in a 10-year prison sentence, Burns said. “He was found guilty of having choked a girlfriend – eerily similar factual pattern to this instance,” Burns said.
Attorney Brandon Sheffert, representing WIlliams, opposed the prosecutor’s request to hold his client in custody without bail. Sheffert said Williams had lengthy ties to Vermont and was not a risk of flight.
“My client, in the affidavit, went to the police on several occasions when requested to do interviews,” Sheffert said. “He has been in the area for two months. If he had wanted to flee, he could have back in June.”
Kainen sided with the prosecutor, ruling Williams would remain in custody without bail pending a hearing on the strength of the state’s evidence in the case.
Police had released few details about the investigation leading up to Williams’ arrest Tuesday. More information became public Wednesday following his arraignment, when an affidavit of probable cause in support of the charges against him was released.
Williams, who had been interviewed several times as part of the investigation, told police he lived with Daigle and they had been in a relationship for about eight years, state police Detective Sgt. Drew Cota wrote in the affidavit.
Daigle had recently told Williams she no longer wanted him to reside at the Hardwick residence, Daigle’s family members and Williams reported to police, according to the affidavit.
Daigle’s family members told police about past alleged instances of abuse by Williams toward Daigle, and that she had obtained a restraining order against him in the past, the affidavit stated.
Williams told police that, on the night of June 18, Daigle left the residence and then returned early that morning only to leave again on her own, departing on foot away from the residence, according to the affidavit. However, according to the affidavit, police obtained video footage from a nearby residence that did not show anyone leaving the property on foot during the timeframe Williams said Daigle left the home.
The video footage did show a vehicle coming and going from the property, the affidavit stated. GPS data showed the vehicle left the property twice early on the morning of June 19 and traveled on Route 14 to the area of the pull off in Woodbury where Daigle’s body was later found, according to the affidavit. The GPS showed the vehicle stayed at the pull-off for a short period each time before returning to the Hardwick residence, the affidavit stated.
When confronted during a police interview Tuesday about the GPS information from the vehicle, according to the affidavit, Williams denied driving into the pull-off or the woods where Daigle’s body was found.
Williams agreed Tuesday to take a polygraph and the results revealed “the accused showed deception on multiple questions regarding the murder of the victim,” according to the affidavit.
If convicted of the murder charge alone, Williams faces a minimum sentence of 20 years behind bars and a maximum sentence of life in prison.
