Woman Found Stabbed To Death On VT Road; Police Arrest Possible Killer

MORRISTOWN, VT — Vermont State Police on Tuesday arrested a man who they say stabbed a transgender woman and left her to die on the side of a road.

Seth Brunell, 43, who was transient, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the death of 29-year-old Fern Feather of Hinesburg, according to Vermont State Police. Feather, who previously went by the name Zachary Barbeau, was found dead Tuesday morning on the side of Duhamel Road near Cadys Falls Road in Morristown, authorities said.

According to police, Brunell and Feather knew one another and spent time together in the days leading up to Feather's death.

On Tuesday, the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department encountered Brunell and Feather in a vehicle just after 8 a.m. in the parking lot of the Lamoille North Supervisory Union, police said. After checking on them, police waited for them to leave the parking lot.

Just before 10:15 a.m., police said Brunell and Feather arrived at Duhamel Road near the intersection of Cadys Falls Road. At 10:20 a.m., a passerby called 911 to report she had found a body on the side of the road, police said.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Brunell told police he was defending himself after Feather made a sexual advance and attacked him; however, investigators found no injuries or evidence of a struggle or an assault on Brunell.

A preliminary investigation indicated that Feather was stabbed to death, police said.

An autopsy to determine Feather's official cause of death was scheduled for Wednesday. Brunell's arraignment was also scheduled for Wednesday.