Feather had
picked up hitchhiker Seth Brunell, 43, a few days earlier, and they had been
spending time together since then, VT Digger reports. Witnesses had seen Feather
and Brunell in a parking lot Tuesday morning and called the police because the
pair had been there for an extended period. Feather and Brunell told the
officers they were simply looking for a place to walk their dogs.
A couple of
hours later, Brunell called Eliza Curtis, a friend of Feather’s, and said he
had killed Feather. He told Curtis that Feather “had come on to me and was
going crazy,” according to police reports viewed by VT Digger.
A passerby,
Karen Cleary, asked Brunell to hand the phone to her, and Curtis asked Cleary
to call the police, which she did. When the Morristown police arrived, they
found Feather’s body. They later recovered a bloody 12-inch knife.
Brunell told
the officers that Feather had made a sexual advance and said she “attacked”
him, according to a police affidavit. The affidavit quotes him as saying, “I
was just defending myself.” But police said they saw no “indications of an
altercation” and that Brunell was not injured.
Brunell is
charged with second-degree murder, which carries a maximum sentence of life in
prison. Attorney David Sleigh entered a plea of not guilty on Brunell’s behalf
Thursday in Lamoille County Superior Court.
Vermont has
outlawed the use of “gay panic” or “trans panic” defenses. The law specifically
addresses “circumstances in which the victim made a nonforcible, noncriminal
romantic or sexual advance toward the defendant.” It remains to be seen how
Brunell’s legal team will approach his defense. He is being held without bail
at the Northeast Correctional Complex in St. Johnsbury, an arrangement Sleigh
did not contest.
“In a state
that prides itself on its LGBTQ+-friendly image, the killing has drawn an
outpouring of anger and grief,” VT Digger reports. “Advocacy
groups and top officials have condemned it and called for an end to transphobic
rhetoric.”
“Fern brought
such joy to so many who were honored to know them and we grieve the loss of
their light in this world,” the Pride Center of Vermont wrote on Facebook.
Vermont Gov. Phil Scott denounced those who are “exploiting fear and targeting
divisive rhetoric at people who are just trying to be who they are.”
Feather’s
friends described her in glowing terms. “Fern was one of the most brilliant,
colorful, loving, special, super special people that you would ever meet,” Nina
Shoenthal told Vermont Public Radio. “The kind of person that
everyone loved. Everyone wanted to be close with.”
“Fern liked to
kind of notice the things about people that would make that person feel
beautiful,” Suzanne Podhaizer, who once worked with Feather in a restaurant,
told the outlet. Feather was a lover of plants and animals, friends added.
The Pride
Center of Vermont will hold a vigil for Feather Saturday afternoon. She is at
least the 11th trans American to have died by violence this year. The actual
number is likely higher due to misgendering or lack of reporting.
A vigil to
remember and honor Feather's life is scheduled for Saturday, April 16.
SOURCE: ADVOCATE
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