A neighbor is under arrest after an elderly Vermont woman was found sexually assaulted, murdered and then set on fire.
The body of Roberta Martin, 82, from Enosburgh was discovered in a wooded area close to her home on July 21.
Darren Martell, 23, who had been living with several others in the house next door to Martin on Butternut Hollow Road, was apprehended on July 22 when state detectives spotted him in a wooded area near the St. Albans Town School allegedly masturbing on a public path.
Martell quickly fled into the woods, police say. Additional detectives, troopers and St. Albans Police Department officers responded to the call while the school went into lockdown.
He was arrested shortly thereafter.
Vermont police said Martell's initial arrest and charge was unrelated to the Roberta Martin investigation; however, he was arrested for the murder charged Thursday night while in custody at the Northwest State Correctional Facility.
Martell had been jailed at the facility since Monday following charges of lewd and lascivious conduct.
He was arraigned on an aggravated murder charge on Friday, which carries a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole should he be convicted. He pleaded not guilty.
The Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Burlington said the cause and manner of Martin's death are still pending.
Court documents reviewed by WPTZ-TV showed Martell has a violent history of abuse.
An affidavi stated Martell has been called "psychotic" and "for sure capable of killing someone" by those who know him.
