Man Kills His Foster Mother

“A prosecutor has re-filed a murder charge against a Vermont man accused of killing his foster mother in 2000.

The Caledonian Record reports  34-year-old Scott Favreau is scheduled to be arraigned in Caledonia Superior Court on Aug. 8 [2017] on a first-degree murder charge.

Last month, a judge threw out a second-degree murder conviction against Favreau, saying the trial judge never asked Favreau if he admitted to the facts of his guilty plea during a plea hearing. Favreau pleaded guilty to the charge in 2002 in the death of foster mother Vicki Campbell-Beer, and was sentenced to 17 year to life in prison.

Favreau later said he was manipulated by his lawyers and that his confession was coerced.

Tashia Beer, Campbell-Beer’s husband’s daughter, was also convicted and served a sentence for her role in the killing.

Murder Charge Filed Again Against Man in Foster Mother Death

[US News 8/2/17 by AP]

2017 Article

“Caledonia Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Mann has thrown out the 2nd degree murder conviction of former Burke resident Scott Favreau.

Favreau, then 17, was convicted by plea agreement for killing his foster mother Lyndon Town School 7th Grade teacher Vicki Campbell-Beer on Feb. 16, 2000.

In her decision dated June 27, Mann ruled in favor of Favreau’s request that his conviction be tossed after determining that Trial Judge Dennis Pearson failed to ask Favreau at his change of plea hearing whether he admitted to the facts underlying his guilty plea, according to court documents made public in Caledonia Superior Court Wednesday.

The Vermont Supreme Court has clearly and unequivocally established that the trial court must specifically inquire into the factual basis of the plea and must secure for the defendant an acknowledgment of the same in open court before a guilty plea can be accepted,” wrote Judge Mann in her decision granting Favreau’s motion for summary judgment.

Caledonia Superior Court

The ruling means the case will have to go back to trial unless prosecutors can work out another plea deal with Favreau.

Favreau, now 34, pleaded guilty to the murder charge in 2002 in exchange for a 17-year to life prison sentence. In December of 2016 Favreau filed for post conviction relief alleging that he was manipulated by his lawyers and that his confession was coerced.

Favreau shot and killed Vicki Campbell-Beer at their Burke Hollow residence with a .22 caliber rifle as she sat at the kitchen table correcting student papers.

At the time, Favreau was a foster child living with the family which included Campbell-Beer’s husband Randy Beer and his daughter Tashia Beer, then 16.

After the murder, Favreau and Tashia Beer locked Randy Beer in the basement of the home and fled the scene but were quickly captured by state police. Both were later convicted in connection with the case.

Favreau’s 2002 plea deal required him to testify against Tashia Beer but he later refused to honor the agreement and did not cooperate with the state’s prosecution of Beer.

Tashia Beer was convicted in January 2005 for her role in the killing. In an agreement, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter and second-degree unlawful restraint charges. She was sentenced to 10 to 15 years to serve on the manslaughter charge with all but 10 years suspended and one-to-five years on the unlawful restraint charge, consecutive to the manslaughter sentence.

In April 2013, Favreau was released by the Department of Corrections on furlough.

Favreau was interviewed after release and told a newspaper reporter in Brattleboro, “What I did was horrible, but I’m not that person anymore. I’ve done a lot of things to change that. I made a mistake. I’ll move forward and do the best I can.”

But in October of 2014 Favreau suddenly walked off his job in a Brattleboro restaurant mid-shift and fled the state. He was missing for about 48 hours before being apprehended walking along a road about 35 miles away in Conway, Massachusetts and returned to prison in Vermont. He was later convicted of escape and received an additional two-year sentence.”

Judge Mann Tosses Scott Favreau Murder Conviction

[Caledonian Record 6/29/17 by Todd Wellington]

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