Christmas pleads guilty - Shaftsbury man admits to second-degree murder, sex charges

Good riddance!

It is unfortunate that the Vermont "justice" system does not take such steps to protect the innocent.

Fred wrote:

It is unfortunate that the Vermont "justice" system does not take such steps to protect the innocent.

Did you ever think this is being done to do just that.

"Marthage said that had the case gone to trial, there would be two trials, each involving child witnesses. Because the charges would carry life sentences, there would be an automatic appeal process, and if there were any problems with the first set of trials, there would be a possibility of having to do them over again using child witnesses."

Gee Fred do we need to post police in every home with children? Lets just increase taxes even more to pay for all the extra cops on the beat.

Enjoy prison Michael you will get what's coming to you. It will come back on you 10 fold.

i gotta feeling christmas is comming early for that chap ! The boys in the pen are gonna have a little surprise for that scumbag.

Good riddance! I would have to agree with you scott, who wants the kids to have to relive every step of what that ba..ard did to them. Bad enough they have to live with it every day now. And for the kids that seem christmas kill there father, they have to live that every day. I hope chirstmas gets back what he did to them kids. He will have a hard time in jail cause they dont' like rappest to much in here, and you can be sure they know all about it. My heart goes out to the family of Ron cause chirstmas gets to live and breath, what ever he gets in court or jail will never bring ron back.

It will be good riddance when MICHAEL CHRISTMAS is DEAD and Rotting..........

wow it only takes over 2 years for somebody to plead guilty in the vermont court systems to shooting somebody when there were many witnesses there, i mean cmon we are basically paying people to just waste time.
everybody should just move to vermont or live in a near by state commit a crime, have witnesses around and have them tell what happened and then get off with probation which many sex offenders do because the prosecutors are all about cutting deals, and they make the deals seem better than they are for the victims and when the sex offender does anything wrong they get probation again and the judge is basically their advocate. goodluck to anybody that is a victim of a crime, just take justice into your own hands, its way worth it.

Let the bardering begin!!! He will probably get 10 years at best. Welcome to the State of VT. Kill someone in cold blood in front of multiple witnesses and get the same time that most states hand out for possessing a handgun. Oh yeah it is totally legal to carry a gun almost anywhere in VT. Got to love the liberal laws of this state. Might as well send a bulletin out to the world....If you want to kill someone, just drag them to VT shoot them in cold blood and you can be back out on the streets before you know it.

Holy Crap and Concerned Local, do you understand that what was done is this case was done to protect three of the youngest victums, Ron's kids. Also if you're going to be made at the state, you must also be mad at the family because they went along this.("State's Attorney Erica Marthage said she initially wanted 35 years on the minimum but during negotiations said that she wouldn't settle for anything less that 30. Marthage said she wouldn't have gone that low had she not spoken with the family of the victims who had been involved in the court process for two years.") I do not know the family but I would bet they went along with this to protect the those kids, lets face it there going to be dealing with this for the rest of there lifes, why put them through a few trials.

Also I guarantee you that Vermont is not the only state that plea bargins in court case.

Scott05201 wrote:

Holy **** and Concerned Local, do you understand that what was done is this case was done to protect three of the youngest victums, Ron's kids. Also if you're going to be made at the state, you must also be mad at the family because they went along this.("State's Attorney Erica Marthage said she initially wanted 35 years on the minimum but during negotiations said that she wouldn't settle for anything less that 30. Marthage said she wouldn't have gone that low had she not spoken with the family of the victims who had been involved in the court process for two years.") I do not know the family but I would bet they went along with this to protect the those kids, lets face it there going to be dealing with this for the rest of there lifes, why put them through a few trials.
Also I guarantee you that Vermont is not the only state that plea bargins in court case.

It was only kids that also witness the murder of Ron also. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington were inside. there were a lot of kids there that day.

I am confused about something though. Marthrage said by the time Christmas could be released he would be in his early 70's although the Jail wouldn't have to release him? Anyone understand that statement? If and I mean IF Christmas lives to the end of his sentence wouldn't they have to let him go?

NewMonter wrote:

<quoted text>
It was only kids that also witness the murder of Ron also. Mr. and Mrs. Harrington were inside. there were a lot of kids there that day.
I am confused about something though. Marthrage said by the time Christmas could be released he would be in his early 70's although the Jail wouldn't have to release him? Anyone understand that statement? If and I mean IF Christmas lives to the end of his sentence wouldn't they have to let him go?

The sentence will be 30 years to life, He will have to go before the Parole board when it's time for his release. I'm sure he'll stay in jail for many years, beyond the 30 years.

Shocked 2 wrote:

<quoted text> The sentence will be 30 years to life, He will have to go before the Parole board when it's time for his release. I'm sure he'll stay in jail for many years, beyond the 30 years.

We can only hope that he is there for life. Let's hope it is not a long life.Rest in peace Ron.

Shocked 2 wrote:

<quoted text> The sentence will be 30 years to life, He will have to go before the Parole board when it's time for his release. I'm sure he'll stay in jail for many years, beyond the 30 years.

Ok I think I missed that somewhere so thank you.

Scott05201 wrote:

Holy **** and Concerned Local, do you understand that what was done is this case was done to protect three of the youngest victums, Ron's kids. Also if you're going to be made at the state, you must also be mad at the family because they went along this.("State's Attorney Erica Marthage said she initially wanted 35 years on the minimum but during negotiations said that she wouldn't settle for anything less that 30. Marthage said she wouldn't have gone that low had she not spoken with the family of the victims who had been involved in the court process for two years.") I do not know the family but I would bet they went along with this to protect the those kids, lets face it there going to be dealing with this for the rest of there lifes, why put them through a few trials.
Also I guarantee you that Vermont is not the only state that plea bargins in court case.

Firstly I understand the plea agreement and how important it is to not have juvenile victims testify in court. I am simply saying that sentencing has not been set yet in this case. I am interested to see how the "Judge" hands down the final sentence, considering that Christmas has been in jail for a while. Of course VT is not the only state using a plea agreement, this is a standard legal tactic. If anyone has been paying attention to recent legislation, there is upcoming laws that would REQUIRE the early release of all prisoners into society prior to the end of their MINIMUM sentence release date.

Shocked 2 wrote:

Enjoy prison Michael you will get what's coming to you. It will come back on you 10 fold.

That goes for all of us. Be careful what you wish for. I am glad that the children involved don't have to go through testifying. They are all old enough to read these posts and maybe everyone should think about how your post would effect them.

AFOF wrote:

<quoted text>That goes for all of us. Be careful what you wish for. I am glad that the children involved don't have to go through testifying. They are all old enough to read these posts and maybe everyone should think about how your post would effect them.

You are wasting your wors AFOF most of the people in this forum don't care how anyone is affected by what they say.

sorry supposed to say words.

ifihadadollarforeverytime wrote:

Good riddance!

One down, Shaft to go.