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Suspect In 2015 Killing Of DCF Caseworker Takes Plea Deal

Jody Herring, seen here in court in August 2015, took a plea deal Thursday, pleading guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.
Toby Talbot
/
AP/Times Argus/File
Jody Herring, seen here in court in August 2015, took a plea deal Thursday, pleading guilty to one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder.

Jody Herring, the prime suspect for the murders of four people in central Vermont in August 2015, plead guilty Thursday as part of a plea deal.

Herring was charged with killing two of her cousins and their mother, as well as Lara Sobel, a social worker with the Department of Children and Families.

WCAX reporter Kyle Midura was in the courtroom in Barre Thursday as the court accepted the plea deal.

Listen to his conversation with VPR's Henry Epp above.

Gov. Phil Scott, who was acting governor at the time, and he says the day left an impression on him.

"I went to the site," he recalled Thursday, "So it's vivid in my mind, as I witnessed Lara Sobel lying on the ground during the investigation."

Scott refused to say whether he thinks the deal is fair, adding that he is leaving that assessment up to state prosecutors.

According to WCAX's Kyle Midura, a sentencing hearing for Herring is expected to take five days.

Annie Russell was VPR's Deputy News Director. She came to VPR from NPR's Weekends on All Things Considered and WNYC's On The Media. She is a graduate of Columbia Journalism School.
Taylor was VPR's digital reporter from 2013 until 2017. After growing up in Vermont, he graduated with at BA in Journalism from Northeastern University in 2013.
Henry worked for Vermont Public as a reporter from 2017 to 2023.
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