Police work on piecing together life
of accused murder
By Jill Fahy
Free Press Staff
Writer
Burlington police Wednesday focused on piecing
together the life of the man charged with the brutal slaying
of Laura Winterbottom.
Tracking the habits,
acquaintances and lifestyle of 33-year-old Gerald Montgomery
could provide police with the answer to a glaring question:
What led to the alleged encounter between a convicted sex
offender with a violent criminal past and a 31-year-old
graphic artist and sports enthusiast from the New North
End?
"We feel we made tremendous progress in learning
about Laura Winterbottom -- her affiliations, lifestyles and
interactions," said Deputy Burlington Police Chief Walt
Decker. "Mr. Montgomery's been leading a lifestyle that's not
completely open. We're learning more about him, but we haven't
built a biography on him."
Montgomery, who lived in the
Old North End with his wife and children, was arrested Monday
and charged with first-degree murder and aggravated sexual
assault in the March 8 killing. He is accused of raping,
beating and strangling Winterbottom, whose battered body was
found in her car parked behind an unoccupied Old North End
residence. DNA evidence has linked Montgomery to the
killing.
Tuesday, he pleaded not guilty to both charges
and is being held without bail at the Chittenden Regional
Correctional Facility in South Burlington.
Assembling a
profile on the transient life of Montgomery is a formidable
task, Decker said. Court records show Montgomery has been in
and out of jail. He also never lived in one place for
long.
With a murder suspect in custody, Burlington
residents Wednesday tried to make sense of the crime. They
also discovered more about the comings and goings of a man who
worked a string of part-time jobs in Burlington -- one of
which included a volunteer position coaching a basketball team
of first- and second-graders.
Between December and
early this month, Montgomery was a parent/volunteer for the
Parks and Recreation Department's youth basketball program.
The city department, which doesn't do background checks on its
employees or volunteers, needed a coach and reached out to
parents. Montgomery, whose stepson was on the team,
volunteered, said Wayne Gross, director of the city
program.
Montgomery coached weekly practices at H.O.
Wheeler Elementary School and played games each Saturday at
three locations in the city, Gross said. Montgomery, Gross
added, was always accompanied by a paid parks and recreation
staffer during practices and games.
"It was the first
time we had any contact with him in all our programs," he said
of Montgomery. "We were totally shocked. We didn't have any
basis for even thinking this kind of behavior would have been
out there in his background."
Gross added: "We received
no complaints from kids or parents about any inappropriate
activity at all." A background check policy for the Parks and
Recreation program has been in the works and will go into
effect this summer, Gross said.
As part of the policy,
the department will contract with a private company to conduct
a national background check on all volunteers and any
employees who would have contact with children and senior
citizens. Each check would cost between $10 and
$15.
According to court records, Montgomery worked an
array of short-lived, part-time jobs -- as a cook, car washer,
stock person and phone service worker. He also worked for a
short time in The Burlington Free Press mailroom, and spent
about a month last summer delivering furniture for
Rent-A-Center on North Street.
"He was sent to us from
an employment agency," said Juan Iaria, an account manager for
Rent-A-Center. Iaria said deliveries were always made in teams
and Montgomery was never working alone.
Bess Robertson,
who lives in the Old North End, said she remembers Montgomery
coming to her house as a Rent-A-Center employee.
"It's
just creepy knowing he was in my house and, now, here he is
being accused of this murder," Robertson
said.
Montgomery's employment at Rent-A-Center was
through Adecco Employment Services of Burlington. He was an
employee of Adecco through January, said Wilson Cleveland, an
Adecco spokesman. Cleveland said he was unable to comment on
Adecco's background check policy.
Two days before his
arrest, Montgomery was working a different part-time job, this
time as a janitor at J.P.'s Pub on Main Street. Brennan
Thabault, who operates his own cleaning service, hired
Montgomery and sent him to J.P.'s for the three-day cleaning
stint -- this past Thursday, Friday and
Saturday.
Thabault said he assessed Montgomery as an
ex-con who seemed eager to work.
"I help people get
jobs," he said. "I wanted to help him out."
Contact Jill
Fahy at 660-1898 or jfahy@bfp.burlingtonfreepress.com
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