Jury Acquits Springfield Man in 2022 Drug-Fueled Killing

SPRINGFIELD, Vt. (Day.News) — A jury in Windsor County Superior Court in White River Junction acquitted Paul Lachapelle Jr. of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit first-degree murder Thursday in the 2022 shooting death of Justin Gilliam, 37, of Springfield. The three-day trial concluded after jurors deliberated for about five hours Wednesday night and most of Thursday, rejecting prosecutors' circumstantial case built on a multiyear investigation into Springfield's drug underworld.

The killing unfolded amid a spate of gunfire incidents in Springfield, a small Vermont border town of about 9,000 near New Hampshire, suspected to stem from drug trafficking rivalries. Lachapelle, a Springfield resident, was arrested in 2024 following a two-year probe by Vermont State Police that uncovered an alleged web of narcotics dealing. Prosecutors, led by Windsor County Deputy State's Attorney Travis Weaver, portrayed the slaying as a murder-for-hire tied to those conflicts, with charges carrying potential life sentences. Lachapelle pleaded not guilty from the start.

Defense attorneys urged jurors to demand direct proof, casting doubt on the state's chain of evidence linking Lachapelle to Gilliam's death on a summer night in 2022. After the verdict, Gilliam's relatives expressed devastation outside the White River Junction courthouse, while Lachapelle's supporters breathed relief. The case underscores persistent drug violence in southern Vermont, where Springfield has seen multiple shootings linked to trafficking networks spilling over from larger markets.