Jacques Investigation
Spreads to Four States
By Sandy Vondrasek

Federal officials have released scant information about the ongoing investigation into the kidnapping and murder of 12-year-old Brooke Bennett since July 7, when her uncle, Michael S. Jacques, was taken into federal custody on a kidnapping charge.

A motion filed by prosecutors in federal court in Burlington last Wednesday—and granted the following day by a U.S. magistrate—makes it clear that a large team of investigators in four states is working on the complex case.

Bennett’s body was found in a shallow grave near Jacques’ Randolph Center home July 2; a few days later the medical examiner’s office ruled her death a homicide, but the exact cause of death has not been revealed.

Since Jacques, 42, was arrested by federal agents July 7 on the kidnapping charge, he has been held without bail, but not formally indicted (charged) on any federal offense. Jacques had been in state custody since his arrest June 29 on a charge of aggravated sexual assault on a 14-year-old minor, in a case that appears to have connections to Bennett’s.

Also being held un-indicted and without bail is Raymond Gagnon, 40, Bennett’s step-father, who has been accused of destroying evidence in the case. Since his arrest in Vermont on a federal charge of obstruction of justice, Gagnon has been indicted on federal child pornography charges in Alabama and Texas.

In U.S. District Court in Burlington last Thursday, federal Judge Jerome J. Niedermeier granted prosecutors an additional 60 days to investigate, before formally bringing charges against Jacques and Gagnon. Federal law normally allots a 30-day window between arrest and formal charging, and failure to observe the deadline can result in the dismissal of the charge,

In his four-page motion "to enlarge time," U.S. Atty. Thomas D. Anderson said the extension in the two cases was needed due to "the seriousness of the alleged crime and the complexity of the evidence."

"The investigation involves the collection of significant amounts of tangible and electronic evidence in multiple jurisdictions and the forensic analysis of such evidence," U.S. Atty. Anderson wrote. "Numerous federal, state, and local law enforcement agents in Vermont, New York, Alabama, and Texas have worked and continue to work on this investigation.

"The efforts of these agents have been hindered, however, by the existence of apparently manufactured evidence, the disposal of evidence, and the nature of some of the evidence (such as web-based email accounts registered under fictitious names)."

Among the missing evidence, at least initially, was Jacques’ hard drive from his home computer. Court records indicate that Jacques told investigators before his arrest that he had taken the hard drive to Staples for repair, but that claim proved false. There has been no indication, since whether investigators have been able to locate the hard drive.

Also, federal agents in Texas have recently given up their weeks’ long efforts to find a safe, allegedly containing Gagnon’s laptop computer and "a vast amount of child pornography."

Federal investigators have alleged that Gagnon doctored Bennett’s MySpace account at Jacques’ request around June 24-25, before flying to Alabama and then Vermont, allegedly to support Bennett’s family, while the search for her continued.

In their affidavit in support of Gagnon’s arrest on the obstruction of justice charge, federal investigators alleged that Gagnon called his Texas landlord from Vermont, on June 30, and asked him to dispose of his safe, which held the laptop.

In an interview with investigators just before his arrest in Vermont, Gagnon admitted that he had five years’ worth of pornography on his laptop and hard drives, all of which were in the safe.

The landlord later told federal agents he had put the safe in a nearby apartment dumpster.

According to recent news reports by WOIA-TV in San Antonio, the FBI spent two weeks combing the landfill without turning up a safe. Those who live near the dumpster are now being urged to step forward with information about the safe’s whereabouts.

The 60-day extension granted last week now means that investigators and prosecutors have until early October to pull together the investigation.

Hearings in Vermont

As the criminal investigation continues, Vermont lawmakers are turning their attention to possible changes in how sexual abuse cases are investigated, prosecuted, and sentenced.

Thousands of citizens have called for adoption of a mandatory minimum sentencing law—the so-called Jessica’s Law—for those convicted of assault against children, via two widely circulated petitions.

Vermont’s Senate Judiciary Committee convenes today the first of several hearings on how the state handles sexual offenders.

Sen. Dick Sears, who chairs that committee, will be in Randolph tonight for a community forum on child safety.

The forum, 7-9 p.m., at the Old Dorm Lounge at Vermont Technical College, is sponsored by the Randolph Area Care Team, a group of community leaders who came together to help the community as it faces the issues raised by Bennett’s abduction and murder.

The forum, which will have several speakers, will give residents a chance to learn about sexual abuse issues, including victims’ rights, reporting laws, and sex offender laws.

According to Care Team spokesman Jeff Rothenberg, the event will end with small group sessions that will give attendees a chance to meet with legislators.