Stowe man gets two consecutive life sentences for 2023 double murder in Vermont

Theodore Bland, 31, was sentenced to life in prison for fatally shooting two Massachusetts men in Eden, Vermont, in October 2023.

Stowe man handed consecutive life terms for Northeast Kingdom double shooting

Theodore Bland, 31, of Stowe was sentenced to two consecutive life terms Monday for the 2023 murders of Jahim Solomon and Eric White, both of Massachusetts, vtdigger.org reports.

Senior U.S. District Judge William K. Sessions III imposed the sentences after Bland reached a plea agreement in April, following the withdrawal of death penalty recommendations by federal prosecutors.

Bland killed the two men to obtain cocaine base and fentanyl "to further his own drug distribution conspiracy," according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's office for Vermont.

"This crime shocked Vermont in its callousness and left the families of two young men with a grief that will never end," Vermont State Police Criminal Division Commander Major Ashley Barnes wrote in the release.

Police in Eden discovered the bodies on Oct. 25, 2023. Bland was indicted in September 2024 on several charges, including discharging a firearm during a drug crime. He pleaded not guilty in March 2025 and again in October of that year when U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi authorised federal prosecutors to pursue capital punishment.

A sentencing memo filed by Bland's attorneys cited his "remorse" and a documented history of addiction. He began using marijuana in the eighth grade and progressed to cocaine, heroin and opioids through his teenage years, the memo stated.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jason Turner and Dana Hill noted that Lamoille County and surrounding communities were "already suffering great harm" from Bland's drug distribution activity before the killings.

In addition to the life sentences, Bland was ordered to pay $12,504.92 in restitution to the Vermont Center for Crime Victim Services.

Source: Google News MT — Crime (en)