A man wanted in Connecticut for questioning about the homicide of his former girlfriend was captured Monday by Canadian authorities while attempting to cross the Vermont-Canada border.
Police report that Corey Ramos, 30, of Bridgeport, Connecticut, had fled north after his ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Brelsford, was found dead in her Connecticut home Sunday night.
In May, a Vermont prosecutor had unsuccessfully sought to have Ramos held without bail on charges that had been filed in Rutland County.
According to Connecticut State Police, Brelsford’s body was discovered after officers were called to do a welfare check at her residence. They reported that there were “obvious signs of trauma” to her body, including the belt of a purse wrapped around her neck, and ruled the death a homicide.
A neighbor reported seeing the two together the afternoon of the murder, according to a police affidavit. Another neighbor told police that they had heard the two arguing in the past, and that they’d heard Ramos threaten to kill Brelsford, 40, and her baby.
On Sunday night, after Brelsford’s body was found, electronic surveillance identified Ramos’ vehicle heading towards Vermont. Later, Ramos left his Vermont-registered car near the border, and attempted to cross into Canada on foot, according to authorities.
On Monday, Ramos was arrested by Canadian authorities, who returned him to the port of entry, under custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection, who then turned Ramos over to the Vermont State Police. Police report that Ramos had blood on his clothes and shoes at the time of his arrest.
Ramos has several ties to the Rutland area. A pending criminal case in Rutland includes charges of sexual assault and second-degree unlawful restraint against him.
Rose Kennedy, the Rutland County state’s attorney, said in a statement that in May, her office charged Ramos with “very serious offenses,” and asked the court to hold him without bail. She said the court agreed that evidence of guilt was great, but did not agree on the severity of risk Ramos posed to the community or his risk of fleeing prosecution.
“We take the decision to ask that a defendant be held without bail very seriously, and felt that Mr. Ramos’ case warranted such a request,” she wrote. “Unfortunately, the Court denied our motion.”
Ramos has an extensive criminal record, including “many convictions relating to domestic violence” according to the affidavit.
Upon being captured, Ramos was arrested under suspicion of being a fugitive from justice on two charges of violating a protective order against Brelsford. Those crimes are felonies in Connecticut, punishable by up to five years imprisonment each.
The orders — issued on Oct. 12 — barred Ramos from “assaulting, threatening, harassing, or stalking” Brelsford, and ordered that he stay away from her home and workplace.
Connecticut officials said investigators are now working to charge Ramos with Brelsford’s muder.
Ramos appeared in court in Newport Tuesday afternoon, where Judge A. Gregory Rainville ordered that he be held without bail, pending his extradition back to Connecticut, where he will answer to the charges pending against him.
Read the story on VTDigger here: Connecticut fugitive arrested near Vermont-Quebec border.