‘Suspect’ in double murder case faces new drug and weapons charges

New federal charges have been filed against a former Stowe man whom prosecutors called a “person of interest” in the killings of two Massachusetts men last October, including discharging a firearm during a drug-related offense.

A grand jury in a federal court in the state of Vermont indicted 29-year-old Theodore Bland on Thursday, accusing him of a series of drug and weapons offenses.

Investigators have not yet named a suspect in the double murder case and have released little information other than saying that it may have been a drug-related crime.

However, in an earlier filing in February in a separate federal case against Bland, federal prosecutors named him a “person of interest” in connection with the two murders.

Vermont State Police reported Oct. 25 that the bodies of Jahim Solomon, 21, of Pittsfield, and Eric White, 21, of Chicopee, were discovered in a wooded area of ​​Eden about a mile apart. Both men were shot, state police said.

The families of the two men had reported them missing ten days earlier. The families told police that the two men had been traveling together and had not had contact for several days, according to a press release from the state police at the time.

The indictment filed against Bland on Thursday does not identify him as the person who pulled the trigger in the killings of the two Massachusetts men, and does not even name the victims. Instead, the indictment states that Bland allegedly fired a firearm during a drug trafficking offense “on or about” October 12, 2023 in Vermont.

The indictment also names a co-defendant, Dilan Jiron, who is accused of helping Bland “to prevent the arrest, trial and punishment of the perpetrator.”

Another person, whose name was redacted from the document in a separate drug-related count in the same indictment, is also alleged to have “conspired” with Bland to distribute illegal drugs in Vermont between September 7 and October 15, 2023.

David Sleigh, an attorney representing Bland, was out on Friday and said he had not yet seen the indictment and therefore could not comment.

However, Sleigh said he was contacted Friday morning by a federal prosecutor who informed him that the indictment had been returned and that the prosecutor had “referenced” the two men whose bodies were found in Eden nearly a year ago.

“But like I said, I haven't seen it and haven't had a chance to talk to Theo yet,” Sleigh added.

According to Sleigh, Bland was currently incarcerated in Rhode Island awaiting sentencing in another federal case in Vermont in which he had previously reached a plea agreement.

Bland pleaded guilty in federal court in April to possession of a firearm – a Mossberg shotgun – while also illegally using controlled substances. Those charges were filed against Bland in late October 2023.

As part of a plea agreement, Bland was sentenced to 14 months in prison, but a sentencing date has not yet been set.

According to court documents in the case, Bland brandished a shotgun on March 17, 2023, while threatening the driver of a vehicle outside Simon's Supermarket in South Burlington.

A spokesman for the Attorney General's Office declined to comment on the new charges against Bland on Friday.