STATE OF VERMONT
DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY
VERMONT STATE POLICE
CASE#: 25A1001115
RANK/TROOPER FULL NAME: Detective Sgt. Benjamin Katz
STATION: Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations Troop A West – Williston
CONTACT#: 802-878-7111
DATE/TIME: Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025
INCIDENT LOCATION: University of Vermont Medical Center, Burlington, VT
INCIDENT TYPE: Death investigation
VICTIM: Shawn Gibney
AGE: 63
CITY, STATE OF RESIDENCE: Colchester, VT
SUMMARY OF INCIDENT:
The Vermont State Police is investigating the death of a man who was in the custody of the Vermont Department of Corrections. VSP was notified on Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2025, that Shawn Gibney, 63, of Colchester, who had been an inmate at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield, had died earlier in the day while in hospice care at the University of Vermont Medical Center in Burlington. Per standard protocol, a detective from the Vermont State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigations was assigned to the case and began a death investigation.
Initial information gathered by VSP shows that Gibney had been brought from the correctional facility to Springfield Hospital on Feb. 8 with health issues, was transferred to UVMMC on Feb. 10, and entered hospice care on Feb. 13.
The death does not appear to be suspicious and appears to be the result of medical issues. An autopsy will be performed at the Vermont Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington to determine the cause and manner of death.
According to Department of Corrections records, Gibney was serving a sentence of 35 years to life in prison for a 1997 first-degree murder in Franklin County.
No additional information is currently available. Further questions should be directed to the Department of Corrections.
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