By BOB MARTIN
Eagle Times Staff
ATHENS, Vt. — Surveillance footage allegedly shows that a Springfield man accused of burning his ex-girlfriend’s mobile home down was at the scene just before the fire broke out, and police were also reportedly searching for him to arrest him on stalking charges from the previous day.
Benjamin E. Stocker, 33, was arrested at his home on March 29 and initially held on $50,000 bail. However, Judge Heather Gray later ordered that he be held without bail. Stocker was scheduled to appear in court for an arraignment on March 31, but it was since pushed back to April 2. He is facing 13 charges, including four felonies, that all carry potential penalties of prison time.
The Windham Criminal Division of the Vermont Superior Court provided 26 pages of court documents pertaining to Stocker, with 14 pages being an affidavit for his arrest on Saturday. The other documents pertained to previous arrests and citations for violating probation and court orders.
According to the sworn statement by Trooper Zachary Trocki, on the night of March 28, Vermont State Police responded to a report by Stocker’s ex-girlfriend that he had blocked the roadway and damaged her vehicle by throwing a beer bottle at her car. This led to an affidavit written by Alexis Marciniak to have probable cause to arrest Stocker for stalking, unlawful mischief, violation of an abuse prevention order and violation of conditions of release.
When Trocki spoke with the victim, she said this type of action by Stocker was a regular occurrence, saying he would block her in with his vehicle when she was in a remote area, causing her fear as she was not able to leave.
The next morning, at 7:39 a.m., Stocker’s ex-girlfriend called Vermont State Police to report that her home at 71 Valley Cemetery Road in Athens had been burned down by Stocker. The victim lives at the home with her children, but there were no injuries reported.
Trocki responded to the scene and found a fully involved fire that destroyed the home. Before he arrived, the fire had been deemed suspicious by the Athens deputy fire chief, and the Vermont State Police Fire and Explosion investigation unit was called to investigate the fire’s origin.
Trocki spoke to the victim at the scene, who said that surveillance video at her home showed Stocker leaving the residence in his Cadillac SRX just before the fire was reported. He stated that a video showed him driving away from the residence at 5:48 a.m., and the first report of the fire was at 6:41 a.m. from a call from a passerby who saw flames.
Trocki spoke with neighbors and friends of the victim who corroborated the story. One neighbor said he had footage that showed an orange glow coming from the residence at 5:53 a.m., just five minutes after Stocker was seen leaving the residence.
A friend of the victim also told police that Stocker had been following the victim and that it was “an ongoing issue.”
On March 29 at 10:15 a.m. Sgt. Kevin Hughes, Sgt. Jason Lengfellner and Trooper Marie Beland went to 950 Randall Hill Road to locate Stocker. While the Cadillac from the surveillance video and another vehicle were parked in the driveway, nobody answered the door.
At 1 p.m. after clearing the fire scene, Trocki met with the victim who told police that Stocker was on probation. She said she broke up with Stocker at the beginning of the year and said he had anger issues since September 2024. This involved smashing her windshield and rear window of her vehicle six times, as well as breaking personal property like phones and keys. Stocker would always pay to replace them, she said. Court records show that he was arrested by Springfield Police for unlawful mischief and violation of probation on Sept. 11.
During the interview, the victim played nine voicemails that were threatening in nature left by Stocker. The first voicemail was at 5:53 a.m. on the date of the fire, and in what Trocki described as an “angry, loud, slurry voice,” Stocker said what sounded like, “you’re done.”
At 6:16 a.m. he allegedly left another voicemail that was “animated, agitated and excited.” Two minutes later he left another voicemail with expletives talking about payback. At 6:22 a.m. he left another voicemail that included the statements, “You didn’t have your kids tonight… call the cops,” and “I hope you die.”
At 6:28 a.m. he left another voicemail in a similar tone and threatened to kill himself. Another voicemail threatened the life of an ex-husband of the victim, saying he would “put a bullet” in his head. At 7:23 a.m. his voicemail said she pushed him to do things, and then in a two-minute-long voicemail he threatened to barge into her home and kill himself in front of her and her family.
The victim told Trocki that in the fall there was a domestic incident that occurred in Lake George, New York, and Stocker was issued a restraining order, and this was confirmed by authorities. Court records show he was arrested for unlawful mischief.
The victim said that on March 3 she was driving on Route 103 in Rockingham when Stocker followed her closely, texted and called her while driving, and eventually rear-ended her vehicle.
She also told Trocki that on March 24 she brought her vehicle to an auto mechanic and a GPS tracking device was found, which he allegedly admitted to the victim.
While talking with the victim, Trocki saw her phone ring multiple times and she identified the number as a Voice-Over IP telephone number Stocker created, which she said was customary for him to do because she blocks numbers. Trocki viewed dozens of texts from that day, and one had a photograph of a Ruger Security 9 mm handgun that said, “time to do it.”
Ultimately, officers found that this handgun was reported stolen on March 29. Stocker is also prohibited from possessing firearms due to an active relief from abuse order.
Police executed a search warrant and arrested Stocker on March 29, and during the search found the alleged firearm and seized his cell phone.
Stocker is charged with the following felonies: first degree arson; first degree aggravated domestic assault; aggravated stalking; and unlawful mischief.
The aggravated domestic assault charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine. First degree arson has a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $2,000 fine. The stalking and unlawful mischief charges have a penalty of up to five years in prison, and/or respective fines of $25,000 and $5,000.
Misdemeanor charges include violation of abuse prevention order; reckless endangerment; disturbing the peace by phone; vehicle operation-careless or negligent; and five violations of conditions of release. These all carry maximum penalties of three months to a year in prison, and various fines.
Stocker is being held without bail and a clerk at the Windham Criminal Division of the Vermont Superior Court said he will be arraigned in person on April 2 at 1 p.m.
