GLENS FALLS, N.Y. — Brian Crossman Jr., 22, of Granville, New York was arrested Friday, Sept. 20 on three counts of aggravated murder arising from the fatal shootings of his father, 46-year-old Brian Crossman Sr.; his stepmother, 41-year-old Erica (Pawlusiak) Crossman; and his 13-year-old stepbrother, Colin Taft.
For each felony charge, Crossman Jr. faces the possibility of life in prison without parole if found guilty.
New York State Police arrested Crossman Jr. Friday morning as he was getting discharged from the Glens Falls (N.Y.) Hospital where he had been admitted on Sunday night for psychiatric issues, officials said.
Crossman Jr. appeared in a Warren County Court in Lake George, N.Y. on Friday afternoon. A judge ordered him held without bail at the Warren County Jail pending a hearing in county court.
It was unclear when Crossman would be brought to Vermont. He will need to waive extradition to Vermont in county court.
Autopsies conducted by the Chief Medical Examiner’s Office in Burlington determined on Tuesday that Brian Crossman’s cause of death was gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Erica Crossman’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the head. Colin Taft’s cause of death was multiple gunshot wounds.
All three deaths were ruled as homicides.
The Vermont State Police investigation identified significant evidence that linked Crossman Jr. to the killings, including digital information, statements, injuries, and various interviews, they said.
According to an affidavit filed by Rutland County State's Attorney Ian Sullivan on Friday, the crime took place "on or about" Saturday, Sept. 14 to Sunday, Sept. 15.
Crossman Jr. was identified as a person of interest shortly after the triple shooting was reported around 3:45 a.m. on Sunday.
VSP Corporal Joseph Duca responded to the incident after speaking on the phone with Crossman Jr., who reported that "he had located his family deceased at their residence." Crossman Jr. also said he observed “several shotguns on the floor of the residence covered in blood.”
He agreed to meet Corporal Duca at the Wells Village School.
Upon arrival at the school, Duca located Crossman Jr. outside with "shirt and pants covered in what appeared to be a red brown stain... consistent with blood."
When asked what occurred, Crossman Jr. said that he "left the residence around midnight to go for a walk." Later, however, in conversation with other officers, Crossman Jr. said “he did not know what time he left but it was dark and he was gone for a few hours.”
In his initial conversation with Duca, he said that he found his family dead upon his return, and "attempted to drag his father ... outside the residence which is why he was covered in blood."
He said he attempted to call 911 several times but was unable to.
Crossman Jr. said that he had changed his clothes and that there was additional bloody clothing at the residence.
VSP officers also noted "what appeared to be an injury on Crossman Jr.'s right shoulder area." The injury was described as "red" and "fresh," and was found "in the direct location where a shooter commonly places the butt of a long gun to fire it."
At one point, according to the affidavit, Crossman Jr. asked, “So, what’s gonna happen, am I gonna like go to the hospital or go to jail or am I gonna go with my aunt or just go home?”
Later in the morning, Crossman Jr. “was transported to the [VSP] Rutland Barracks and his cell phone was seized.” He said he did not want to speak with investigators without a lawyer present.
After being questioned by police, however, Crossman Jr. was released to the company of his mother.
His clothing, socks, and bare feet were found to have blood on them. He was wearing shoes when encountered by police, the tread of which was consistent with shoe tracks found in the residence.
Crossman Jr. was described as being 6'4" tall and 300 pounds.
The VSP Crime Scene Search Team later responded to the Crossman residence at 2733 VT-Route 133 and began processing the scene.
There, Brian Crossman Sr. was located “lying on his back directly in front of the mudroom entrance door,” with a "Can-Am utility vehicle" backed up to the door. Blood was also located on the vehicle’s tailgate, driver’s side floorboard and steering wheel.
A “yellow pull-behind wagon” was tipped over on its side nearby, and “what appeared to be yellow paint transfer” was found on the exterior of the mudroom door. Blood was also located in the tire-treads and underside of the wagon, which “had a hitch consistent with one that would be attached to a utility vehicle and/or tractor.”
“Crossman Sr. had a gunshot injury to his head and other gunshot injuries to his body,” the affidavit reads.
Officers also observed “a significant amount of blood inside the doorway and what appeared to be a semi-automatic pistol on the floor inside the [mudroom] doorway."
Throughout the mudroom was a “large amount” of blood.
“The mudroom area rug and surrounding hardwood floor was soaked,” with blood according to the affidavit. Bedding, including sheets and a comforter, was on the area rug with a “large amount” of blood on it.
Also on the rug was “black Glock 43 semi-automatic 9-millimeter handgun,” with what appeared to be blood on it.
Near the doorway connecting the mudroom to the kitchen, a “Ford baseball type hat” was found with what appeared to be “shot shell components including felt wadding and loose shot pellets inside that hat.” A shotgun pellet was also found embedded within a purse that sat on a bench in the mudroom.
In the kitchen, police found more blood than anywhere else in the residence. Blood was smeared in what appeared to be a drag pattern. This appeared to be in a "relatively straight path" between the living room and mudroom.
“Shot shell fragments” were also found along the kitchen floor, with “three projectile strikes … located in the hardwood floor of the kitchen near the mudroom.” A spent shotgun shell casing was found underneath a “wooden kitchen island.”
A box of ammunition with what appeared to be blood on it was found on the countertop, near the refrigerator. Multiple types of ammunition were eventually found within the box.
A “blue Makita battery operated chainsaw was located on the kitchen counter near the stove.” Blood, and a fingerprint, were found on the chainsaw. Its handle was extended over the previously-cooked baking sheet, “indicating it had not been on the counter when dinner was made.”
A blue suitcase was also found between the kitchen and “dining area of the living room,” also with blood on it. The clothing inside was consistent with Crossman Jr.’s height and weight.
In the living room, a “Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun” was located on a dining table. A shotgun shell was in the chamber and another was found on the table. Officers noted two bloody footprints made by someone “either barefoot or wearing socks.” Numerous bloody shoe-prints were also found in the living room.
“A Remington 11-87, 12-gauge shotgun” was found on a couch in the living room.
“The firearm appeared to have a malfunction – a fired shot shell was stuck in the action,” according to the affidavit. “This malfunction likely occurred because the shell was too long for the shotgun.”
Also on the couch was a dark polo-shirt “consistent with Crossman Jr.’s clothing size,” also with blood on it.
A second box of ammunition was found near the stairway, “matching the fired ammunition from the Mossberg shotgun located on the table,” “the ammunition jammed in the Remington that was on the couch, and the fired shot shell” on the table.
Officers located the body of Erica Crossman “laying nude on a bed” in the master bedroom, connected to the living room. The bed sheets and comforter had been removed.
“It is believed this missing linen is the linen that had been found in the mudroom,” the affidavit read.
A fired shotgun shell was found near a nightstand in the bedroom.
In a “gun room” adjacent to the bedroom, officers found “one firearm safe and two firearm cabinets and numerous other firearms.”
“One of the keyed glass doors was found to be ajar and it appeared multiple firearms were missing,” from the safe. The key was found “still within the lock of the bottom cabinet of the safe.” The cabinet contained “numerous ammunition containers” matching that which was discovered throughout the residence.
A 20-gauge shotgun was found in front of the safe, though the “shotgun’s butt stock appeared to have been broken and twisted. A piece was missing.”
Another shotgun shell was found at the top of the stairs.
In an upstairs bedroom, officers found a “juvenile male deceased on the floor” and a shotgun shell on the floor nearby, another on the floor next to the bed, and another on the bed. At the foot of the bed was “a television stand and a metal firearm safe,” which was “discovered with the door ajar.”
A “camouflage shotgun” was found lying in the grass near a chicken coop, on the opposite side of the residence and beside a white Green Mountain Power truck.
Crossman Jr.’s mother, Crystal Bassett, and her husband had traveled to Buffalo, N.Y. for the weekend and "did not want to leave Crossman Jr. alone at their residence," she later told VSP. She and Crossman Sr. had decided that Crossman Jr. would stay in Pawlet for the weekend.
Crossman Jr. did not have a good relationship with his father, Bassett said, and "had not stayed overnight in Crossman Sr.'s residence in a couple of years." Their relationship "depended on the day."
Bassett said that, around 4:35 a.m. on Sept. 15, she received a text message from Crossman Jr. saying "that something bad had happened, that he loved her, that she would eventually hear about what happened later."
He said that police were with him at the Wells Village School and that he was being questioned.
Another family member said that Crossman Jr. had sent them a Facebook message at 4:19 a.m. on Sunday, Sept. 15 saying "I love you." They asked if he was "doing well" and Crossman Jr. said he was "not doing well," that she "can't help fix this," and that his "dad is dead."
Bassett told police that Crossman Jr. "has mental health disabilities" and had experienced a "mental breakdown" in Atlantic City, New Jersey about a month prior. He had an appointment with his primary care physician scheduled for Oct. 9, she said.
Crossman Jr. had "sought treatment from multiple psychiatric doctors over the years." She said that he had "sought in-patient treatment at multiple mental health rehabilitation facilities in the past."
“When asked what Crossman Jr. was diagnosed with, [Bassett] advised possibly schizophrenia,” the affidavit reads.
His mother began "noticing issues" with Crossman Jr. when "he was approximately three years old," she said.
"Approximately two years ago, [Bassett] noticed his behavior beginning to escalate," the affidavit read. He was not taking any prescribed medication, she said, but "used alcohol occasionally and also was believed to smoke marijuana."
A relative described Crossman Jr. as "never fitting in with other kids since he was little." She said he "never had any friends and didn't socialize with anyone else."
When asked if Crossman Jr. was capable of committing the act, they said "he could be and was also proficient with firearms."
Another family member described Crossman Jr. as "extremely concerning." He had "expressed extreme forms of aggression toward others in the past and throughout his life," they said.
They recalled "an incident where Crossman Jr. was seated on the porch of his residence ... and would make a gun gesture with his hand, point at passing cars, and yell 'Bang!' while pretending to shoot the passing cars.
Crossman Jr. had always shown "an interest in death," the relative said, and had "tortured frogs and kittens in the past."
"The internet search history associated with the Crossman Samsung cell phone included multiple internet searches related to serial killers and unsolved murders," the affidavit reads.
During interviews with police, a family friend recalled an incident three years ago, while training a 'coon dog' with Crossman Sr. and Crossman Jr., Crossman Jr. had obtained a firearm that the friend kept in their truck, and was "pointing the firearm directly at them and looking through the scope."
They later found that Crossman Jr. "had loaded the magazine" but told his father and the friend that "he was just looking through the scope."
Soon after, however, Crossman Jr. said "something to the effect of 'one of these days I'm going to kill him.'" When the friend asked, "Kill who?" he replied, "My father."
The friend said that Erica Crossman had previously confided in them "that she didn't feel safe with Crossman Jr. at the residence, and that she was afraid to be there alone when Crossman Sr. wasn't around."
Erica Crossman had told the friend she was scared for that weekend in particular because Crossman Sr. was "on-call that weekend for Green Mountain Power."
Crossman told the friend she "had a pistol, but that she never carried it, and wasn't sure if she would be able to use it if she needed to." The friend advised Erica Crossman to have Crossman Sr. "lock up all the guns."
As Erica Crossman had feared, Crossman Sr. was, in fact, called out by Green Mountain Power multiple times on Sept. 14 and Sept. 15, with the last call for service being placed at 12:27 a.m. on Sept. 15.
On Friday, investigators thank the greater Pawlet community for their continued patience and understanding as this case unfolded throughout the week.
Police initially said Crossman was 23, but late Friday reported he is 22 years-old.