RutlandHerald.com - We Are Vermont

Woman found dead in Poultney

Police hold person of interest in 'suspicious death' on unrelated charge

David Denny is led out of the Vermont State Police barracks in Rutland on Tuesday evening. Cassandra Hotaling / Rutland Herald

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POULTNEY — The boyfriend of Castleton State College instructor Linda Wiggin sought as a "person of interest" in her death was arrested Tuesday on an unrelated charge.

David C. Denny, 41, of Rutland, hasn't been charged in the death of Wiggin, 49, but he remains the only person of interest identified by police thus far.

Wiggin's death also has not been labeled a homicide by Vermont State Police. However, investigators said Tuesday that the "suspicious" death did not appear due to an accident or natural causes.

Wiggin's body was found in her basement Monday by crime scene investigators who have been scouring her home at 186 College St. since Sunday night. An autopsy was expected Tuesday night or today.

Police said Tuesday afternoon they were awaiting results of the autopsy before positively identifying the body. However, Tuesday evening police issued a press release describing Denny as a person of interest in the "suspicious death of Linda Wiggin."

While investigators had been searching for Wiggin since they were first called to the home, the location of her body wasn't discovered until late Monday night, State Police Capt. Ed Ledo said Tuesday.

"Let me put it to you this way, crime scene investigators conducted a search of the house and didn't find her. They then did a more extensive search and found her," Ledo said.

A State Police spokeswoman wouldn't say Tuesday evening whether police were questioning Denny about Wiggin's death or whether he was a suspect in her death.

However, earlier in the day, Ledo said police found evidence at the house that led them to believe there was "foul play" involved in her death.

"Based upon the information found at the scene, this is believed to be an isolated incident resulting from a domestic situation, therefore we do not feel that the public is in any danger," Ledo said Tuesday afternoon at a news conference prior to Denny's arrest.

Ledo declined to comment on the evidence gathered at the scene, but he said police have been "actively" seeking Denny since Sunday. The unemployed Rutland man, whose criminal record includes convictions for burglary and cultivating marijuana, was found late Tuesday afternoon at a home in Brandon.

Denny was taken into custody without incident on a probation violation. Neither a State Police spokesman nor Department of Corrections Commissioner Robert Hofmann knew or would say how Denny violated probation.

Denny has been on probation since his release from jail Aug. 29.

The 6-foot, 3-inches-tall Denny appeared calm and cooperative as he was led in handcuffs from the State Police barracks in Rutland on Tuesday evening. He was taken by police cruiser to the Rutland jail.

Denny reportedly had a turbulent relationship with Wiggin, who split with him for a year before taking him back, according to Wiggin's neighbor and friend, Tom Sykes.

"He called her for bail and she said 'I'm not bailing him out. I've had enough of that,'" Sykes said.

Sykes said he and other neighbors were glad when Wiggin ousted Denny, who neighbors nicknamed "Crazy Dave."

"I told her one time 'I don't know why you're hanging around with him' and she said 'Yeah, it's probably an embarrassment for me,'" Sykes recalled. "I said 'Well, yeah, he is an embarrassment.'"

But when Wiggin decided to let Denny, who occasionally lived with her, back into her life this year, Sykes said he wasn't surprised.

"That big house has been overwhelming for her," Sykes said. "Dave did a lot of the maintenance for her."

Investigators wearing white suits, boots, rubber gloves and gas masks continued gathering evidence from the basement of the sprawling house Tuesday. Electric fans were utilized to blow air out of the basement before the body was removed Tuesday afternoon.

Police said they were called to Wiggin's home Sunday evening by four Green Mountain College students who rent the second story of Wiggin's home. The home is only a few hundred yards from the private college's campus.

Ledo said police learned that Wiggin hadn't been to her job in Castleton since Monday, Nov. 10, when she called in sick. Wiggin, who taught English composition and effective speaking, didn't phone the college when she missed classes scheduled Wednesday and Friday.

Contact Brent Curtis at brent.curtis@rutlandherald.com.