Teen pleads no contest to murder of mother Former Gould Academy student also shot father

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION, Vt. – A Maine prep school student who admitted shooting his mother and trying to shoot his father over a year ago pleaded no contest to first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Laird Stanard, 18, of West Windsor, was issued two concurrent 20-year-to-life sentences at a hearing in White River Junction district court Thursday.

“This is clearly a substantial sentence,” his defense lawyer Scott McGee said. “It was arrived at after a lot of thought and soul searching. But Laird also wanted to take responsibility for what had happened.”

Stanard was home on a holiday break from Gould Academy in Bethel, Maine, during Christmas vacation in 1999 when the shootings occurred at the family’s home in West Windsor.

The night of the killing began when Stanard took a shotgun and the family’s car and went to a nightclub in Ascutney and later to a party, according to court records. When he returned home, he was confronted by his mother, Paula Easton-Stanard, and the two had an argument in the kitchen.

Stanard shot his mother in the face at close range with the shotgun, the records say. When his father, William Stanard, came downstairs to investigate, Laird fired again but only grazed the side of his father’s head.

Stanard, who left the house, threw the shotgun into a brook and returned to the party, was arrested four days later at the Brattleboro Retreat, where he had stayed while police sorted out the case.

Stanard was composed and did not show any emotion during proceedings.

Asked about facts of the case during the hearing, Stanard adjusted his glasses and said, “I do not contest that a jury could use these facts to find me guilty.”

If the court accepts the plea agreement, Stanard will receive credit for the year he has already served in jail and would be eligible for parole in about 12 years.

A presentencing investigation has been ordered before an official sentencing hearing, scheduled for early April.

Prosecutors decided against seeking more jail time for Stanard because he had no prior criminal history, said State’s Attorney Robert Sand.

For some members of Easton-Stanard’s family, the sentence may not be enough. Stanard’s father, William Stanard, who has attended proceedings in the past, was not on hand for Thursday’s hearing.