Vermont State Police identifies suspect, obtains arrest warrant in 2019 homicide in Barton

BARTON, Vermont (Wednesday, Jan. 24, 2024) — Following an investigation that began more than four years ago, Vermont State Police detectives have identified a suspect in a 2019 homicide in Barton.

The victim, 37-year-old Richard Poginy of Glover, was found with serious injuries following a low-speed, minor car crash in Barton on Nov. 2, 2019. He died a week later at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire. Investigators determined that his significant injuries were inconsistent with a vehicle crash. New Hampshire’s chief medical examiner performed an autopsy and ruled the cause of Poginy’s death was “complications of blunt impact head injuries,” and the manner of death was a homicide.

Over the following months and years, Vermont State Police detectives with the Major Crime Unit and Bureau of Criminal Investigations identified and interviewed numerous witnesses with information about what had occurred. According to the investigative findings, Brownswell Cedano, 29, physically assaulted and repeatedly struck Poginy outside a home in Barton. Cedano, who at the time was a resident of Hartford, Connecticut, then fled the scene. Poginy subsequently drove away from the home before crashing his car a short distance away.

Based on the findings of the investigation, the Vermont State Police sought an arrest warrant for Cedano on a charge of second-degree murder. The warrant was authorized and signed this week by Judge Justin Jiron in the Criminal Division of Vermont Superior Court in Newport.

Cedano currently is an inmate at Federal Correctional Institution Schuylkill in Minersville, Pennsylvania, after he was sentenced in November 2022 to a seven-year term following a conviction for distributing drugs in Rutland. The timing of Cedano’s return to Vermont to face the murder charge is unclear and will be coordinated by the Orleans County State’s Attorney’s Office along with federal counterparts.

No additional information is available at this time. An affidavit in support of the arrest warrant has been filed with the court in Newport. The Vermont State Police will provide updates when more details are available.

***Update No. 1, 12:55 p.m. Nov. 9, 2019***

Richard Poginy died at the Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center on 11/9/19.  Poginy was transported to Dartmouth after the crash and had remained at the hospital since then.  State Police are still investigating the circumstances surrounding the crash.  Anyone who may have information or witnessed the crash is asked to call the State Police Barracks in Derby.

***Initial news release, 6 p.m. Nov. 2, 2019***

On the above date and time, Fire/EMS and the State Police responded for a report of a single vehicle crash on Hollow Road in the town of Barton. The vehicle was operated by Richard Poginy and he was the sole occupant of the vehicle. Investigation revealed operator #1 left the roadway when traveling south on Hollow Road.  The vehicle sustained minor front/rear bumper damage.  The operator was transported to North Country ER and later transported to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center for further treatment.  At this time it is believed operator #1 sustained an unknown medical event prior to leaving the roadway. The investigation is ongoing.