Episode 225: The Murder of Fern Feather
29-year-old Fern Feather was by all accounts an incredibly beautiful person. Friends of hers described her as things like “a force of beauty,” “a wildflower” and free-spirited and gentle. Fern was known for her love and kindness for animals, especially birds, and was always admiring birds, bugs, rocks and nature as a whole. She was so deeply devoted to peace that rather than using the expression “kill two birds with one stone” she would say “plant two flowers with one seed.” Fern was a fixture in the community of Montpelier, Vermont, and quickly became enmeshed in the community when she moved there in 2009. Her friends and loved ones who met her at different parts of her life knew her by different names and pronouns, and in March of 2022 Fern had proudly announced on her Facebook that she was a transgender woman.
Several days before her murder, Fern was driving when she saw a hitchhiker on the side of the road and pulled over to give him a ride. The man, 43-year-old Seth Brunell, and Fern began chatting and formed what seemed to be a fast friendship. Seth had recently been in a psychiatric hospital receiving care and was having a hard time, and Fern was dedicated to helping others and could easily improve anyone’s mood by simply being around them. Fern’s friends had reported that they were not surprised by her picking up a hitchhiker as she would help anyone she could.
Seth and Fern began hanging out and spending time together. On April 12th at around 8:00 a.m., police received a call about a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot of the school district offices. When officers with the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department arrived, they found Fern and Seth sitting in the car talking. Fern and Seth reassured police that they were just looking for a place to go walk Fern’s dogs, and during this interaction police learned that Seth had recently been getting mental health care. The two then drove away. At 9:15 a.m., a friend had called Fern to invite her as well as Seth over for coffee, which Fern had politely declined at the time. The conversation was normal, and the friend didn’t think anything of it until they received a call back an hour later from Seth. On the phone, he told the friend that he had killed Fern.
While Seth and the friend were on the phone, police received a 911 call from a passing motorist who had been driving in Morristown, Vermont when they passed a man standing by the body of a woman on the side of the road. When police arrived on scene, they found Seth standing by Fern’s body. Seth told them, “I told Fern I wasn’t gay. I was just protecting myself.” Near Fern’s body was a large, 12-inch knife that was clearly the murder weapon. Fern had been fatally stabbed in the chest. Despite Seth’s immediate claims that he was defending himself, it was clear to police that he was unharmed. He was arrested and charged with second-degree murder. On April 14th, two days later, he pleaded not guilty.
While Fern would not hurt a fly, Seth had a lengthy and concerning criminal history. In 2004, he was sentenced to 11 to 12 months in prison after he stabbed a man in the chest with a kitchen knife after Seth and the man had been fighting over a woman. Six years later in 2010, he was convicted of grand larceny for robbing a convenience store in Waterbury, Vermont of $2200. He was sentenced to between 30 days to 18 months in prison. In addition to the frustration with Seth attempting to claim the murder was an act of self defense, there were multiple errors within the investigation itself. Jessica Burke, one of Seth’s attorneys, said that the investigation was botched from the beginning with police charging Seth for murder before all of the evidence had even been processed. She also said that the evidence wasn’t collected thoroughly and that police let Fern’s dogs wander around the crime scene for over an hour which could have contaminated evidence.
While it was clear Fern’s identity was at the root of her murder, the state felt as though there wasn’t enough evidence to prove that Fern’s murder was motivated by her explicitly being trans and that pursuing a hate crime charge was “a high burden.” The trial was finally set to start in October of 2024, but it continued getting delayed due to an incident a month prior to the scheduled start date. Prosecutors had failed to turn over a 3D model of the crime scene to Seth’s defense attorney, instead sending a 3D model from an entirely different case in error. Seth’s attorneys moved to throw the case out entirely, but the judge ruled for the trial to move forward after yet another postponement
The trial finally started in April of 2025 but came to a screeching halt just four days after it started. Seth, now 46-years-old, accepted a plea deal. When his attorney Jessica Burke learned that a sheriff’s deputy had questioned Seth en route from court during a transport back to jail on the first day of trial, she moved for a mistrial. The deputy had asked Seth questions about the day of the murder, Fern’s car, the murder weapon as well as his relationship with his attorney. Rather than stop court proceedings altogether, a plea deal was reached. The judge dismissed the jury and sentenced Seth to four to 10 years in prison, all suspended with 18 months to serve for voluntary manslaughter. As Seth had been in jail awaiting trial since he was arrested three years prior, he was not sentenced to any additional time and was released.
This caused major outcry among Fern’s loved ones who had been waiting years for justice. Fern’s friend Murphy Robinson stated, “Did he think that because Fern was trans that this would be a throwaway person that nobody cared about? Because that couldn’t have been more far from the truth. She was so deeply beloved.” Her parents were shattered at their daughter’s murderer walking free after years of back and forth. At the end of the trial, Fern’s mom Lisa Barbeau stated, “The only reason you’re getting out now is because of the gross negligence of the Lamoille County Sheriff’s Department. Because you are a murderer.” Fern’s dad had also made a statement, calling the sentencing a “slap on the wrist” and stating, “This isn’t justice. It’s a pitiful parody of justice. F*ck you all.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign, Fern’s murder was at least the 12th of a trans or gender non conforming person in 2022, however that number is likely higher because of the underreporting as well as incorrect reporting of murders of trans people. Tori Cooper, the Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative with the Human Rights Campaign stated, “Fern Feather was a young and vibrant transgender woman. She should still be alive today. The stories of love and joy from Fern’s friends make it clear that she will be greatly missed and that they will demand justice on her behalf. Her beautiful memory must not be overshadowed by her tragic and violent death.”
Image sources:
sevendaysvt.com - “‘A Star-Being’: Friends Mourn Fern Feather, a Transgender Woman Killed in Morristown”