Court documents reveal drug connection with homicide victim

We are learning more about a homicide victim in the Northeast Kingdom, his ties to an alleged drug operation, and two people behind bars.

Vermont State Police investigators combed for clues this week as to who killed 37-year-old Michael Pimental. They hope the answers may be at the home he shared with his girlfriend in Waterford, 27-year-old Krystal Whitcomb.

Whitcomb is currently in jail on drug charges. Court papers show she was caught Sunday with heroin, fentanyl, and two guns. It was shortly after Pimental's body was discovered. He'd been shot multiple times and his body ditched near a driveway off Victory Road in Concord. It was found Sunday morning randomly by a property owner.

Police had been looking for Pimental after getting a tip over thw weekend that he'd been killed. But it's not clear when or how long his body had been there. Police don't know yet the kind of gun used and analysis is still underway.

Police questioned Whitcomb about Pimental's death but are not calling her a suspect -- just a person of interest. So is her father, Shawn Whitcomb. The 51-year-old is also now in jail on drug charges following the gruesome discovery.

Court papers show the three ran a heroin operation and drug investigators had been on to them since July, even making controlled purchases. Now in custody, investigators say the Whitcombs are giving "mixed stories," and so are several other people they've been talking to about the homicide.

Police also don't know where Pimental's truck is. The blue Ford F-150 is missing. It has a Vermont plate 296A851.

The Whitcombs are due in federal court Thursday to see if they'll still be held on those drug charges.