BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Vermont man charged with killing his wife has pleaded not guilty to mail fraud charges related to embezzlement from his former employer, the Agri-Mark Cabot cheese-making plant in Cabot.
Randall Swartz, 58, of Orleans, was charged in the May 15 shooting death of his 54-year-old wife, Thea Swartz, who had called 911 to say her husband was pointing a handgun at her.
Authorities say Randall Swartz was found with a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the torso. He later pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder after being treated at the hospital.
On Wednesday, he denied federal mail fraud charges, according to the Times Argus. Investigators say he defrauded Agri-Mark for more than 10 years while working as a maintenance manager for the plant by buying hundreds of thousands of dollars’ worth of parts with company funds and using them to build machines sold in his side business selling maple syrup production equipment.
He also is accused of having plant employees work for that business on company time. Swartz was fired from Agri-Mark in 2017.
The indictment said he used U.S. Postal Service and private commercial carriers to deliver the fraudulently acquired equipment to the plant or his home.
His attorney did not immediately return a phone call seeking comment. Swartz is being held without bail.
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