Episode 149: The Murder of Tara Stratton
18-year-old Tara Stratton was described as very focused and driven, with a warm and uplifting energy. She had just graduated the previous year, with honors, from the Randolph Area Vocational Center in Randolph, Vermont, and she wanted to pursue a career in nursing. Bill Sugarman, an administrator at the technical center, stated “She was a girl who found her way and made it—she knew what she wanted." Tara and her mom Gay Stratton had a great relationship, and every day after she got out of school Tara would go to Wilson Tire where her mom worked to visit her. This tradition continued all throughout high school, after graduation and after she moved to an apartment in Barre. She was almost always in Randolph when she wasn’t in Barre as she had two jobs and was enrolled in the nursing program at Vermont Technical College. Gay said that Tara “could walk in a room and make everyone smile. I always looked forward to her daily visits with me. I knew if I was having a bad day, it wouldn’t be for long." Tara also worked as a per diem nurse’s aide at the Menig Extended Care Facility, and according to Brooks Chapin, who was her nursing supervisor there, “She really connected with the patients. She took time to hold their hand, to walk with them. For someone so young to have such a connection with the elderly was beautiful to see."
On Friday, January 17th, 2003, Tara’s body was found in her Barre, Vermont apartment. She was last seen out in Randolph the night before, and both her coworkers and family became worried when she didn’t show up to work or talk to her family as she always did. Her aunt and a family friend had to force their way into her apartment when she didn’t answer the door, and once inside they found a horrific scene. Tara was lying on her back in the living room of her apartment. She had been stabbed multiple times in her neck and chest and had been sexually assaulted. There was a sanitary napkin stuck on her left thigh. Her breasts had been removed. Medical examiners found evidence of sexual assault and the presence of semen, as well as several pubic hairs, on Tara’s body.
On January 21st, Barre Police Chief Trevor Whipple confirmed that Tara Stratton had been stabbed to death, and that the time of death occurred just 12 to 24 hours before she was found. He stated publicly that he felt this was not a random crime and that there were no signs of forced entry. Immediately all eyes turned to Tara’s new boyfriend, Torrey Kovalesky from Nahant, Massachusetts. He was cleared very early in the investigation and was absolutely devastated about Tara’s murder.
Police then looked into Tara’s ex-boyfriend, Rene Brochu, who she had dated for two years. Their relationship was described as rocky and tumultuous. They had dated in high school and broke things off when Tara had gotten suspicious about him cheating on her. He had also gone to jail for several months. Police looked into two other men that Tara had previous relationships with and obtained DNA samples from all four men.
The DNA was a match for Rene, however the DNA was a familial match and indicated that the perpetrator was a son or his father. Rene did not have any children, and police shifted their investigation to his father, Alfred Brochu. He knew Tara as she had lived at the home before she moved to Barre. Alfred also had an extensive criminal history. He was convicted of simple assault and reckless endangerment in 1982 in a road rage incident where he brandished a gun, he had a 1991 conviction for sexual assault against a 15-year-old, a simple assault conviction in 1992 during an incident at a correctional center, and multiple assault charges and an attempted assault charge in 1997. Police had received several other reports of sexual assault and simple assault, but there were no convictions for these.
Alfred was also alleged to have approached a woman who was sunbathing at Paul Webster’s riverside farm on Route 12A, held her at knife point where he told her to take off her bathing suit and then threatened to rape her. He was never convicted of the crime and the victim did not want to go through court proceedings and have to face him there again.
In an interview with police on February 6th, 2003, Alfred told them that Tara had stopped by his work place, Progressive Plastics, to break the news that she was going to break up with his son. He then says she gave him a hug and left. In a second interview with police, he told them that he’d never had sex with Tara. Nine days after the second interview, Alfred was brought to a remake of the crime scene and shown actual pictures of the original crime scene, which included graphic images of Tara’s body. When he saw these photos he started gagging and dry-heaving, but denied any involvement when asked by police. He then admitted to seeing Tara the night of her murder.
Police went to Alfred’s home to search for any additional evidence, and although nothing was found, he was still able to be arrested for Tara’s murder.
His trial began in October of 2004 and prosecutors used the DNA evidence, as well as the results of the hair samples found that also matched Alfred, as their main pieces of evidence. Alfred was found guilty of first-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
On February 25th, 2024, 71-year-old Alfred Brochu was found dead in his jail cell. His death was ruled as not suspicious.
Image sources:
wcax.com - “Convicted killer from Vermont dies in Mississippi Prison”