A woman is found shot to death outside her home On a frigid winter day in Burlington, Vermont, the body of 35-year-old Angela Belisle, a female, was discovered outside her home on Brookes Avenue on January 3, 1981. Initially, due to the extreme weather conditions, with wind chills making it feel like 80 degrees below zero, it was thought that she had tragically succumbed to the elements. The initial theory from the chief medical examiner was that she might have slipped on the ice, hit her head, and frozen to death.
This narrative was quickly corrected when an autopsy revealed a more sinister cause of death: Angela Belisle had been shot.
The investigation into her death revealed she was a victim of a homicide. She had sustained two gunshot wounds to the head. Investigators believe the perpetrator may have been waiting for her, possibly hiding near the garage of her home. It is thought that after she returned from grocery shopping and got out of her car, the assailant approached and shot her. There were no signs of a struggle or robbery, as her purse was found near her body, seemingly untouched. This led authorities to believe she likely knew her killer.
Despite the efforts of the Burlington Police and state investigators over the years, the murder of Angela Belisle remains unsolved. The case has been revisited periodically, but no arrests have ever been made, and no suspect has been publicly named. Her death is one of several decades-old cold cases involving women in Vermont that law enforcement continues to seek public assistance in solving. The investigation into who is responsible for the death of the mother of three is still open, leaving her family and community without answers for over four decades.
