In the fall of 2023, the life of Eric White, a 21-year-old Black male from Chicopee, Massachusetts, was tragically ended in the quiet landscape of Vermont. On October 12, 2023, what began as a trip to the Northeast Kingdom with an acquaintance concluded in a double homicide. White and his friend, Jahim Solomon, also 21, had traveled with Theodore Bland to a residence in Lowell.
It was inside this home that Bland opened fire, killing both young men.
For days, the families of White and Solomon were left in agonizing uncertainty. The men were officially reported missing on October 15, 2023, having been out of contact for several days. Relatives reported that the pair had been traveling together in the areas of Burlington, Lowell, Morrisville, and Stowe. The investigation that followed spanned several communities, and the grim search came to an end on October 24 and 25. Law enforcement discovered the bodies of the two men in separate wooded areas about a mile apart in the town of Eden, Vermont, miles from where they were killed. An autopsy later revealed that White died from a single gunshot wound to the head, while Solomon had suffered multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into the deaths of Eric White and Jahim Solomon pointed to a drug-related motive and quickly zeroed in on Theodore Bland, a 29-year-old from Stowe, as the primary suspect. According to court records, Bland used social media to communicate with co-conspirators about his attempts to conceal the murders after they occurred. He is also said to have persuaded others to help him move the victims' bodies to the remote locations where they were ultimately found.
A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment against Theodore Bland, charging him with causing the deaths of Eric White and Jahim Solomon through the use of a firearm in relation to a drug trafficking crime. The charges against him constituted murder under federal law, and prosecutors initially announced their intention to seek the death penalty. Two other men, Dilan Jiron and Justin Douglass, were also indicted for allegedly assisting Bland.
After first pleading not guilty, Bland later changed his plea. He pleaded guilty in federal court to gunning down the two men. As of October 2024, Theodore Bland had been sentenced to life in prison for the murders.
