Sincere Johnson, a 36-year-old Black or African American man from New York City, was found dead inside a Rutland, Vermont, apartment on June 12, 2022. While some news reports gave his age as 46, his death certificate listed him as 36. Known to some as “Corey,” Johnson was renting a room in the apartment on Baxter Street where his body was discovered.
An autopsy later determined his death was a homicide caused by multiple gunshot wounds, as well as sharp and blunt force injuries to his head and neck.
The investigation quickly focused on two people from the nearby town of Fair Haven: Courtney Samplatsky, then 34, and her then-husband, Michael O’Brien, then 35. According to court records, witnesses told police the pair had planned to rob a drug dealer. A fight reportedly broke out, during which Samplatsky allegedly shot Johnson. One witness told police he and his son were at the apartment and saw Samplatsky shoot Johnson, and that she then pointed the gun at his son and told him not to leave.
After the shooting, Samplatsky and O’Brien fled to New Hampshire. Their run ended a few days later when they were arrested in Salisbury, New Hampshire. Authorities there had responded to a report of a car crash and found that the occupants had fled the scene and broken into a nearby post office by smashing a window. The pair, identified as O’Brien and Samplatsky, surrendered to police and were extradited to Vermont to face charges in Johnson’s death.
O’Brien was charged with aiding in the commission of second-degree murder. Samplatsky was charged with second-degree murder and aggravated assault with a weapon. A hate-crime enhancement was later added to Samplatsky’s murder charge. According to an affidavit, after her arrest, Samplatsky made several racist statements to an investigator, including that “Every n— should die out there” and that all African Americans in Rutland should “be gone.” While she denied the killing, other witnesses reported she had bragged about shooting Johnson in the face.
Samplatsky initially pleaded not guilty. More than four years after the killing, she reached a plea agreement with prosecutors. In July 2026, she pleaded guilty to reduced charges of voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Per the agreement, she was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison as part of a larger 15-to-25-year suspended sentence. The final disposition of the charge against Michael O’Brien was not specified in available reports.
