In the quiet, snowy landscape of Barnet, Vermont, a sinister plot unfolded, culminating in the death of Gregory Charles Davis, a 49-year-old Caucasian man. On the evening of January 6, 2018, a man disguised as a U.S. Marshal, armed with a rifle and brandishing a fake arrest warrant, knocked on the door of Davis's Danville home. This imposter, later identified as Jerry Banks, abducted Davis, leaving his family to face a nightmare that would only worsen.
The following day, on January 7, 2018, Davis's body, bearing gunshot wounds and still in handcuffs, was discovered in a snowbank along a rural road.
The investigation into Davis's death unraveled a complex murder-for-hire scheme that stretched across the country, from Vermont to California and Nevada. At the center of the plot was Serhat Gumrukcu, a Los Angeles-based businessman embroiled in a multimillion-dollar oil deal with Davis. Investigators learned that Davis had threatened to expose Gumrukcu's fraudulent activities to the FBI. This threat, prosecutors argued, provided a powerful motive for Gumrukcu to silence Davis permanently. To execute his plan, Gumrukcu enlisted the help of his associate, Berk Eratay.
Eratay then contacted Aron Lee Ethridge, who acted as a middleman, to hire a hitman. Ethridge recruited Jerry Banks from Colorado to carry out the abduction and murder. Banks traveled to Vermont, where he posed as the marshal to gain access to Davis and carry out the killing. For more than four years, investigators meticulously pieced together the evidence, using cell phone records and other information to build a case against the four men involved in the conspiracy.
The investigation led to the arrests of all four individuals connected to the crime. Jerry Banks, the man who abducted and killed Davis, eventually pleaded guilty to his role in the murder-for-hire plot. Aron Lee Ethridge also pleaded guilty for his part in arranging the murder. Serhat Gumrukcu, the alleged mastermind behind the scheme, and his associate Berk Eratay were also arrested and faced charges for their involvement in the conspiracy that led to the tragic and untimely death of Gregory Charles Davis.
