Vermont Woman Allegedly Slit Boyfriend’s Neck, Then Drank Tea In Bloody Apartment

A Vermont woman has pleaded not guilty to murder charges after police say she slit her boyfriend’s throat and then falsely claimed that it was self-defense.

Averil Beliveau, 30, appeared via video in Vermont Superior Court in Burlington on Monday, where she entered her plea in response to one count of second-degree murder, the Burlington Free Press reports.

Beliveau is accused of murdering her boyfriend, 45-year-old Cameron Faling, on Thursday in their studio apartment in Bolton, the Vermont Police Department said in a press release issued Sunday. Troopers weren’t called to the home until Saturday, however, in response to a report of a disturbance, according to police. They arrived to find Faling dead in the home, while Beliveau was unharmed.

Police have alleged that after killing Faling, Beliveau traveled to her parent’s home in Jericho, where she changed her clothes before returning home to go to sleep, local outlet WCAX reports. She did not contact police until around 7 a.m. on Saturday, when she called 911 and allegedly admitted to having “slit his neck” but claimed that she did so out of self-defense, when Faling choked her during a fight, according to the outlet.

She also reportedly admitted that she and Faling would routinely argue over chores and him not helping her buy marijuana.

Police said that they did not find any evidence that Faling assaulted her, but Faling did, in fact, have defensive wounds, WCAX reports. Authorities believe that the murder was premeditated; Beliveau allegedly admitted to police that she killed Faling by concealing the knife behind her and then walking up to him, and an investigation revealed that she purchased the knife she allegedly used to kill him weeks before carrying out the deed, the outlet reports.

When police responded to the home, they found Beliveau drinking tea, even though the apartment was covered in blood, sparking concerns regarding her mental health, according to WCAX. She could be a “danger to the public,” Chittenden County State's Attorney Sarah George said.

Following the completion of an autopsy on Sunday, the Chief Medical Examiner's Office in Burlington concluded that Faling died from incised wounds to the neck, and the manner of his death was a homicide, police said.

Beliveau has been held without bail at the Chittenden Regional Correctional Facility in South Burlington since her arrest, according to the Burlington Free Press.