Affidavit: Suspect also confessed to killing brother

Slater held on gun-related, first-degree murder charges in connection to Frederick homicide

By Alex Bridges - abridges@nvdaily.com

WINCHESTER -- Justin Shane Slater told authorities June 13 that he killed not only his ex-girlfriend but also his older brother, court documents show.

The Frederick County Sheriff's Office has charged Slater, 24, of 117 Buffalo Trail, Shawneeland, with first-degree murder and a related gun charge for the shooting death of his brother, Gregory Scott Slater Jr., 28, of 293 Valley Mill Road.

The documents were filed in Frederick County Circuit Court late Monday afternoon.

Slater's brother died of a gunshot wound to the head, according to a state medical examiner's report.

Investigators with the Sheriff's Office executed search warrants on Slater at the jail June 17, the day of his arraignment in Frederick County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court. A day earlier, Slater waived his right to challenge extradition from Hardy County, W.Va., where authorities had apprehended him June 13.

Hardy County Deputy David Warren, who arrested Justin Slater the afternoon of June 13 on a fugitive warrant, interviewed the murder suspect along with Frederick County Sheriff's Office investigator Dave Ellinger and Clarke County Sheriff's Office Sgt. Travis Sumption, according to the affidavit for the search warrant filed Monday.

During that interview, "Slater admitted to shooting and killing his brother Gregory Scott Slater Jr. and his ex-girlfriend Kayleigh Marie Plamondon," the affidavit states. Earlier affidavits did not include information that he confessed to killing his brother, only to killing Plamondon.

The warrant filed Monday had been sought to search clothing and other personal items of Slater's transported from Potomac Highlands Regional Jail in Hampshire County, W.Va. A second warrant was sought for a mouth sample of DNA, as well as palm and fingerprints. Investigators seized two letters in addition to clothing.

In an affidavit for a warrant filed in Hardy County Circuit Court, Slater is said to have admitted to authorities that he killed his ex-girlfriend Plamondon, 22, of White Post. Plamondon went missing from Clarke County June 9; her body was found June 13 in a house in Lost City, W.Va., according to Clarke County authorities. The Sheriff's Office has not yet disclosed how Plamondon died.

Slater has not yet been charged in Clarke County in connection with Plamondon's death or disappearance.

Slater remains jailed without bond at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center. He is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing in Frederick County Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Aug. 24.