SPRINGFIELD, Vt. — The Windsor County State’s Attorney’s Office has charged a seventh person in connection with an interstate kidnapping and assault case from January.

But the newest defendant, Kayla Kosowski, claims she herself was victimized by the alleged perpetrators, in addition to their primary target, Julie Dexter.

Dexter, 32, told police that several individuals orchestrated her kidnapping out of Claremont, held her captive in a Springfield residence for about 24 hours and injured her repeatedly, believing that she stole $8,000 worth of drugs.

Dexter specified that one of the residents of the Randall Hill Road home, Kosowski, was also restrained and injured for a period; but the state has now accused Kosowski of assisting the perpetrators.

Kosowski faces two felony counts of aiding in the kidnapping and unlawful restraint of Dexter.

While the alleged crimes committed within her home involved assault, ransom and drugs in her presence, Kosowski, 38, claims that her participation has been misconstrued. 

The Attorney’s Office decided in March to charge her and put out a warrant for her arrest.

At a July 20 arraignment, Kosowski, who now resides in Bellows Falls, pleaded not guilty to two felony accessory charges. The first, aiding in the commission of a kidnapping, comes with the possibility of a life sentence and a $50,000 fine. The second charge, aiding in unlawful restraint, could result in up to 15 years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

Specifically, in the police affidavit for Kosowski’s case, Sgt. Philip Perkins wrote, “Kayla advised they created a plan including Nicole [Palardy] that would consist of kidnapping Julie until they received the narcotics or payment.”

“I believe this information was relevant in the Judge finding probable cause for the charges,” Windsor State’s Attorney Ward Goodenough said by email.

What happened the night of the kidnapping?

Kosowski told the Valley News that her boyfriend, Sheldon Stocker, invited people she didn’t know to rent their basement for the night, but their stay quickly escalated from panic over a missing mystery “package” to torture of Dexter and herself. 

The visitors had stashed $8,000 worth of drugs on Kosowski’s property, she said, but it went missing. After first blaming Kosowski for taking it, the group recalled that Dexter had visited earlier that evening, and believed she may be responsible.

Kosowski admits to having asked Dexter about her location over text by order of Bonner and Harris, but claims her life was threatened.

“I didn’t have a choice,” Kosowski said of sending the text. “I couldn’t even leave my house.”

Dexter informed police she met up with Nicole Palardy, 36, to purchase drugs out of a black truck parked outside a Claremont home on the evening of Jan. 23.

When she approached the vehicle, two men in the back seat – later identified by police as Damarcus Bonner of Connecticut and Tyron Harris of Massachusetts – forced Dexter into the vehicle and drove her across state lines to Kosowski’s home in Vermont, police wrote in the affidavit.

Dexter sustained injuries throughout her captivity in the basement of 950 Randall Hill Road. Specifically, in an interview with police at Springfield Hospital, Dexter said she was waterboarded with peroxide, burned with a hot knife and struck.

Kosowski asserts that the assailants did restrain and injure her alongside Dexter, and that the people involved were originally strangers to her. By the time Kosowski became aware of these crimes, leaving the house wasn’t an option, she said.

Kosowski claimed the perpetrators duct taped her arms, legs, mouth and eyes. The second time, she said one of them burned her back with a torch and punched her in the face. They let her return upstairs while Dexter remained in the basement, she said.

Springfield Sgt. Philip Perkins wrote in the affidavit, “Julie also informed me that at some point in time, they had duct tape Kayla and she was held captive and assaulted as well.”

The perpetrators demanded money from Dexter, threatened her and contacted people on her phone via Facebook Messenger, informing them she would be held hostage until they received payment, she told police.

Officers arrived on scene around 10 p.m. Jan. 24 following a report from Dexter’s ex-boyfriend and a phone ping to her location. Stocker and Kosowski, the couple residing in the home, answered the door.

Kosowski denied knowledge of anyone inside except for her 14-year-old daughter upstairs, but when called down, her daughter told police others were staying there, the affidavit said.

Kosowski said she and Stocker answered the door and denied knowledge of people in the home, which she explained was due to her being unsure if the assailants were listening in. 

At the police station with her daughter, Kosowski said the people involved were renting the space, and that’s all she knew. 

“I didn’t know if they had everybody either, someone could have run off,” she said.

Springfield Police arrested Bonner, Harris, Palardy, Stocker and 18-year-old Jessenialyz Jones that evening, and a search of the home came up with firearms, drugs and evidence corroborating Dexter’s testimony. Jesse Emerson, a 46-year-old Springfield man who police believe drove Dexter across state lines, was arrested about one week later.

Ongoing prosecution

Previously, the state charged Bonner, Harris and Jones each with additional kidnapping charges, citing Kosowski as a second victim.

However, when a federal court charged Bonner, Harris and Palardy over interstate kidnapping, Windsor County dropped those three cases. Kosowski is not referenced in the federal affidavit.

In Jones’ continuing Vermont case, Judge Elizabeth Mann did not find probable cause for crimes of kidnapping and ransom against Kosowski, and dropped those charges in February.

The affidavit in Kosowski’s case mentions her about five times. Police noted that she is a known narcotics user; became aware of the plan to kidnap Julie; was restrained for a period according to Dexter; and initially denied knowledge of what happened.

There was no new information in the police investigation, Springfield Police Chief Jeff Burnham said when reached by phone. In reviewing the case, the Attorney’s Office decided to charge Kosowski based on the details already available.

While Kosowski was released on a $10,000 bail a few days after her arrest, the other defendants have been in prison since their arrests earlier this year, all pending trial.

Kosowski has a status conference scheduled for Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. at the Windsor County District Court in White River Junction.