Vermont murder suspect believed dead in Kansas

BURLINGTON, Vt. — A man believed to be the suspect in the killing Monday of his former girlfriend in the Vermont town of Windsor has been found dead in Kansas following a high-speed chase with police, the Vermont State Police said late Wednesday.

Jason Kendall, 27, was wanted on suspicion of second-degree murder in the shooting death of Molly Helland, 22. She and Kendall had a child together.

Law officers in Kansas on Wednesday spotted a car that fit the description of a vehicle Kendall was believed to have been driving, a silver Honda Accord with stolen Massachusetts license plates. The Kansas Highway Patrol tried to stop the vehicle, which sped away.

"During the attempt to stop the car, a high-speed chase ensued, ending with the crash of the subject vehicle," Vermont State Police Capt. J.P. Sinclair said in a statement late Wednesday. "As the officers approached the vehicle, they discovered the male driver (and only occupant of the vehicle) deceased of an apparent self inflicted gunshot wound."

Kansas authorities were continuing to process the scene late Wednesday and planned to identify the man through autopsy, Sinclair said. The preliminary investigation indicates the man's physical description is "consistent with that of Jason Kendall."

Investigators had been seeking Kendall the killing in southern Vermont. Kendall was thought to have been armed with a gun while he was on the lam.

The victim apparently died of multiple gunshot wounds near 43 Main St. in Windsor, state police have said.

Windsor police responded to a report of screams and gunshots at about 7 a.m. Monday near Helland's parents' house, where the young mother had been living, according to the police statement. Resuscitation efforts failed, and she was pronounced dead at the scene.