Man accused of killing Rutland police officer during chase now faces aggravated murder charge

The Rutland County state’s attorney has upgraded charges against a Salisbury man who was driving the pickup truck that crashed into 19-year-old Rutland City Police Officer Jessica Ebbighausen’s cruiser last summer, killing her.

The new charges, including aggravated murder, against 20-year-old Tate Rheaume are part of more than 160 pages filed in Rutland County Superior criminal court last week by Ian Sullivan. 

The recent filings also include supporting police affidavits and the findings of crash investigation experts with the Vermont and New York state police agencies. The pages are filled with photos, charts, graphs and calculations from the crash scene. 

No police body cam, cruiser dash cam or officer audio were included with the filings. 

VTDigger has requested those materials from the city, which has refused to provide them, citing, in part, exemptions to Vermont’s public records law for matters currently under criminal investigation or prosecution. 

Still, the findings that were included in the new charging documents reveal some additional details that have not previously been released. 

Among them are investigators’ estimation, based on video footage from nearby businesses and data stored in the vehicle, that Rheaume was traveling at between 76 and 82 mph at the point of collision with Ebbighausen’s cruiser. The officer was approaching in the oncoming lane of travel on Woodstock Avenue in Rutland on the afternoon of July 7, police have said.

The speed limit on Woodstock Avenue, also known as Route 4, is 35 mph. 

“(Rheaume) traveled at extreme speeds, weaving in and out of traffic,” Sullivan wrote in a court filing. “Ultimately, (Rheaume) chose to drive into oncoming traffic, which was clearly visible. That decision callously jeopardized several lives and ended the life of Officer Ebbighausen.”

Ebbighausen was traveling 47 mph as she approached the point of impact, investigators found. She was with a supervising officer, Richard Caravaggio, who was in the passenger seat. Neither wore seat belts, authorities said.

Vehicle data indicated that Ebbighausen began braking at least 4.2 seconds before impact and steering to the right 1.5 seconds before, and continued to slow her cruiser until the last recorded data, at which point her cruiser was traveling 24 mph, according to Sullivan. 

“In doing so, she effectively used her side of the cruiser to shield her passenger, Cpl. Caravaggio, from the full force of the impact,” Sullivan wrote.

Ebbighausen started working for the department less than two months before the crash as a part-time, Level 2 certified officer. She was scheduled to begin training the following month to get her full certification. 

Rheaume was charged last summer with grossly negligent operation of a motor vehicle and attempting to elude, both with death resulting, in the crash.

Vermont State Police said Rheaume was fleeing officers who were looking for him after he allegedly harassed and broke into the residence of a former partner in Rutland.

Rheaume had pleaded not guilty to the initial charges against him related to the crash and was released on conditions.

Now, if convicted of the aggravated murder charge, Rheaume faces a minimum sentence of life in prison without parole.

He is set to be arraigned on the upgraded charges on Tuesday. 

In his filing, Sullivan cited several factors for upgrading to an aggravated murder charge, including that he believed the case has met the thresholds that the defendant “knowingly created” significant risk of death, that the murder was committed in order to avoid arrest, and that the victim was a law enforcement officer.

Sullivan said he updated the charges after obtaining additional information, such as the vehicle data and new witness interviews. 

He has filed a motion seeking to hold Rheaume in custody while the case against him remains pending.