by Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First, Vermont Business Magazine The Los Angeles man that authorities say was behind an elaborate cross-country murder for hire scheme that ended in a deadly shooting in Vermont seven years ago, will go on trial today (Monday) in U.S. District Court in Burlington.
Serhat D. Gumrukcu, 42, has pleaded not guilty to three felony charges, including causing the execution-style death of Gregory Davis, 49, of Danville in January 2018 in the Northeast Kingdom.
Authorities have identified Gumrukcu as the man that ordered the hit on Davis after he threatened to blow the whistle on the defendant for a multimillion-dollar fraud involving international investments in an oil deal.
Gumrukcu, who was born in Turkey, but is now a U.S. citizen, and his older brother Murat Gumrukcu, denied any involvement in the fraud, officials said. Murat Gumrukcu soon fled the United States never to return.
The court case has generated international interest, including two Dutch filmmaking companies that are attending the trial in the hope of each producing a documentary or movie.
Gumrukcu was identified early as a person of interest in the Vermont homicide because he and his brother were the only known people to have a dispute with Davis that would be motive for his execution, a prosecutor noted.
The federal authorities maintain Jerry Banks, 38, of Fort Garland, Col., posing as a deputy U.S. marshal, kidnapped Davis from his home at 884 Hawkins Road in Danville about 8:45 p.m. Jan. 6, 2018 and killed him that night in Barnet, about 15 miles away. Banks carried a rifle, displayed a badge and wore U.S. Marshal Service clothing and mask.
Vermont State Police said the handcuffed Davis was found the following afternoon partially covered by snow in a pull-off area on Peacham Road in Barnet. Davis died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso. Multiple .22-caliber casings were found nearby.
The victim’s wife of 14 years, Melissa Davis, who was pregnant, and at least one of their six children, were home when Gregory Davis was tricked into leaving his home on that Saturday night, state police have said. The impersonating deputy marshal claimed he had an arrest warrant from Virginia for racketeering for Davis.
Gumrukcu has pleaded not guilty to intentionally conspiring between May 2017 and February 2018 with several people, including Banks, Berk Ertay, 37, of Las Vegas, Nev. one of the chief organizers and Aron Ethridge, 44, of Henderson, Nev. to have Davis killed by Banks.
Gumrukcu also has denied a conspiracy count for causing Banks to travel from Colorado to Vermont between Jan. 1, 2018 and Jan. 6, 2018 to carry out the homicide in exchange for a payment.
The third felony count maintains Gumrukcu, Eratay and others committed wire fraud between 2015 and 2018 when Davis owned and operated Mode Commodities LLC, which sought to engage in oil trading, the indictment said. The government initially charged Gumrukcu with two felony counts of fraud, but have consolidated the claims into the third count of the indictment.
Banks, Eratay and Ethridge have all pleaded guilty to related federal charges and are expected to take the witness stand.
Banks has admitted to charges of murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting and engaging in a monetary transaction with illegal proceeds. A preliminary estimate of his sentence under the federal sentencing guidelines is 24 to 30 years, Judge Geoffrey W. Crawford said when he accepted the guilty pleas.
Eratay faces a possible maximum sentence of 25 years in prison after pleading guilty to committing the murder for hire scheme and two counts of conspiracy, according to his plea agreement.
Ethridge pleaded guilty in July 2022 to two felony count: conspiracy and getting Banks to cross state lines to commit the crime.
Court records show Ethridge and Eratay were friends and neighbors in Henderson, Nev. and Eratay approached Ethridge over a year before Davis was killed to see about arranging a homicide, court records show. Ethridge eventually agreed to assist Eratay, the records note.
On Friday, a jury of 10 women and 6 men, coming from across Northern Vermont, was finalized for Gumrukcu shortly after 5 p.m. It ended a day-long orientation and selection process. About 80 potential jurors had been summoned to the federal courthouse on Elmwood Avenue and about 70 were needed before the final panel was picked.
Chief Federal Judge Christina Reiss told potential jurors the long-delayed trial could last up to five weeks.
“Five weeks, wow!” one potential juror said as he contemplated his near future.
A large chunk of the trial will focus on the financial fraud portion of the case and how it was set up over a few years. In 2017 Davis was threatening Gumrukcu and his brother about going to the FBI with evidence the two Turkish brothers “were defrauding him in a multimillion-dollar oil deal,” court records maintain.
Davis and the Gumrukcu brothers had entered into the oil deal in early 2015, records show.
Another portion of the trial will focus on planning and executing the homicide, including the extraction of Davis from his rural home.
A third portion will cover how the FBI, Vermont State Police and others in law enforcement eventually tracked the suspects in part through cell phone usage and eventually made arrests in 2022.
Officials have said there were an estimated 55 search warrants in the criminal case, many of them approved by now-retired Magistrate Judge John M. Conroy. Another 8 to 10 search warrants were issued out of state, including for the homes of both Eratay and Banks when they were arrested.
Gumrukcu has been jailed since his arrest in late May 2022.
Gumrukcu immigrated to the United States about 2013 and not long after arriving, he married William Anderson Wittekind in 2013, court records show. Court papers said he became a permanent resident in 2014 and Gumrukcu had said in court he is a citizen of Turkey.
Gumrukcu, who at one point was a self-proclaimed medical doctor, had “tens of millions of dollars,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Vermont has said.
Serhat Gumrukcu is listed as a co-founder and inventor at Enochian BioSciences Inc. He claimed on the company website he holds a medical degree and doctorate from Russian universities, but authorities said they have serious doubts about his claims.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul J. Van de Graff, the lead prosecutor on the case, has pushed for the start of the overdue trial, noting the victim’s wife has been waiting for 7 years for justice. Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Stendig is the second chair for the prosecution.
The case has been delayed by various pre-trial motions and hearings. Also there was a change in judges and the lead defense lawyer, Ethan A. Balogh of San Francisco was diagnosed with cancer. Susan K. Marcus of New York City is the other defense lawyer.
Melissa Davis has filed a four-count civil lawsuit against Gumrukcu including claims of wrongful death, loss of consortium and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The Probate Court in Caledonia County appointed her as Administrator of the Estate.
The Davis family had been in Vermont about 3 years, and he worked in Barre at Safety-Kleen, a national environmental consulting firm. The family had lived in Bristol before moving to Caledonia County.
A company cellphone was found inside his jacket at the homicide scene. The couple had home schooled their children neighbors reported at the time. The family attended the Concord Community Church on Main Street.
Eratay had worked as an assistant for Serhat Gumrukcu from January 2015 to January 2018 and it was part of his job to provide false information to Davis about business dealings, court records show. Eratay sent and received emails at Gumrukcu's direction and used some of his Google accounts to falsely pose as Gumrukcu, it said.
Gumrukcu asked Eratay before the summer of 2017 to help find a hitman, his plea agreement said. Gumrukcu wired about $300,000 to two bank accounts controlled by Eratay between June 2017 and September 2017, court records note.
Eratay made a series of withdrawals of $9,000 or less to help fund the plan and to avoid any suspicion by the banks, records show.
Banks, the shooter, pleaded guilty to three felony charges: murder for hire, conspiracy to kidnap with death resulting and engaging in a monetary transaction with illegal proceeds.
As part of the federal plea agreements, Caledonia County State’s Attorney Jessica E. Zaleski agreed not to file state charges for kidnapping and murder against Banks if he pleaded guilty to the three federal felonies.
Banks came to Vermont in November 2017 to conduct surveillance on the Davis residence, but said the homicide plan would need to be adjusted, records show. Banks maintained he believed Davis would need to be abducted from the rural property prior to being killed, the records noted.
Ethridge told Eratay about the change. Ethridge said Banks indicated he planned to impersonate law enforcement as part of the abduction, court records show.
Banks arrived at the Davis residence on Jan. 6, 2018 dressed in a manner imitating a deputy U.S. marshal and claimed to have an arrest warrant, records note.
Banks called Ethridge the next day to report Davis had been successfully kidnapped and killed, records show. They noted, it was shortly thereafter that Ethridge contacted Eratay to relay the message from Banks.
Authorities said Banks bought a prepaid phone at a Walmart in Clearfield, Penn. the day before the abduction. Only two calls were made on it: one to the Pizza Hut in St. Johnsbury and another to 911 at 8:42 p.m. about 15 minutes before the abduction in Danville. The call was bogus with a man claiming he had shot his wife and was about to shoot himself, a court affidavit said. It said when Vermont State Troopers arrived at the scene less than a mile from the Davis residence, nothing was found.
The exhaustive investigation by law enforcement showed the day after the kidnapping the police determined Banks had headed back west. The Kansas Highway Patrol stopped Banks on Interstate 70 in Alma and he appeared nervous, records show. There were several law enforcement items, including guns, tactical vests and other police-related equipment spotted in the vehicle, the FBI reported.
The FBI, accompanied by the Vermont State Police, arrested Banks while working at Yellowstone National Park on April 6, 2022, more than four years after the fatal shooting.
Federal prosecutors in Vermont noted after the arrest of Banks that investigators confiscated firearms, including a 9-mm handgun and a so-called “ghost gun” during searches at his Colorado home and his temporary residence in Wyoming.
Ghost guns, which have no serial number and are untraceable, can be bought online and assembled at home. They are often obtained by prohibited buyers, domestic abusers and gun traffickers – without a background check.
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