BURLINGTON — A former St. Croix resident faces a second murder charge following a pair of fatal shootings in Vermont last month.
Denroy “Danger” Dasent, 52, is accused of killing two men — Sheikhnoor Osman at an apartment in Burlington and Brian Billings in South Burlington at the Swiss Host Motel.
Witnesses told police that Dasent knocked on Billings’ door at the Swiss Host, where Billings lived with his fiancée and two young children, shortly after 11 p.m. on October 2, according to a newly filed police affidavit. The two men briefly argued before Dasent allegedly shot Billings, who fell and died on the kitchen floor.
During an interview with Burlington police in the hours following his arrest, Dasent alleged that Billings, his former neighbor at the Swiss Host, had previously made a comment about his daughter. Dasent’s wife later told police she was unaware of the claim. She said her husband had been upset that Billings didn’t pick up dog waste from a grassy area at the motel where their daughter played.
Dasent’s wife also told police that he “had been very stressed” and “was not acting like himself” in recent weeks following a domestic assault charge that was filed against him in early September, according to the affidavit.
The court filing indicates that the man killed on Pine Street, Osman, was dating a relative of Billings.
Dasent was not legally allowed to possess firearms due to previous criminal convictions in several states, police said. Earlier this week, divers with the Vermont State Police recovered a Glock pistol from Lake Champlain that police allege Dasent threw into the water before he was arrested.
The 10-mm pistol, an unusual caliber, had a serial number matching one that Dasent’s wife purchased from a sporting goods store in 2021.
Last month, while executing a search warrant at Dasent’s home as part of an investigation into the City Hall Park gunfire, police seized a case for a Glock gun with a “loaded 10 mm magazine inside.” The rounds in the seized magazine matched the shell casings recovered from the Swiss Host scene.
In a statement, family members of Billings, who they called “Little B,” thanked South Burlington and Burlington police for their “quick thinking and concerted, painstaking efforts in recent days to bring our loved one’s killer to justice.”
The statement described Billings as gentle, funny and kind. “He was a talented artist and amazing carpenter. He loved with everything he had and was loved deeply by his family and friends,” his family said. “That is how we hope our Little B will be remembered.”
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