Key suspect in murder-for-hire case pleads not guilty

By WILSON RING
Associated Press

BURLINGTON, Vt. (AP) — A Los Angeles biotech investor has pleaded not guilty in a transcontinental murder-for-hire conspiracy that led to the 2018 abduction and killing of a Vermont man. Serhat Gumrukcu entered the plea Tuesday to a charge of interstate murder for hire in U.S. District Court in Burlington. Prosecutors allege he was involved in an oil deal gone bad with Gregory Davis and that Gumrukcu was part of the plan that led to the Davis’ abduction and killing. Authorities have said that any complaints by Davis to law enforcement could have ended a biotech deal Gumrukcu was also trying to push through. Two other people charged in the case have pleaded not guilty. A third has pleaded guilty.