There’s no immediate word on why a Vermont District Court judge recused himself from the case of a Montreal woman charged with drowning her 8-year-old son in Lake Champlain.
North Hero Court Manager Sherry Briton says judge Ben Joseph issued two orders yesterday in the case of Louise Desnoyer.
One was the order to recuse himself. The other order imposed a gag order on the case, meaning attorneys and law enforcement officials are forbidden from discussing the case publicly outside court.
The 50-year-old Desnoyer is charged with first degree murder in the 2006 drowning death of her son Nicholas Desnoyer-Langlois in Lake Champlain off Isle La Motte.
Police say she was distraught over an impending breakup with the boy’s father.