Chincoteague man sentenced to 8 years for attempting to kill former employer

By Linda Cicoira

A mentally-ill Chincoteague man was sentenced to serve eight years in prison for attempting to kill his former employers and related charges.

Sixty-four-year-old John Joseph Ellis, of Church Street, pleaded guilty to attempted murder of restaurant owners Steve Potts and Kevin Krome, on May 17, 2019.

According to court records, Ellis admitted using a pistol to shoot open the front door of the Piney Island house. He was “hearing voices” and later told a town officer the two men “have been hurting him since 1985.”

Officer C.G. Butler, of the Chincoteague Police Department, was called to the scene after an alarm went off. When he arrived, he found two shell casings from a 9 mm gun near the damaged front door. The door glass was broken and three bullet holes were lodged in the door. Butler observed “further damage from projectiles inside the residence walls.” The officer reviewed a security video that showed Ellis arriving by moped, pulling out a handgun from his right pocket, and shooting into the door.

In addition to the murder counts, the defendant was convicted of shooting into a dwelling and destruction of more than $1,000 worth of property.

Defense lawyer Shari Mapp-Jones said her client was getting treatment for his health issues, was remorseful, and understood he could no longer be in contact with his former employers.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Spencer Morgan called it “a very serious extreme case of what can go wrong.” Ellis “intended to kill his former employers with a handgun. He began planning … the day before,” the prosecutor said. He told an officer that he bought the gun from friends. He was going to gain entrance to the house, when he couldn’t, he went home.

The victims “fear the day he is released because they fear he will come back after them,” Morgan said.

Ellis told the court, “Everyone who works for them, works like a dog for them … Something just clicked on me to go do that. I didn’t have no say. I didn’t want to do it. I just didn’t have another way.”

After Judge W. Revell Lewis sentenced Ellis, the defendant didn’t seem to understand what had happened.

“So, when do I get out of jail?” he asked before his lawyer leaned over and whispered something to him and he was escorted back to jail.