Islander convicted of attempted murders

By Linda Cicoira

     A Chincoteague man was convicted Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court of two counts of the attempted first-degree murder of his former employers.

     Sixty-four-year-old John Joseph Ellis, of Church Street, is scheduled to be sentenced for the crimes in April 2023. He was found guilty of trying to kill 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. Ellis was arrested the same day.

     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.

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