Man Agrees To Give Up Quest to Return to the Island

By Linda Cicoira

    A man who served a prison term for attempting to murder his former employers in 2019 agreed Thursday in Accomack Circuit Court to give up his quest to return to Chincoteague Island to live in a house that has since been torn down. 

      After spending months in treatment for mental health issues following his release and being charged with violating probation, 68-year-old John Joseph Ellis told a judge that he is ready to cooperate with probation workers and follow their advice concerning a home plan. The judge agreed to let him do that.

     After hearing voices on May 17, 2019, Ellis admitted he used a 9 mm pistol to shoot open the front door of the victims’ home. An officer was called to the scene after an alarm went off. He found the door glass was broken and three bullets were lodged in the door. 

     The officer observed “further damage from projectiles inside the residence walls.” He reviewed a security video that showed Ellis arrived by moped, pulled a handgun from his right pocket, and shot into the door. The defendant was also convicted of shooting into a dwelling and destruction of more than $1,000 worth of property.