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BRATTLEBORO, Vt. — A man accused of killing a 79-year-old Whitingham, Vt., woman and her 52-year-old son by shooting them in their home on Route 8A is being held without bail.

Christopher D. Ellis, 54, pleaded not guilty through his attorney Wednesday to two counts of first-degree murder and an additional charge of operating a vehicle without the owner’s consent. He was arraigned in Windham Superior Court, Criminal Division.

Judge John Treadwell ordered Ellis held without bail. Treadwell said the court would not schedule a weight of the evidence hearing until requested by the defense counsel.

Attorney Joshua Atkisson of the Windham County Public Defender's Office did not contest the state's request to hold Ellis without bail. He said he would reserve the right to have a weight of the evidence hearing at a future date.

In a police affidavit, Ellis described the murders as his "retirement plan." He told investigators "he would rather be in jail than an 'old folks' home' [describing] what he did as 'calculated.'"

"I did what I did, so I'm going to, you know, I have no problem with admitting it," Ellis said during an interview with the Vermont State Police late on the evening of Sept. 1, according to a police affidavit. "I mean, it was, it had to happen. I don't know, I know you probably won't understand it.”

According to information from the Department of Corrections, neither Ellis nor Garvin were still under the supervision of Probation and Parole. Ellis had finished his sentence on Aug. 9, 2019, and Garvin had maxed out his sentence in 1999.

Ellis has previous felony convictions for unlawful mischief in 1989, grand larceny in 1994, burglary and grand larceny in 1996, escaping custody in 1999 and possession of stolen property in 2015.

In 2018, Ellis was facing a possible life sentence as a habitual offender after he was charged with trying to rob a woman. He faced charges of aggravated assault with a box cutter, assault and robbery with injury, reckless endangerment and leaving the scene of a crash with serious injury. It is unclear how those charges were settled.