BRENTWOOD - The cuts on Kenneth Countie's face were what first grabbed the attention of Wal-Mart workers.
Then there were the burn marks on Countie's back that his "wife," Sheila LaBarre, showed them by lifting up his shirt, according to court documents.
"This is from a car accident, a really bad car accident," LaBarre said to a store worker. "He's in a lot of pain. Can't you see he's in a lot of pain?"
In court papers filed this week, prosecutors detailed how LaBarre paraded the cut-up 24-year-old around the Epping Wal-Mart on two days, about a week before he was killed. The store worker who saw the burn marks described Countie as being timid, keeping his head down the entire time, and never looking at anyone.
LaBarre, who described Countie, of Wilmington, Mass., as "her husband" to store workers, is charged with first-degree murder in Countie's death, and then incinerating his body at her 115-acre horse farm in Epping.
Judge Tina Nadeau told prosecutors this week to provide LaBarre's lawyers with all statements made by store employees. LaBarre is building an insanity defense for her March 2008 trial. Next month, Nadeau will hear arguments from LaBarre's defense team about why her interviews with police should not be allowed as evidence at the trial.
Witnesses who saw Countie during two visits to the store, on March 11 and 17 of last year, recounted how he was apparently in physical decline, according to court documents. They recalled a bruised Countie, wearing a red sweat shirt and jeans, being able to walk around the store during the couple's first visit on March 11.
During that visit, witnesses said LaBarre screamed at store managers because she claimed a female customer pushed and injured Countie.
She returned to the store with Countie six days later, pushing him in a wheelchair. She continued complaining about a lack of response from store managers for not tracking down the alleged assailant. Another witness later told store managers a woman had passed Countie in a store aisle, barely brushing him, which prompted LaBarre to scream at her.
"Kenneth looked like he should have been in a hospital," Wal-Mart employee Wendy Peterson wrote. "His face was green and had multiple scrapes and bruises all in different stages of healing. He was humped over in a wheelchair and she kept asking him if he was going to faint."
Then there were the burn marks on Countie's back that his "wife," Sheila LaBarre, showed them by lifting up his shirt, according to court documents.
"This is from a car accident, a really bad car accident," LaBarre said to a store worker. "He's in a lot of pain. Can't you see he's in a lot of pain?"
In court papers filed this week, prosecutors detailed how LaBarre paraded the cut-up 24-year-old around the Epping Wal-Mart on two days, about a week before he was killed. The store worker who saw the burn marks described Countie as being timid, keeping his head down the entire time, and never looking at anyone.
LaBarre, who described Countie, of Wilmington, Mass., as "her husband" to store workers, is charged with first-degree murder in Countie's death, and then incinerating his body at her 115-acre horse farm in Epping.
Judge Tina Nadeau told prosecutors this week to provide LaBarre's lawyers with all statements made by store employees. LaBarre is building an insanity defense for her March 2008 trial. Next month, Nadeau will hear arguments from LaBarre's defense team about why her interviews with police should not be allowed as evidence at the trial.
Witnesses who saw Countie during two visits to the store, on March 11 and 17 of last year, recounted how he was apparently in physical decline, according to court documents. They recalled a bruised Countie, wearing a red sweat shirt and jeans, being able to walk around the store during the couple's first visit on March 11.
During that visit, witnesses said LaBarre screamed at store managers because she claimed a female customer pushed and injured Countie.
She returned to the store with Countie six days later, pushing him in a wheelchair. She continued complaining about a lack of response from store managers for not tracking down the alleged assailant. Another witness later told store managers a woman had passed Countie in a store aisle, barely brushing him, which prompted LaBarre to scream at her.
"Kenneth looked like he should have been in a hospital," Wal-Mart employee Wendy Peterson wrote. "His face was green and had multiple scrapes and bruises all in different stages of healing. He was humped over in a wheelchair and she kept asking him if he was going to faint."
When LaBarre touched Countie's shoulder "he jumped, as if in pain," according to Peterson's statement. Peterson suggested to LaBarre that she call police about Countie's alleged assailant. LaBarre responded by saying that police weren't necessary because she was a lawyer, the documents said.
"LaBarre also referred to herself repeatedly as a multimillionaire that owned a horse farm," state police Sgt. Robert Estabrook, the lead investigator in the case, wrote in an affidavit about the conversation.
After that exchange, LaBarre went to the electronics section of the store and bought a disposable camera.
"She proceeded to take pictures of the placement of the security cameras," another unnamed store employee wrote.
That prompted store workers to call Epping police, who for weeks had fielded calls from Countie's mother, Carolynn Lodge, of Billerica, Mass., saying that she was worried about her son's health. Countie, who was mentally disabled, moved in with LaBarre after the two met on a blind date on Valentine's Day 2006, according to a police affidavit.
Epping police Sgt. Sean Gallagher and Detective Richard Cote, who went to the Wal-Mart to ask LaBarre to leave, said they noticed the color of Countie's skin, the cuts on his hands and face, and a swollen hand. On the store's video surveillance, LaBarre is seen purchasing a number of yellow diesel fuel containers, stacking them in Countie's lap in the wheelchair.
Days later, police found an ash-laden LaBarre in front of her home, tending to one of several "burn piles." When asked where Countie was, she pointed to a Wal-Mart shopping bag that had what police determined were several bone fragments. Police also found blood spatter in the living room, kitchen, a hallway and upstairs bathroom of LaBarre's home. The blood matched a DNA sample from Countie, police said.
