BRENTWOOD - Before police gave Sheila LaBarre a ride to the Epping police station to discuss the disappearance of her boyfriend, police Lt. Michael Wallace asked the 49-year-old if she had any weapons on her.

LaBarre turned, "lifted her shirt and showed her breasts," Wallace said. "Then she started to undo her pants."

It was a sample of what LaBarre's lawyer Brad Bailey described as erratic and confused behavior that his client exhibited for days while police questioned her and searched her horse farm for the remains of Kenneth Countie.

Police first searched her house on March 24, 2006. The incident Wallace described occurred a day later.

Bailey spent yesterday highlighting other odd behavior by his client.

During an interview with police, LaBarre took a pet rabbit with her to the police station.

She claimed the Irish Republican Army or the "Irish" men were threatening her before Countie's disappearance.

She told police she was burning "a rabbit" or "a pedophile" in her front yard, then suddenly denied it.

Judge Tina Nadeau is now considering whether bone fragments, melted cutlery and statements LaBarre made during a series of interviews can be tossed out as evidence. Bailey said police could have elicited information from LaBarre to build their case before advising her of her rights.

Bailey quizzed police yesterday in Rockingham County Superior Court about his client's behavior, hoping to convince Nadeau that LaBarre was scared, confused and impressionable as the investigation into Countie's disappearance began to focus on her.

LaBarre is facing first-degree murder charges in the death of Countie, 24, of Wilmington, Mass., at her secluded horse farm in Epping, then incinerating his remains. She hopes to mount an insanity defense when she goes on trial next March.

While defense lawyers said LaBarre was unhinged enough to be confused, intimidated and possibly insane, she appeared to smile and converse with her defense team throughout the two days of hearings this week. She took notes, looked to see who was sitting in the court gallery and even conversed briefly with the judge on Monday.

The hearings drew crowds of lawyers, a college professor and police.

She was flanked by two deputy sheriffs on the first day of the hearing. Her ankles were chained over her jail jumpsuit.

The hearings explored a lot of evidence, including aerial photographs of the farm taken by state police, video footage of LaBarre's barn and home, and tape recordings of her conversations with investigators.

Police said LaBarre was nervous at times, but well aware of the events happening around her, even declining to speak to them once she hired a lawyer.

State police Detective Jill Rockey testified that LaBarre appeared mostly calm, crying when she encountered a difficult question, which she would suddenly break from when a detective asked another question.

Rockey interviewed LaBarre three times between March 25 and 27, 2006, and later executed a warrant which required LaBarre to submit to photographs of her body. She acknowledged that LaBarre at times veered off subject, but seemed to have no problem talking with police.

"I found her to be very articulate, very intelligent," Rockey said. "She had a grasp of the law, which I don't find in many people I interview."

Asked if LaBarre ever appeared intimidated, Rockey said, "No, I remember her telling me she wasn't afraid. Otherwise, she wouldn't talk to us."

Nadeau will likely release her decision sometime over the next several days.