Woman agrees to face murder charge in New Hampshire
CHELSEA (AP) -- A woman accused of killing, then burning the body of a man hired to work on her horse farm agreed yesterday to return to New Hampshire to face a first-degree murder charge.
Sheila LaBarre, 47, of Epping, N.H., was arrested Sunday at a shopping center in Revere, two days after a warrant was issued. Police said they acted on a caller's tip. LaBarre, who initially identified herself as Casey Washington, had cut her hair and changed its color from blonde to red; she also had a large amount of cash, police said.
In Massachusetts, LaBarre was charged with being a fugitive from justice and marijuana possession. In Chelsea District Court, LaBarre gave up her right to a hearing and agreed to return with New Hampshire State Police. Prosecutors agreed to drop the drug charge. She was expected to be arraigned on the New Hampshire murder charge today.
LaBarre was wanted in connection with the death of Kenneth Countie, 24, who recently moved to New Hampshire from Wilmington, and had been living with LaBarre for several weeks.
Countie was last seen at her 115-acre horse farm on March 17, and he was reported missing March 23.
Officials say LaBarre killed Countie around March 21 in Epping, then burned his body. Prosecutors declined to comment on the case yesterday. Police planned to continue searching LaBarre's farm yesterday afternoon.
LaBarre's attorney, Jeffrey Denner, said she was "in absolute shock."
"There's an allegation that he was on the farm with her in some capacity and he got incinerated, but I have no idea on why they believe that or if they have any proof," Denner said.
Earlier, he told reporters outside the courtroom, "I don't know if there's a body that they found. I don't know if there are body parts that have found. I don't know how she, herself, was linked into this."
Members of Countie's family were in the courtroom, holding an oversized photo of him. They declined to comment.
"Please continue to pray for Kenny. He will always be in our hearts," Suzanne Countie, Countie's mother, of Tewksbury, read from a prepared statement on Sunday.
Neighbors, court documents and family have said LaBarre was involved in many tumultuous relationships. They said Countie was among a succession of young men that came to work and live at her horse farm.
In 1999, LaBarre was charged with, but ultimately not convicted of, second-degree assault, according to Rockingham County Superior Court documents. The charge alleged she stabbed a boyfriend in the head with scissors.
Last week, before she had been charged with any crime, LaBarre proclaimed her innocence in a letter delivered to a Manchester, N.H., television station.
"I am innocent and God knows that I am," the letter reads, according to a report broadcast last week on WMUR-TV.
