New Hampshire

LaBarre lawyer:Accused killer knew remains were on her farm

By James A. Kimble
Eagle-Tribune
Published: August 18, 2006

Defense lawyers hope to convince a judge that prosecutors only have enough evidence to show that Sheila LaBarre incinerated the body of her boyfriend in front of her Epping home in March, not that she murdered him beforehand.

LaBarre, 48, appeared before a Rockingham County Superior Court judge yesterday in a bid to be released on bail prior to her trial on first-degree murder charges, bringing out more than a dozen family members of murder victim Kenneth Countie, 24, formerly of Wilmington, Mass.

"She knew Kenneth Countie's remains were on her premises, but what that amounts to is a body that was disposed of incorrectly," defense lawyer Jeffrey Denner said.

Countie's mother, Carolynn Lodge, remained hunched over and sobbing through an intermission in the proceedings yesterday after prosecutors recounted how her son's blood was found throughout LaBarre's home on a 115-acre horse farm at 70 Red Oak Hill Lane in Epping.

"DNA testing shows that it was Kenneth Countie's blood in the kitchen, it was Kenneth Countie's blood in the bathroom," Assistant Attorney General Peter Odom said. A bloodied knife found in a kitchen hutch had Countie's blood as well, he said.

Odom described a 3<1/2>-inch bone with soft tissue on it found by police burning on a mattress outside the home. Lodge was later slowly escorted out of the courtroom with the help of family and courtroom personnel.

With more than 100 days passing since LaBarre's arrest, prosecutors have yet to seek an indictment against her, Denner said, which should allow her the option of being freed on house arrest as she prepares for her criminal trial and battles both a wrongful death suit and a fight for her estate.

"She is losing her farm," he said. "She can't represent herself in the civil case. When you get too far in this case, our experts don't have access to the same materials the state has. We don't know what extensions are filed. Our experts and investigators can't work. We have no control over anything."

Court rules state that indictments be sought within 90 days of arrest in New Hampshire, but Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Patricia Coffey noted that prosecutors aren't bound to the rule in wake of recent higher court decisions. "This is no hard-and-fast rule," she said. "And it's no longer a bright line."

The state had requested | under court seal | an extension to indict LaBarre unknown to the defense, saying investigators needed more time for forensic tests of evidence. Odom said recent tests of soil among "burn piles" that police found in front of LaBarre's home concluded that gasoline was used to ignite the fires. An analysis of bone fragments found they belonged to a man | not more than one | under age 35, Odom said.

A medical examiner has determined that a plastic Wal-Mart bag that LaBarre was using to collect bones from the burn piles when police arrived to search for Countie had "most of the areas of the body," Odom said. "The feet, the torso, parts of the head as well as tooth fragments."

Odom wants to keep LaBarre, who is being held at the Strafford County Jail, behind bars before her trial, but asked Coffey to only allow bail in lieu of $1 million cash if she was inclined to grant it. The judge's decision is expected today.

At the hearing, Odom argued that LaBarre was a flight risk because she already tried to elude authorities before her arrest in Revere, Mass., noting that she dyed her hair from strawberry blonde to bright red.

"When confronted by police she gave a false name. She had more than $33,000 and a cashier's check for $50,000. In her purse, there were columns from a newspaper advertising apartments in the area," Odom said.

Selling her horses was another sign she was ready to go underground, he added. That last remark set off LaBarre, who pounded her fist onto the table and stood up to speak before being cut off by Coffey, who warned, "Ms. LaBarre, you're being advised by your attorney not to speak."

Outfitted in a tan county jail suit and chained at her ankles, LaBarre remained silent for the rest of the hearing. Odom revealed yesterday that LaBarre has alluded to the murder twice to jail officials while being held. In both cases, she said, that "it's only a misdemeanor in New Hampshire to incinerate a corpse," Odom said.