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Aug 18, 2006 1:53 pm US/Eastern
Horse Farm Murder Suspect Denied Bail
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) ―
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Shiela LaBarre (File)
WBZ
A New Hampshire judge on Friday denied bail for a woman accused of murdering a Massachusetts man and burning his body on her horse farm.
Sheila LaBarre of Epping has been charged with first-degree murder for the death of Kenneth Countie, formerly of Wilmington, Mass.
Her lawyer told a judge she should be allowed to post bail since she has not been indicted and has been in jail more than 100 days.
Assistant Attorney General Peter Odom reminded the court that LaBarre had told authorities when they asked where Countie was that he was "in that bag" -- referring to a Wal-Mart bag near a burn pile on the farm.
Odom had asked that bail be set at $1 million if it were set.
He said that LaBarre hasn't been indicted because investigators are still piecing together the evidence. He said that the state believes LaBarre burned Countie's body, and the forensic investigation of bones found in burn pits on LaBarre's property is taking time.
"Because of the defendant's actions, the forensic evidence at the scene was degraded to such a point that we need extra time," Odom said.
Countie was reported missing in February after moving in with LaBarre at her farm. LaBarre pleaded innocent and has been held without bail at the Strafford County Jail ever since.
Meanwhile, a judge has granted a request to make LaBarre's divorce records public. LaBarre has until Sept. 18 to object or appeal the decision by Rockingham County Superior Court Judge Peter Hurd.
The Portsmouth Herald had petitioned the court to unseal the records that ended the marriage of LaBarre and Wayne Ennis, a native of Jamaica.
LaBarre asserted her right to privacy and argued the records should remain sealed because they have no bearing on the investigation into charges from the state, are an attempt by the press to sell newspapers, and her "life has been shredded already by the press and media."
(© 2006 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)
