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Apr 12, 2007 9:39 am US/Eastern
Horse Farm Murder Suspect Wants Her $80,000 Back
BRENTWOOD, N.H. (AP) ―
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Shiela LaBarre (File)
WBZ
A woman accused of killing and burning a man at her horse farm is asking the state to return $80,000 so she can pay for her defense.
Sheila LaBarre, 48, of Epping, is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 24-year-old Kenneth Countie, formerly of Wilmington, Mass.
Countie's remains were found in a burn pile and in a plastic bag on the horse farm on March 24 and 25, 2006. LaBarre was arrested several days later in Revere, Mass., and New Hampshire authorities seized $80,000 in cash and bank checks she was carrying at the time.
On April 10, 2006, Countie's family filed a wrongful death suit against LaBarre and asked a judge to freeze her assets up to $10 million, including the 115-acre horse farm and the cash. The request was granted.
Now LaBarre is asking a judge to overturn the attachment and return the money so she can pay for her criminal defense. Otherwise, taxpayers will have to foot the bill, she said in a motion dated April 2. The motion also asks that the wrongful death lawsuit be put on hold until her criminal trial is over.
Rockingham County Superior Judge Patricia Coffey has scheduled a hearing on the motion April 26.
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