By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
A bail hearing scheduled for Wednesday that was to include the presentation of evidence in the murder and decapitation case involving Jaffrey’s Britany Barron was called off late Tuesday, and it is still unclear why.
Britany Barron, 31, stands accused of cutting the head off her lover, Jonathan Amerault, 25, after her husband, Armando Barron, 30, allegedly tortured and killed Amerault during a night of violence sparked off when Armando Barron discovered the affair, according to court records. Amerault was killed sometime between Sept. 19 and Sept. 20, 2020.
The hearing was to include witnesses for Britany Barron, including psychiatrist Julia Reade, an instructor in psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a clinical assistant professor at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. According to her website, Reade is an expert on trauma and domestic abuse.
“A seasoned psychiatric clinician, Dr. Reade has significant experience evaluating and treating complaints related to trauma, domestic violence and character pathology. In the forensic world, she has consulted widely to employers, courts, attorneys, licensing boards and other mental health professionals on a broad array of topics, including fitness for duty, dangerousness, sexual harassment, competence, criminal responsibility, aid in sentencing, disruptive professional behavior, boundary violations, emotional damages, high conflict divorce, battered women and post-traumatic stress disorder,” her web biography states.
Britany Barron’s attorney, Richard Guerriero, declined to comment on the delay. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office did not respond to a request for comment about the delay. No new date for the hearing has been set.
Britany Barron claims that she acted under duress because she was afraid of Armando Barron, when she allegedly decapitated Amerault’s body and destroyed other evidence. Armando Barron is charged with capital murder for allegedly torturing and then shooting Amerault. He is also charged with felony domestic assault for what he did to his wife, including choking her and putting a loaded gun in her mouth, according to court records.
The Barrons lived in Jaffrey and Britany Barron worked at Teleflex Medical with Amerault, who lived in Keene. After discovering text messages on his wife’s cell phone, Armando Barron allegedly beat his wife and then used her cell phone to lure Amerault to a state park in Jaffrey where the torture and murder took place, according to court records. During the torture, Armando Barron tried and failed to get his wife to kill Amerault, according to court records.
Armando Barron shot Amerault three times and then the Barrons went to their Jaffrey home and packed camping supplies before they drove up to a remote camping site in Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant in Coos County.
During the packing and while Amerault was reportedly still alive, Britany Barron was armed with her husband’s gun after he put it in her backpack, though prosecutors say she never used it to defend herself or Amerault.
Armando Barron drove his truck while Britany Barron drove Amerault’s car. At the campsite in the remote North Country, and under her husband’s direction, Britany Barron sawed Amerault’s head from his body, destroyed cell phones, and burned Amerault’s identifications, according to court records. She also buried his head and body in separate locations and hid the car under a tarp, according to court records.
