By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH,org
Britany Barron, the Jaffrey woman who cut the head off the corpse of Jonathan Amerault in September of 2020, is getting out of prison in time to testify in the murder case against her husband, Armando Barron.
Britany Barron’s attorney, Richard Guerriero, confirmed Thursday that she was granted parole this week.
The news comes after Armando Barron’s attorneys filed a notice with the Cheshire Superior Court that they plan to impeach her testimony at the trial, based on her guilty plea to destroying evidence in the murder.
Armando Barron’s attorney, Morgan Taggart-Hampton, argued that Britany Barron’s guilty pleas amount to an admission that she is dishonest.
“Her credibility will be one of, if not the most important issues at the trial,” Taggart-Hampton wrote in a recent filing. “The jury needs to be informed about her felony convictions for matters directly related to the conduct alleged in the indictments against Mr. Barron, to fairly assess her credibility.”
According to Taggart-Hampton, Britany Barron committed a dishonest act when she destroyed evidence of the September 2020 murder, which took place after a savage beating from her husband and being forced to witness the torture and death of Amerault, according to court records.
Britany Barron planned to argue she committed the acts under duress before she eventually entered into a plea agreement last year. Britany Barron pleaded guilty to three felony counts of falsifying physical evidence. Britany Barron agreed to testify at the trial as part of the agreement.
“Mr. Barron is entitled to argue that Britany Barron’s prior convictions and their sentences provide a motive for her to lie and curry favor with the State,” Taggart-Hampton wrote in a recent court filing.
Britany Barron was sentenced in October, 2021 to three and a half to seven years in prison, with two years suspended from the minimum and maximum sentences. She also got 377 days credit for time already served, setting up her recent parole date.
She will also have two three and a half to seven years sentences suspended for 10 years.
Armando Barron’s legal team is already trying to keep evidence about prior domestic violence he allegedly committed, and his recorded jail conversations, out of the trial.
According to prosecutors, Britany Barron tried to end the marriage a week before the murder, and Armando Barron beat her as a result.
Amerault was 25 when Armando Barron, 32, beat, tortured, and then shot him to death at Annett Wayside Park in Rindge after he discovered that his wife, Britany Barron, 33, had started pursuing a relationship with Amerault, according to court records.
After the murder, Armando Barron brought his wife, and Amerault’s car and corpse, to a remote campsite in Atkinson and Gilmanton Academy Grant. There, he ordered his wife to cut off Amerault’s head with a saw, and then he left her to hide the body, according to court records.
Amerault was an engineer at Teleflex in Jaffrey, a biomedical company, where he worked with Britany Barron. As Britany Barron was seeking to get out of her marriage to the controlling Armando Barron, she started a texting relationship with Jonathan, according to court records.