LaBarre Case Update

[Crime Scene Blog]

Wal-Mart has become the ubiquitous meeting place in small-town America. So it only serves to reason that in the small town of Epping, NH, that Wal-Mart would be one of the many settings in the murder case against 47-year-old Sheila LaBarre. She has been indicted on first-degree murder charges in the death of Kenneth Countie, a 24-year-old who is described by his parents as being learning disabled and having the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. Countie met LaBarre on Valentine's Day in 2006 and just 4 days later, he moves to her horse farm in Epping. Just over a month later, burned remains believed to be Countie's are found at that same farm. During the investigation, surveillance footage from Wal-Mart was discovered that showed LaBarre and Countie shopping. During their first visit, he appeared weak, with cuts on his face and burns on his back. LaBarre made a point of showing employees at Wal-Mart his injuries. She pointed out the burns after she lifted his shirt to show them one of the employees. "This is from a car accident, a really bad car accident," LaBarre said to a store worker. "He's in a lot of pain. Can't you see he's in a lot of pain?" During this first visit, on March 11, she also threatened to sue Wal-Mart and a customer after she claimed the woman assaulted Countie as they walked down the aisles. During this altercation, she referred to him as her husband and remarked that she was a lawyer and a multimillionaire. When Wal-Mart employees offered to have police called to take a statement about the incident, LaBarre told them not to inform authorities. Just 6 days later the couple returned to the Wal-Mart and Kenneth Countie appeared to have gotten worse. Evidently unable to walk on his own now, he was seen on the videotapes being led around by Sheila LaBarre in a wheelchair. During this trip she purchased several gas cans, which she placed in his lap as he sat. His skin was described by workers at the store as being greenish-yellow and he appeared to jump each time LaBarre touched him. "Kenneth looked like he should have been in a hospital," Wal-Mart employee Wendy Peterson wrote. "His face was green and had multiple scrapes and bruises all in different stages of healing. He was humped over in a wheelchair and she kept asking him if he was going to faint." During this visit she again brought up the alleged assault on Kenneth, and when she felt the employees were not taking her seriously, she purchased a disposable camera in the electronics department and began taking pictures of the security cameras in the store. It was then that police were summoned and asked LaBarre to leave the store. These were the same police who had received calls from Kenneth Countie's mother, asking them to perform a well-check on her son at the farm. They noticed his skin and the cuts on his face, but allowed them to leave. On March 23, just 6 days after the incident at Wal-Mart police would find burn piles at the horse farm in Epping with what appeared to be human bones. Forensic analysis would determine that blood found in the house matched Kenneth Countie. Since her arrest, Sheila LaBarre has seen her assets frozen by the court. Earlier this month she was declared indigent by the court, which means that her defense attorney's bills will be picked up by the state. [Source]

[Home Sweet Home]

What gets me is the neighbors knew. After Countie died some neighbors came forward and spoke of men they saw trying to get away from LaBarre's farm. But nothing was ever done about it. Until Countie died. Did they ever find any evidence of Michael Deloge?