RINDGE, N.H. — Editor's note: The above video aired in September 2020.
A New Hampshire grand jury has indicted a 30-year-old man on counts of kidnapping and murder after prosecutors say he shot and killed a man he suspected of having an affair with his wife and then forced her to decapitate the man's body in September 2020.
Armando Barron, 31, formerly of Rindge, N.H., was indicted on 12 counts including murder and criminal solicitation of murder in connection with the Sept. 19, 2020, death of 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault.
The grand jury also indicted his wife, Britany Barron, 31, also formerly of Rindge, New Hampshire, on three counts of falsifying physical evidence.
Prosecutors say Armando Barron kidnapped and then shot and killed Amerault in a car in Rindge, New Hampshire, because he thought his wife was having an affair with the man. They then say he forced Britany Barron to decapitate Amerault's body.
According to the indictment, Barron allegedly threatened his wife with a gun and said words "to the effect of: 'go with me quietly or the girls are going to see something messy.'"
According to a police affidavit, the woman told investigators that her husband went through her cellphone on Saturday and discovered the affair. She said he repeatedly assaulted her, put a gun in her mouth, and choked her until she passed out.
Late that night, the husband used his wife’s phone to lure Amerault to a park in Rindge, police said, where he violently assaulted him and tried to force his wife to shoot him. At some point, before Amerault died, the wife said her husband forced her to cut his wrists. When she refused, he forced Amerault into the back of the victim’s car and shot him three times while his wife was driving, according to the affidavit.
The wife said she was then forced to drive Amerault’s car, containing his body, to the campsite, while her husband drove another vehicle.
“He communicated to her that once the sun came up the next morning he would forgive her,” police wrote.
At the campsite, the woman said her husband ordered her to cut off Amerault’s head so his body could not be identified by dental records, bury it and wrap the rest of the body in a tarp. He later left her there to dispose of the body and returned home, according to the documents.
Barron was indicted on counts of capital murder, first degree murder, criminal solicitation of murder, kidnapping, criminal solicitation of first degree assault and second degree assault. He was also indicted on counts of domestic violence, reckless conduct and second degree assault against his wife.
In addition, he is charged with two counts of misdemeanor domestic violence for allegedly hitting his wife in the head as they drove to the park to meet Amerault.
Britany Barron was indicted on three counts of falsifying physical evidence for allegedly decapitating Amerault, wrapping his body in a tarp and hiding it, and cleaning part of Amerault's Subaru.
She was also charged with misdemeanor abuse of a corpse.
Both have pleaded not guilty.
Armando Barron and Britany Barron are being held without bail.