A jury convicted a 32-year-old man from New Hampshire after he was found to have forced his wife to behead her coworker. Armando Barron is facing charges of first-degree murder for the murder of 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault, whom he caught exchanging texts with his wife, Britany Barron back in September 2020.
According to ABC News, Armando was sentenced to life without parole for assaulting his wife the night he found out she had been texting with Amerault. Court documents stated that Armando used Britany’s mobile phone to lure Amerault to a park located north of Massachussettes state line. Prosecutors said he took his time beating and kicking Amerault then forced him into his car and shot him.
During the trial, the victim’s mother could be seen crying in the courtroom as the jury read their verdict after deliberating on the case for nearly two hours.
In the prosecution’s closing arguments, Benjamin Agati said, “The defendant had all the motive to kill Jonathan, because for him, Jonathan was a man who had just started seeing his wife.”
“A man who his wife thought looked like an Abercrombie model, a man who was at her workplace that he now knew was talking to his wife behind his back. The man that he instantly saw as a rival.”
Armando’s lawyer however contradicted this with physical evidence saying Britany had every motive to lie. On the other hand, prosecution argued she told the truth because she feared for her life.
As he stood to face charges of first-degree murder, kidnapping on top of assault and other charges, Armando pleaded not guilty while his lawyers said it was Britany who shot Amerault.
Britany denied this in her testimony, however, Armando’s lawyer, Meredith Lugo said her testimony was not supported by evidence. Lugo argued that Britany could not have inflicted the said gunshot because in her testimony she was turned around in the passenger's seat. Based on the medical examiner’s findings, the bullet depicts a gunshot at close range. Britany testified that Armando fired the last bullet in the vehicle with Amerault pushed to the back with his head against the door of the hatchback.
She also confessed that after Amerault was shot, Armando forced her to drive the car some 200 miles north to a remote location, while her husband trailed behind her as he communicated with her on the phone all the way to the remote campsite. When they reached the location, Brittany said her husband forced her to behad Amerault. After she had done this, Armando told her to dispose of the body and left her at the location.
Agati argued in court that Britany was left with no choice and that she had to balance what she had to do “believing her own life was forfeit” while bearing in mind that she needed to get back to her children.
