Man gets life in prison, plus 45 years, in beheading case
May 27, 2022, 12:56 PM | Updated: 1:05 pm
CONCORD, N.H. (AP) —
A New Hampshire man convicted of killing his wife’s co-worker and forcing her to behead him was sentenced Friday to life in prison, plus 45 years.
Armando Barron, 32, was convicted Thursday of first-degree murder, which carries a mandatory sentence of life without parole. A judge imposed additional time as recommended by prosecutors for other crimes, including kidnapping, criminal solicitation and assault.
“Your actions were brutal. They were also horrific, they were selfish, and they were completely senseless,” Judge Elizabeth Leonard told Barron. “The abject cruelty, the pain and suffering and all that you inflicted on Jonathan that night is unfathomable.”
Barron was accused of assaulting his wife after discovering she had been texting with her co-worker, 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault, in September 2020. Prosecutors said he used his wife’s cellphone to lure Amerault to a park, where he beat and kicked him before forcing him into his own car and fatally shooting him.
Barron’s lawyers argued that his wife shot Amerault, which she denied.
Britany Barron, 33, testified that after Amerault was shot, she was forced to drive the car 200 miles (320 kilometers) north to a remote campsite, with Armando following behind her. There, she said, she was forced to behead Amerault. Her husband eventually left her at the site, telling her to dispose of the body, she testified.
Their voices shaking with anger and sadness, Amerault’s parents both called Barron a disgusting leech Friday.
“The only good thing I see about all this heinous, heinous crime is that you are not 40 years old, 50 or 60, but only 30 years old. You have a long, long time to fade away and rot in prison,” Kenny Amerault said.
“My son Jonathan was a thousand times more of a man than this lowlife could ever even dream of being,” Justine Amerault said. “The loss of Jonathan to this world is incredibly sad.
“But the saddest part of all is that in spite of him being surrounded by so many wonderful people, this evil creature just slithered right through us all and took him from us. And the last hours of Jonathan’s beautiful life were in the company of this ugly, hideous, demented creature.”
Barron, who did not speak at the sentencing hearing, plans to appeal his convictions, his lawyer said.
The Associated Press had previously not been naming the couple in order not to identify Britany Barron, who said she suffered extreme abuse. Through her lawyer, she recently agreed to the use of her name.
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