Jury finds Armando Barron guilty in murder of Jonathan Amerault

Cheshire County jury Thursday found Armando Barron of Jaffrey guilty of all charges, including first-degree murder, related to the September 2020 killing of Jonathan Amerault, 25, of Keene.

First-degree murder carries a maximum punishment of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Barron's defense attorneys had argued that his wife, Britany, actually killed Amerault. But in her testimony last week, Britany Barron said Armando, 32, assaulted her, told her to kill Amerault and shot Amerault himself when she refused, all after finding flirtatious text messages between the two of them.

Britany Barron said her husband brutally beat and choked her on the night of Sept. 19, 2020, after finding Snapchat messages between her and Amerault, her coworker, on her phone. Later that night, she said Armando Barron drove her to Annett Wayside Park in Rindge, repeatedly hitting her in the face as he drove.

He messaged Amerault using Britany’s phone to lure him to the park, she said. When Amerault arrived, Britany Barron said Armando hit and kicked him and stomped on his face. Her husband put the gun in her hand, and ordered her to shoot, she said, but she refused. Armando then told her to step on Amerault’s neck and she also cut Amerault’s wrists with a knife on her husband’s orders, she said.

Britany Barron, 33, pleaded guilty in Grafton County Superior Court in September to three counts of falsifying evidence — one for cleaning off Amerault’s vehicle after the killing, one for wrapping his body in a tarp and a third for decapitating him after his death, all of which she said she did on her husband’s orders. She was granted parole last month.

In addition to the murder charge, prosecutors accused Armando Barron of a slew of crimes, including solicitation of murder, solicitation of first-degree assault and domestic-violence charges that allege he assaulted his wife and told her to harm Amerault. He also faced kidnapping, attempted murder, second-degree assault and reckless-conduct charges. The jury found Barron guilty on all charges.

During opening arguments last week, Morgan Taggart-Hampton said Armando Barron did not dispute several of the assault and domestic-violence charges related to beating Britany and kicking Amerault in the head. But Armando Barron denied the charges that he put a gun in Britany’s mouth, and ordered her to hurt or kill Amerault.

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Asked about an appeal after Thursday's verdict, one of Barron's attorney's, Meredith Lugo, said: "Nothing has been decided but I anticipate yes."

She declined to comment further on the case.

Armando Barron is scheduled to be sentenced on at least some of the charges on Friday.

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Ashley Saari of the Monadnock Ledger-Transcript and Paul Cuno-Booth for the Granite State News Collaborative contributed to this report.

These articles are being shared by partners in The Granite State News Collaborative. For more information visit collaborativenh.org.