A New Hampshire man discovered that his wife was having an affair. He kidnapped and killed the other man and forced his wife to decapitate him, says the police, who charged the husband with capital murder. The wife is facing charges of falsifying evidence.

One prosecutor called this murder "especially heinous and gruesome" as authorities allege that Armando Barron, 31, from Jaffrey first kidnapped Jonathan Amerault, 25, of Keene. Then the husband shot him to death in a car and hid the body at a campsite in far northern New Hampshire, near Errol.

Barron's additional charges include beating and threatening his wife, Britany Barron, 31. She told the police that her husband forced her to slice Amerault's wrists while still alive and cut off and bury his head after being shot.

Infidelity and rage

Armando and Britany appeared in court in separate arraignments. Both pleaded "not guilty."

Appearing by video feed from the jail, with dark bruises surrounded the woman's eyes, her lawyer said she did everything under extreme duress and fear for her own life.

She helped solve this crime. Rather than conceal evidence or falsify evidence, she led the police directly to evidence.

The lawyer, Richard Guerriero, tried but his argument for electronic monitoring release was not successful when arguing for her release wit.

She was beyond cooperative. It's hard to imagine being beaten like that, threatened with your life, being fearful, and then cooperating with the police, but that's what she did.

Assistant Attorney General Scott Chase agreed that the woman was cooperative. However, he argued that her release would endanger the public. Chase claimed that she should have been able to get away from her husband and report the crime. Especially while they were in separate cars driving 200 miles north.

He simply stated:

She was cooperative after she got caught.

The breakdown of the case

According to a police affidavit, the woman told the investigators that her husband went through her cellphone on Saturday. That was when he discovered the affair.

The wife said he repeatedly assaulted her, put a gun in her mouth, and choked her until she passed out.

Later that night, the husband used his wife's phone to lure Amerault to a Rindge park. He furiously assaulted him and tried to force his wife to shoot him.

Just before Amerault died, the wife said her husband made her cut his wrists. When she said no, he forced Amerault into the back of the car and shot him three times while his wife was driving.

The wife said that the husband forced her to drive the victim's car, containing his body, to the campsite while her husband was in another vehicle.

As per the police report:

He communicated to her that once the sun came up the next morning, he would forgive her.

The woman said her husband ordered her to cut off Amerault's head so dental records could not identify his body. Then they buried it and wrapped the rest of the body in a tarp.

"I'm in big trouble," the woman told the officers.

Chase, the prosecutor, said the alarming brutality of the crime and the destroying of evidence in a capital murder is rather concerning.

Had this defendant successfully destroyed that evidence, her husband, the alleged murderer, may very well have evaded detection and/or apprehension.

The state's capital murder law covers deaths during kidnappings and six other scenarios. However, the lawmakers closed the death penalty last year.

Those who were waiting for the death penalty are sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Since the death penalty is not an option, life in prison is the only thing that makes sense in this case.