Maria Haymandou’s latest blog post
Miranda Barbour
There has been a lot of talk recently about the “Craigslist killer”, a 19 year-old woman named Miranda Barbour, who, along with her husband, Elyette Barbour, murdered a man named Troy LaFerrara that they found on Craigslist. Just today, defense attorneys for Barbour questioned in court whether she had been fairly represented by legal counsel, hoping to have her confession tossed out as evidence. According to the attorneys, Barbour asked for a lawyer when she was first questioned by Pennsylvania state police back in December, but was turned down.
After Miranda walked into the station and said that she wanted to give a statement and turn herself in, it should have triggered her right to counsel, according to defense attorney Edward Greco. Snyder County District Attorney Michael Piecuch, testifying as a witness, claimed that Barbour didn’t qualify for a lawyer because she wasn’t yet charged with a crime. However, Barbour confessed to the crime without a lawyer present, and therefore defense attorneys want her confession tossed out as evidence.
Barbour, wearing an eye-catching orange prison jumpsuit, was impassive during the suppression-of-evidence hearing. If convicted, she could face a death sentence. She and her husband have pleaded not guilty to the stabbing and strangling this past November of LaFerrara, whose body was found dumped in a Sunbury alley. According to prosecutors, the couple used Craigslist to lure LaFerrara into a meeting, and then killed him for the sake of committing a murder together. Barbour has since made controversial claims to a local newspaper that she’s killed “at least” 22 people through her previous involvement in a satanic cult. She claimed that her victim’s body parts can be found around Alaska, Florida and North Carolina.
Authorities, however, are skeptic that Barbour actually is a serial killer, due to her petite size and lack of solid evidence. Video footage played in court today revealed Barbour arguing with a trooper and asking for her cellphone, which he took after restraining her. The defense attorney claimed that the video was evidence, and police knew she was a subject and therefore should have provided legal counsel.
Maria Haymandou 