BUT WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER ON THAT FATEFUL DAY?
Britany and Armando Barron were childhood sweethearts. Married since they were teenagers, the couple shared three children. But after many years, their relationship was on shaky ground. In September 2020, Armando, then 30, found text messages on his 31-year-old wife’s phone, between his wife and her colleague Jonathan Amerault, then 25, who was so handsome that he was nicknamed ‘Abercrombie’, after the hunky models who worked at the clothes shop. Armando saw red, and forced Britany to send Jonathan a message, luring him to a nearby park. Leaving their kids with their grandparents next door, Armando and Britany went to the meeting point. On the way, Armando taunted his wife, reading out the flirtatious texts she’d exchanged with Jonathan. He hit her as he came to the end of each message. When Jonathan arrived, Armando assaulted him. Whatever played out in the next few hours, only Armando, Britany and Jonathan would know for certain. When Jonathan didn’t show up for work the following Monday, friends and family raised the alarm, no one having heard from him for two days.
Two days later, his decapitated body was found in a swamp. He had been shot three times – twice in the chest, once in the head. A police investigation led officers to Armando and Britany. She was arrested, charged with two counts of falsifying information, lying and hiding evidence. Britany was also charged with abuse of a corpse. Armando was charged with murder, kidnapping, assault and soliciting murder. Authorities believed he was the one who killed Jonathan, before forcing his wife to behead him and bury his head in the woods.
The pair were held behind bars as they awaited trial. In August 2021, Britany took a plea deal, pleading guilty to one count of falsifying evidence. In return for the plea deal, all other charges against Britany were dropped and she agreed to take the stand, giving evidence against Armando. She admitted to being present when Jonathan was murdered, and to covering up vital evidence. She maintained that any part she played in the grisly crime was forced by her husband.
CRUEL DECEPTION
In October, Britany was sentenced to between three and a half and seven years in prison. Two years were suspended, and the 377 days that she’d already spent behind bars were taken into account. In May 2022, Armando Barron, 32, also had his day in court. Prosecutors laid out the evidence, telling the jury how he had used his wife’s phone to trick his victim, before violently beating Jonathan. Then, he had tried to force his wife to shoot him. When
