The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office is pleading for the public's help in finding a Vadnais Heights woman believed to be buried in an abandoned barn or farm building in eastern North or South Dakota.
"With the hunting season starting this weekend in the Dakotas, we are asking people to keep an eye open for anything that may lead to the whereabouts of Michelle Newell's body," Chief Deputy Jack Serier said at a news conference Thursday afternoon.
He urged residents to look in their buildings and on their properties for any clues of the 45-year-old woman's whereabouts. Authorities believe that Timothy J. Barr, 51, of Lakeville, killed Newell between Aug. 30 and 31 and buried her in the corner of a building under hay or grass.
Several search warrant affidavits filed in the case reveal hints of a gruesome crime and Barr's apparent attempt to influence the investigation from inside jailhouse walls.
"Affiant believes the murder was violent and Newell was taken and held against her will," said one affidavit. "Affiant believes Newell … may have physically fought with Barr during the incident."
Barr, who was arrested Sept. 20 and has been uncooperative with the investigation, appeared to show little contrition in a jailhouse phone call to his sister.
"…They snitched," Barr said about the three informants — a woman and her parents — that reported him to police. "The whole family got giddy and excited to the point that they left the keys and locked themselves out of the house. They were all in on it."
An investigator reviewed Barr's calls on Sept. 23, the day after he was charged in Ramsey County District Court with two counts of second-degree murder without intent and one count of criminal vehicular homicide.
