Woman Shot at Barisone Farm

[MHM]

@MissAriel

So at the time of the shooting, at the main house there were staff in the basement, LK and RG were on the main level and the long standing assistant on the upper level, with MB and MH and kids in another residence? Then where did the “he moved to the barn office” come from?

And does that mean that the staff and the fiancé are now all still living in the same house???

[Maude]

@Sticky Situation

The judge referred to the “fatalistic” nature of MB repeatedly saying “I had a good life” … I took it to mean that the judge was concerned that MB believed that his “good life” was over and was therefore more likely to say “F it” and go do further harm to LK or the fiancé.

Or, he said I had a good life meaning he had a good life until they caused problems.

[emipou]

TOO MUCH SPECULATION HERE >_<
Substance abuse??
The mysterious pink gun?
Blaming MB on LK’s supposed flaky scores?
C’mon guys. WTF is this? The National Enquirer???

[Maude]

@Graymaresrule

My husband and I were accused of child abuse. Out of the blue. By our son’s second grade teacher. If you never had the pleasure it’s horrific. It’s terrifying. Annoying stressful and infuriating does NOT cover it. It’s not something most parents are prepared for and they probably haven’t done their homework. In my case I walked into a meeting, totally blindsided, unprepared and unsuspecting and was confronted by the teacher, principal and school psychologist. We were eventually able to get things cleared up but it was weeks of stress and expense and fear.

Anyway, I can totally see MB storming down to LK’s house, where she is expecting him, because she set it up and she knows he will be furious. She is waving the pink gun for “protection”. The situation escalates way past her expectations. He grabs the gun and in the scuffle shoots her.

I suspect the teacher didn’t expect I would be able to get her fired either. To this day I have no idea why she did it but I believe revenge is best served cold.

Was the actual ownership of the gun ever established? Who had posession of it? I read somewhere that LK or RG also had a knife also but the prosecutor siad they didn’t.

So sorry you had to go through that. I agree with your scenario as a possibility. Just because they didn’t find a knife doesn’t mean there wasn’t one initially. So sorry for all involved. I can say though that I would never let LK or her boyfriend anywhere near me, my horses or my property.

[caffeinated]

@farmpony84

Aw but this is exactly where it would be used… in a crime of passion… ”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹”‹ temporary insanity is where the “bad guy” says he or she was insane when they committed the crime but then regained their sanity after the fact…

I actually spent some time working for a public defender whose while job was representing the mentally ill. The “temporary insanity” thing is quite popular in fiction, but not very likely in criminal Court. The standards are very high, proving it is nearly impossible, and in most cases even if people “snap” and legit due have"temporary" insanity, it doesn’t meet the legal definition. So… Extremely unlikely, imo

[Sticky_Situation]

@MHM

What actions of his do you consider bizarre before the day in question?

Genuinely curious, since it sounds like she did a lot of bizarre things, but I don’t remember seeing much about him doing anything crazy until that day.

And wasn’t she still making positive comments about him on Facebook until just a few weeks ago?

Mostly I was referring to his actions that day. His entire arrangement with LK and the living situation is a bit bizarre as well, though.

Yes, as I recall she was still singing his praises on social media earlier this summer and just in the past few weeks her tone changed from thanking him for the wonderful training to claiming she was being bullied and threatened (and in turn making threats against him)

[enjoytheride]

So Lauren and her Fiance were squatting in his home, and refusing to leave, despite an eviction notice. It got so bad that he was living in the barn office.

But she feared for her life? I don’t understand at all why she wouldn’t just leave.

[haleybot]

@Jealoushe

So even if this was true, and she was a “flaky” rider. What does it matter? If you have a horse in full training, why do you need to ride every day? People can ride and show whenever they like.

How does this have anything to do with what happened? You think MB drove to her house and shot her becaause she didnt ride for weeks and got crappy scores at 4th level?

Do you listen to yourself?

Yep. Every day. How can she blame her trainer for poor test scores if she doesnt even know how to ride the movements properly? He cant make her ride every day but he can choose not to be her trainer anymore if she is making false statements about him on fb. I find it interesting that as much as she was complaining that there was no response from him… In that area he was a better person. [edit]

[westisbest]

@ToN Farm

I just want to say that all women should be so fortunate to have a BF or Spouse that is willing to risk his life for her and stick by her through thick and thin. And, this guy must be super strong to be able to overpower MB and keep him down.

Well she’s pretty comes from $ and he seems like kind of a loser. Maybe he’s an adrenaline junkie and she brought drama and excitement to his life. Doubt he was planning on quite this level tho.

[Carolinadreamin]

All I could find out about LK’s fiancé or boyfriend was that he was declared a missing person back in 2017. You sleuths are good here.

[Manahmanah]

@enjoytheride

So Lauren and her Fiance were squatting in his home, and refusing to leave, despite an eviction notice. It got so bad that he was living in the barn office.

But she feared for her life? I don’t understand at all why she wouldn’t just leave.

Because she wanted to destroy him. And she got what she wanted.

[xQHDQ]

Here’s a scenario I haven’t seen anyone bring up.

MB went to confront LK and RG about the ongoing harassment/squatting/etc.
MB brought the gun because he feared for his own life.
LK/RG pulled out a knife and attacked him.
MB pulled out the gun to defend himself.
RG tackled MB after shooting LK, getting his wrist broken in the process.

I’m not saying this is how it happened, and he definitely should never have gone down there with a gun or without.

What is known: LK called Child Protective Services and Fire Dept in the week leading up to this. MB drove to the house and shot LK with a gun. MB was in the hospital for knife wounds. RB was in the hospital for a broken wrist. Everything else is speculation, including the scenario I present above.

[Pony_Fixer]

@xQHDQ

MB was in the hospital for knife wounds.

Where did this come from? The judge specifically said that LK and RG had no knife, or even a stick!

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

@haleybot

LK has a history of not showing up to any barn for weeks or months even when she lived less than 5 miles down the road from them. On her Instagram she even stated she didnt ride for a whole month in FL and then rode for 5 days before showing at 3rd level. And barely got a 60% and scratched her other classes. Scratching seems to be a theme with her…all the way back to training level.

Skipping out on lessons at training level? You mean all the way back to 2016?! :eek: :lol:

[IronwoodFarm]

Not speculating, but based on watching the arraignment, I would get a better criminal attorney if I were MB. I certainly hope he is not using a public defender.

The entire living arrangement of multiple people and groups sharing a house and perhaps swapping labor for rent or training is so typical of poor business practices. Verbal agreements can be problematic; nothing seems to be in writing at least at this point. I can think of so many arrangements like this that go awry and this one did with great drama. We see it just as much at the top end of the sport and we do on the low end.

This is one hot mess.

[Lovey]

@enjoytheride

So Lauren and her Fiance were squatting in his home, and refusing to leave, despite an eviction notice. It got so bad that he was living in the barn office.

But she feared for her life? I don’t understand at all why she wouldn’t just leave.

There was no eviction notice. Def atty stated when questioned by the judge if there was anything about an eviction on record that both LE and MB had retained attorneys who had been in communication but nothing had been filed. Prosecutor did not dispute or add to this statement. Def atty repeatedly called LK/RG “squatters” but the judge questioned this and spoke at length, doubting that the term “squatter” applied to LK/RG. MB whispered to his atty who then stated that LK/RG had been told verbally by the fire chief to vacate due to code violations but no record of this was asked for or produced. And that’s the extent of the eviction notice story so far.

[Marla_100]

x

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

New theory:

I’m not going to touch the allegations of substance abuse against Lauren, but I think we can all agree that she is a bit of a wild child. I wonder if, besides the breakdown of the professional relationship, she was a bad roommate. Perhaps she was displaying behavior that MB and his fiancee didn’t like the children seeing? It’s possible that he didn’t live in the house when she and the boyfriend were there in 2018, so her behavior could be a surprise to MB.

For any number of reasons, MB asked her to leave, and she was refusing. To get away from all of her antics, he, his fiancee and the kids may have moved into the barn. I know all barns are not created equal, and I have seen many high end dressage barns with steam showers and full kitchens in the viewing room area. They can certainly be suitable to live in, and are often nicer than my own home.

BUT non-horse people don’t know this. It’s possible that Lauren called DYFS and said, “this man is keeping his kids in a barn!” That’s not a lie, but it will concern people and warrant a visit from authorities.

That would have made him REALLY mad, because the whole reason they moved out of the house is because Lauren was making them uncomfortable in the first place. My understanding is that this woman is spiteful, so this could have started as an attempt to push his buttons.

[Can_tFindMyWhip]

Perhaps as a silver lining, the horse industry will wisen up about contracts, especially as it relates to housing for working students and clients.

AND maybe NJ will change their housing laws and make eviction a speedier process.

[MeisterMagnolia]

“Isn’t “I had a good life” almost an admission of guilt?” - yes, I think that’s where the judge was leaning towards a possible premeditated action.