I actually wondered this. If LK was so afraid and threatened as she reports, did she make any attempts to get out? Or what was the reasoning behind staying there? IIRC someone earlier in the thread said she had offers for boarding when she first said something negative about MB on Facebook. Even if you couldn’t get the horses out you could find yourself a cheap apartment, or get the horses out ASAP then work your way out. I don’t know, if my safety is at risk I’d be working very quickly to find a way out. There has to be some things that I don’t know here.
Also, MB could’ve worked to get them out, again, I don’t know what his efforts were. It’s quicker for tenants to voluntarily leave than it is to evict them, but if they won’t leave there is a proper process to follow. I don’t know why either party would want to stay on the same property as one another if it was that bad.
I would also think the fiance would be working to move themselves and the horses now as this I akk going on, but I’m not sure what angle they’re playing here.
As I said, this seems to have flared up fast and gone from social media posturing and multiple 911 calls to violence faster than anyone could have predicted.
5 or 6 days with a weekend intervening is really not much time to deal with plans. And yes, if someone really is afraid for their life and they are thinking straight they bolt immediately.
Thats why I say social media posturing. IME people who tend to exaggerate habitually ( aka drama queens) don’t always have a really good sense of the dividing line between drama and real violence. They are used to creating high drama and threats and etc. and living in that kind of world. It feels normal to them. Even going on social media to say you fear for your life might feel like it’s on the normal spectrum of things, and maybe even not the first situation you’ve done this, who knows.
It doesn’t sound like any of the LE calls by either party resulted in any arrests or charges. In other words there was no criminal violence until the shooting.
My only thought on why the horses have not been removed is perhaps LK and MB have some sort of shared ownership agreement, which would then muddy the waters on removal. Trainer/client shared ownership in exchange for training and/or sales commissions are not uncommon in the elite dressage world. I have seen these go bad when dissolved in sane, nonviolent situations.
The phone calls by Barisone are going to hurt his case. He sounds agitated and angry. Does not really matter WHY he was agitated and angry. The prosecutor will use that.
I’ve been off COTH for some time now, but I have been watching this with interest like everyone else – and most of all try to keep an open mind. I don’t know either party. I know of MB because he was competing my stallion, Boleem’s, half sibling (Comanche) back in the day when both horses were vying for the Olympics. My take on this post is that it is said that most often anger and agitation are based on fear. So the “why” is really kind of important. I’m sure this will be fleshed out in the end as all wait on pins and needles for some “understandable” explanation for horrible and tragic event for both parties – though the actions of both parties are not really understandable in my mind, and I presume most others.
Re the published recordings of the 911 calls … just based on what is on those posted videos …
MB several times refers to LK & RG as “guests”. I thought he emphasized the term “guests”. He never refers to them as tenants, but only as unwelcome guests that he can’t convince to leave, and who are encroaching on his family’s use of the house. Assuming what he says is credible, this indicates to me that there was no rental or other contract for them to live in the house.
MB also says several times that he wants them gone. He mentions advice from attorneys, and he asks for help from LE. But he never once, in any call, said the “e” word, “eviction”, in any form. That makes me think that he hadn’t yet filed for eviction. It doesn’t make his intentions clear if he intended to go the eviction route – or if he thought they would be there long enough for that.
@Jealoushe - The way we think the law should work is not always the way it actually works. From what we know to date I don’t see anything odd about the actions of LE regarding MB and his unwanted guests. Based on the 911 call videos, LE seems to have been very careful to do everything on their end by the book.
Real estate / property legal issues can seem odd compared with what most of us non-expert civilians know about other areas of the law. But there are reasons why things work the way they do. In particular, LE is not in the role of interpreting who has legal rights to what. Because people lie about that, and LE doesn’t have the considerable documentation and legal opinions to determine who is telling the truth.
In a normal situation, LE doesn’t know the parties or the history of the situation. Well-trained LE representatives have learned not to jump to conclusions about what is probably going on, because that can lead to many problems for LE itself. Things are not always as they appear on the surface.
(It seems to me that MB’s calls to 911 over the course of several days were a deliberate attempt to make LE aware of the situation, as part of some larger strategy to remove the guests.)
I have a feeling there is a novel the length of “War & Peace” of what we, the public, don’t know. And probably never will know. In a decade or so maybe this will all have worked out and a thoroughly researched true crime book or podcast will fill us in. I’m not hopeful to understand the details until then, myself.
I’m not going into the unpleasant details, but there are some interesting legal reasons that LK & RG might have stayed while telling LE that they felt threatened. And there are some very, very interesting legal reasons that they are still there now, and may stay virtually indefinitely. No idea if that is what will happen. MB’s current troubles have put him in an extremely disadvantaged position to do much about this, legally as well as physically.
If the house is actually for sale … well, there are some legal complications around LK & RG still being there for that, as well. Especially if they have lived there long enough to have become squatters.
Just an example of something that is curiously intriguing about LK’s one 911 call on the video … she talks about overhearing “them” talking about doing harm to herself and RG … at 3:15 am.. Wait what ??? Where was she when she heard this at 3:15 am? Where were “they”? I wonder if we will ever hear a more full account of this story? (It’s at about 1.10 on the red dot scrub. I had to listen very closely to hear the time, as it isn’t’ a crisp audio.)
My thought was - if you happen to be awake and notice a blacked out SUV at 3:15am, and hear them talking about doing you harm, why didn’t you call 911 at 3:15!?? Why wait until the next day?
I get the impression there was a whole lot of posturing going on. This is really really common when people try to get LE involved in interpersonal disputes, before things are at emergency level. It sounds to me like both parties were calling LE strategically and trying to get their side of events “on record” so to speak. Calling a tenant a guest would be part of that, hoping the police might act differently. Or claiming to be in fear of your life because of a venting conversation you overheard.
I am going to guess that really she didn’t fear for her life, that all this was just drama, and that the outcome shocked her as much as anyone.
Are you speaking from inside knowledge, and can we assume from this there’s some level of investment in the property from LK and RG? Or co ownership of horses?
going to be a long wait as New Jersey adverse possession laws require a 30-year period of occupation before the squatter may be granted title.
also in New Jersey the property has to publicly inhabited and improved by the squatter to obtain title to otherwise neglected parcel of property to gain title
none of which appear to be applicable in this actual event …but can be used in the book or movie version
As I understand it, a squatter is someone who moves into empty property without the landlord’s permission or perhaps knowledge. That can be a derelict empty council flat in East London in the 1980s or fishermen building shacks on undeveloped foreshore in the 1930s or some farmers in the Western USA in the 19th century. Typically squatters get away with it for much longer if the property isn’t in use plus it’s government land not privately owned.
Despite what MB or his lawyer have said I don’t think they really fit the definition of squatters or guests. They were living there at his invitation (not squatters) and it was their primary residence (not guests). They were tenants of some description. They don’t suddenly become squatters because he is tired of having them there.
LK is a known harasser and it was just a matter of time before she pushed someone over the edge. She was in constant collision with anyone that did not let her get her way and said many times in her FB posts that she was evil when crossed. She stated:"“I am not responsible for anything my other personalities do when they’re threatened.” A true Doctor Jeckell and Mr. Hyde personality!
I can’t seem to post a link here but if you search for judgement records in NJ. Both LK and RG have judgements against them. LK has 1 open judgement and RG has 4 that are still open. I was looking for eviction records because I know that they were evicted from a hotel in NJ after living in it over a year.
that I agree with but them being “tenants of some description” as the structure was never unoccupied or abandoned
whatever the case for a none owner of the property to take ownership as some have mentioned as probable cause in New Jersey the property must have been abandoned and then the process takes about 30 years,
