[female narrator] for one young man
Searching for love,
A bucolic farm in new hampshire
Offers the promise of romance and a fresh start.
It was everything that he had hoped for.
He wanted to have a girlfriend.
[michael] she owns the farm, all 115 acres.
She is the richest woman in town.
[narrator] but when he suddenly disappears
It becomes clear this idyllic life
Is not what it seems.
At first, it didn't seem like it was going to turn
Into such a big case.
But as it went along, it became huge.
[narrator] investigators uncover a twisted world
Of sexual seduction,
Vengeance and control.
It was one of the largest homicide scenes
In the state of new hampshire ever.
You've got a predator going after the same type of prey.
We started getting real concerned
That we were gonna have other victims.
[narrator] a quiet rural town with a monster in its midst.
It was almost immediately apparent
From the first time I met her,
She was absolutely stark-raving mad.
[ominous music]
[opening theme song]
[narrator] February 24, 2006.
Temperatures are hovering just below freezing in epping,
New hampshire.
It's been four days since caroline lodge,
Who lives about 45 miles south in massachusetts,
Has heard from her son,
And she's starting to worry.
[sean] I was working a patrol shift as a patrol sergeant,
And we received a 911 call from caroline lodge,
Who was the mother of an individual in his 20's
Named kenneth countie.
[kirsten] she had concerns
Because kenny had some mental limitations.
His mother would check in on him sort of on very frequent basis
To make sure all the normal things were being taken care of.
[michael] he had a job working in a car wash.
Caroline talks to his boss, he hasn't showed up for work.
[kirsten] caroline had historically had
Fairly continuous contact with her son,
So it was alarming to her.
[narrator] caroline tells police kenny had
Only recently moved to epping, new hampshire
To live with his girlfriend, 47-year-old sheila labarre.
[kirsten] kenny wanted to be a normal guy.
He wanted to have connections with friendships,
And he wanted to be in a romantic relationship
And have a girlfriend.
[narrator] however, kenny's sudden move
Has his mother worried.
She says sheila has taken him away
From the setup that he had,
And isn't returning him to his regular life,
And she considers sheila being kenny's abductor.
Caroline was somewhat worried about kenneth's ability
To take care of himself, stand up for himself.
She was a mom who was worried about her son.
[narrator] epping police agree to pay a visit to sheila's farm
On February 24, 2006, sergeant gallagher and I
Did go to the labarre farm,
And we banged on the rear door of the home.
We asked sheila, "where's kenny?"
A few minutes later, kenny came down,
Wrapped in a towel,
And we asked him if he wanted to be there.
He said, "oh, heck yeah."
He looked happy to be there.
He told us he wanted to be there.
We don't have that type of powe to forcibly remove an adult
From a location that they wanna be in,
And we shouldn't.
That was that, and we left.
[narrator] police confirm that kenny seems fine.
However, a month later, on March 23, 2006,
Caroline lodge calls epping police again.
Before sheila invited kenny to come up and live with her,
He had an apartment with a friend in massachusetts.
[michael] caroline had spoken to his roommate,
Found out that kenny hadn't been around in more than a month.
And she spoke to sheila, and sheila said that, uh,
Kenny wasn't around anymore.
So, now he really is missing.
[narrator] born in tewksbury, massachusett
On July 18, 1981,
Kenneth countie jr. Struggled most of his adult life.
Kenny countie was a mentally disabled man.
His childhood had been relatively carefree.
He was well cared for, but he became an adult,
And he wanted to get away and be independent.
[kirsten] he finally was able to get an apartment,
Live with a friend.
His mother certainly helped set him up to have the life
Of a normal twenty-year-old, despite some of his limitations.
[narrator] kenny moved 15 minutes away from his mother
To the nearby town of wilmington, massachusetts
With his roommate, who helped kenny get a job at a carwash.
Kenny wanted to be an independent adult man.
He was desperately lonely,
Which is why he joined a telephone dating service.
This is before the age of apps and people meeting in that way,
And so, there were phone chat lines,
And people would call these phone lines
In an effort to meet somebody to go out on dates with.
[narrator] it was on a chat line that kenneth first met
47-year-old sheila labarre.
[kirsten] beyond simply being attractive
And having a great southern accent,
Sheila was very adept at reading people
And giving them what she felt they wanted.
[narrator] the youngest of six children,
Sheila labarre grew up in fort payne, alabama.
[richard] from what I hear, it is not a very affluent area.
She had a really rough childhood.
[narrator] as a teenager,
Sheila loved to sing and dreamed of becoming a model
Or country music singer when she grew up.
This was someone who was once a beauty contestant.
She really was an extremely stunning young lady.
[narrator] in 1987,
Sheila was in her late 20's when she first met
Dr. Wilfred labarre of epping, new hampshire
Through a singles ad.
[sean] everybody in town knew wilfred labarre.
He was a chiropractor by trade, and I think that's, you know,
Where he made his money for his-his horse farm,
Which is a very beautiful piece of property.
[narrator] widowed at 57,
The chiropractor lived alone on the sprawling 115-acre property
He was at a point in his life where he was lonely.
He was looking for female companionship.
[michael] so, he puts an ad in a newspape
And sheila answers the ad.
There's a tremendous age difference.
She is in her late 20's, maybe 30 years old.
He's 61, but it doesn't seem to matter.
[sean] sheila was boisterous and free,
And she easily drew bill in.
[narrator] after a few visits in alabama,
Bill was smitten with sheila,
And she returned with him to epping.
[michael] sheila stuck out in epping, new hampshire
Like fire engine red lips in a black-and-white movie.
She was flamboyant.
She drove a mercedes.
She was in town for maybe 48 hours
Before everyone knew she was there.
[narrator] but sheila had no trouble
Settling in to life on the farm
Shelia was an animal lover and especially loved her rabbits
And was doting on them.
[narrator] though bill and sheila never married,
She took his last name.
However, 13 years after she arrived in new hampshire,
Tragedy struck.
Bill labarre died at a somewhat early age in 2000
Because of heart problems.
And when he passed away,
Despite having family and children,
The entire estate went to sheila.
[michele] she inherited everything,
The farm, the acres of land, the mercedes, the cadillac.
I think there was a couple of trucks.
[michael] the family is shocked to find out
That in his last years,
He had changed his will,
Giving the family only scraps
And leaving everything to sheila.
She is the richest woman in town.
[narrator] sheila worked hard
To keep the massive farm running,
But she was lonely.
After bill's death, she turned to phone dating.
Sheila loved going on these chat lines,
And she would call people and talk all night.
[narrator] and in February of 2006,
After sheila first spoke with kenneth countie
Through the chat line,
Their relationship moved quickly.
They went out on their first date on valentine's day.
[james] he was a young guy that was sort of struggling
To find his way in the world.
Life wasn't always easy for him.
[kirsten] sheila invited kenny in to come up
And live at the farm.
There were expectations
That he would help maintain the enormous property
And that he would have a home.
[narrator] just days after their first date,
Kenny moved an hour north to epping, new hampshire.
Kenny moves in with sheila.
This is really his dream.
He's independent of his mother.
He's out in the real world.
He's through the moon for sheila labarre,
Crazy in love.
[narrator] the promising new life
Seemed the answer to both of their prayers.
But just a month after the move
Kenny's mother caroline contact authorities for a second time.
[sean] on March 23, 2006 ,
Caroline lodge had called sheila labarre
To check on her son
And found out that kenneth was no longer at the house.
Sheila, she believed
That kenneth had gone back to massachusetts.
Caroline called the police demanding
That something was wrong
And they needed to go find her son.
[narrator] coming up...
Investigators return to sheila's farm.
We decided we were gonna go out
To check for kenneth countie one more time.
As soon as I kicked the door,
Very eerily somebody yelled, "what are you doing?
[narrator] and what they find is haunting.
[theme music]
[narrator] March 24, 2006.
Investigators in epping, new hampshire, are en route
To sheila labarre's farm for the second time in a month
In search of missing 24-year-ol kenny countie.
[richard] I had gotten on duty at 5:00 pm
And right around 6:00 pm,
We decided we were gonna go out to sheila labarre's house
To check for kenneth countie one more time.
[sean] as we drove out there that night to sheila's house,
It was dark.
Somebody was burning something.
There was a barrel, a fifty-five-gallon
Rusted out barrell,
A burned pile on the ground.
There were no lights on in the house,
No lights on outside.
[kirsten] here in new hampshire,
Burning debris isn't something that's uncommon.
When people burn, though, they get a burn permit.
It has to be during certain hours.
This was at night, and it is dark out,
And there are burning piles right next to the house.
[sean] all sheila's vehicles were at the property.
We had every reason to believe at that point in time
That possibly both sheila and kenny were still in the home.
Ultimately, we knocked on the door
And tried to get ahold of somebody.
Nobody came to the door,
And we walked back out to take a closer look
At the burn pit that was in the middle of the front yard
I was extremely happy not to be alone,
Because this was getting spookier and more eerie
By the second.
[narrator] investigators are looking aroun
When they spot something unusua jutting from the burn pile.
[richard] I put my gloves on, I bent down.
I'll never forget it,
I picked it up and I looked at it,
And I showed sergeant gallagher.
In the fire pit there was what appeared to be,
Um, a bone.
As a police officer, the sense really kicks in
That something is very seriously wrong at that home,
And the concern for kenny and sheila
Had gone through the roof.
Is it plausible that that could be an animal bone?
Absolutely, but we wanted to enter that residence
To make sure that there wasn't anything happening to sheila,
Wasn't anything happening to kenny.
We said, oh, we gotta get into the home now.
[sean] as soon as I kicked the door,
Very eerily somebody yelled,
"what are you doing?",
And it actually made me jump.
[narrator] the officers suddenly find they are not alone.
[richard] sheila comes down the road
And kinda starts screaming immediately,
"what are you doing?"
Sheila had been grocery shopping.
This is just perfect timing.
We explained that we were there, uh, to check on kenneth.
She said, "yeah, he left. He left on his own."
[narrator] sheila says kenny left a few days earlier,
And she has not heard from him since.
[sean] that's when I asked her
What the bone in the fire pit was from.
She immediately stated, "well, that's a rabbit or a pedophile.
I asked her, "why would you say
That it's a rabbit or a pedophile?"
And she claimed that she did not say
It was a pedophile, that she never said that.
Our concerns were really, really high at that point
That something terrible happene to kenneth.
And we asked her if we could take the bone that we found
On the burn pile, and she said, "no."
[narrator] sheila demands the officers leave her property
[richard] she said, don't come back
Without a search warrant, or something to that effect.
So, we got in the car, you know
I was not happy that we were leaving,
But that's what we had to do.
There was a whole lot of red flags that I had just observed,
And I just didn't like driving away from it,
But we did.
When we leave, we still have a missing person.
So that starts a clock.
[narrator] the next day,
A judge signs the search warrant, and at 8:50 am,
Authorities return to sheila's farm.
We found sheila labarre kneeling in her front yard
By the fire pit.
She was covered in ashes,
And sitting on this chair, there was a plain plastic walmart bag.
[narrator] noticeably absent is the bone officers saw
The day prior.
With their suspicions heightened,
Police ask sheila if she is armed,
And she proceeds to hand over a .38-caliber handgun.
[sean] we had asked her if she had any other weapons.
She said, "no."
She exposed her breasts to show us she had no weapons.
It was very, very strange.
Two of the officers talk with her,
And the rest of us began a search on the outside
Of the home.
[narrator] an officer asks sheila outright
"where is kenny?"
When we looked in the bag,
It appeared to be full of bone fragments.
I felt like that was the worst possible scenario
That could have happened.
I obviously suspected that he was deceased
And couldn't comprehend what would have happened to him
To reduce him to be in a bag.
[narrator] coming up...
Sheila exhibits more bizarre behavior.
She stated that she would only go
To the police department if she could bring one of her rabbits.
[narrator] and sheila accuses kenny counti
Of the unthinkable.
[theme music]
[narrator] in March 2006,
Authorities investigating the disappearance
Of 24-year-old kenny countie
Are searching a farm in epping, new hampshire
Owned by kenny's girlfriend, 47-year-old sheila labarre.
[sean] it was filthy.
There were rabbits all over the place,
Probably, you know, a hundred plus rabbits at this home.
[narrator] officers are pressing sheila for more information
After she made a terrifying comment concerning kenny.
She said, "he's right there in the walmart bag,"
And she pointed to the bag that was on the chair.
[narrator] investigators collect the bag
Full of bone fragments for testing
And send sheila down to the police station
For a formal interview.
She stated that she would only go to the police department
If she could bring one of her rabbits.
[narrator] she says that their relationship started strong,
But ended abruptly on March 21st or 22nd
When she discovered that "adam" was hiding a dark secret.
[narrator] however,
Authorities find the accusation against kenny
Are simply not true.
There is no evidence
And not even a sliver of an investigation
Against kenneth countie for ever being a pedophile.
There's no evidence of that.
There's no reports of that.
[narrator] sheila says after kenny left her farm,
She burned everything he touched,
Including the mattress that he had been sleeping on
In her living room.
[narrator] detectives try moving the focus
Back to kennie's whereabouts.
[narrator] after a few hours,
Sheila has worked herself into near hysterics
And asks to end the interview.
[kirsten] we still did not have enough
To make the arrest of sheila labarre.
So, it was determined she would be released that night
But that police would tail her and follow her.
After she left the police department,
She did go back to manchester and stayed in a hotel.
[narrator] investigators ask sheila
Not return to her residence
Until they have finished processing the scene.
We had sixty-plus officers
Do the large exterior search of sheila's farm.
The exterior of the home comprised two burn pits.
[narrator] the property is over 100 acres,
And the search efforts are extensive.
[sean] we had found hedge clippers,
A knife handle, a saw handle.
There were bone fragments found in that fire pit.
We collected as much evidence from the outside as we could.
Those bone fragments went off to the university of maine.
[narrator] investigators hear back from the lab
With chilling results.
[sean] within a matter of four hours
That came back that those bone fragments were indeed human.
The property was blocked off by police.
We had shut down the scene as an active crime scene.
[narrator] when the search team enters the farmhouse,
No one is prepared for what they find.
I walk into the home and I'm looking around,
And I remember the state trooper in charge.
He walks in, he says "what do you see?"
And I'm colorblind,
So I have a tough time seeing some colors.
He said "it's a bloodbath in here."
And I looked at him, and I said, "what do you mean?"
And this trooper started pointing out blood everywhere.
There's blood here, there's blood here,
There's blood here.
Literally there was blood everywhere inside this home.
[narrator] in the living room where kenny slept,
They find an empty area
Where they believe his mattress used to be.
[sean] there was blood cast-off found on the wall
Consistent with the swinging of a blunt force trauma
Instrument or a knife.
So obviously that kicks off an exhaustive search.
[narrator] investigators find nearly
1,000 hours of audio recordings of sheila's conversations
With her husband, bill labarre,
Kenny countie, and other men.
And detectives are quick to notice
Another disturbing detail.
The crime scene investigators noticed that the blood splatters
Were not all the same age.
Some was fresh, some was old,
Some was dust covered.
[sean] I've seen my fair share of death.
There was a creepy feeling
Something horrific happened there.
[narrator] coming up...
Is this farm a place of refuge...Or revenge?
Neighbors had called about odd behavior.
[james] neighbors would see men
Running away from the farm.
[theme music]
[narrator] March 27, 2006.
New hampshire state investigators are searching
Sheila labarre's farmhouse
For missing 24-year-old kenneth countie
When they come across an appalling scene.
[michael] they find blood splatter all over the house
And blood splatter from different ages.
So it didn't all happen at the same time.
[narrator] blood samples are collected
And sent out for analysis.
While awaiting lab results,
Authorities dig deeper into sheila's background.
[kirsten] sheila was quite a character in town.
The police were familiar with the labarre farm.
[sean] I think sheila and wilfred labarre's relationship
Was more tumultuous than anything else.
The police department would be involved several times
With domestic disputes.
[narrator] according to friends and neighbors,
After her husband's death,
There was a revolving door of men in sheila's life.
I knew that shelia was pretty promiscuous.
She didn't hide it, I'll tell you that.
She was picking up her men from the homeless shelter.
Neighbors had called about odd behavior,
Seeing men go down to the farm,
And then they would see them
Being dropped off by sheila at the end of the driveway,
Sometimes with bruises and markings on their body.
Neighbors would see men, you know,
Running away from the farm.
[narrator] neighbors tell investigators
That before kenny countie showed up,
There was another man living with sheila
Named michael deloge.
Sheila's neighbors said he was a man who she picked up
At a local homeless shelter in portsmouth.
[narrator] however,
When detectives track down michael deloge's family,
They learn that no one has seen him since July of 2005
About 7 months before kenny moved in.
[michael] michael deloge is 38 years old,
And he has been out on his own for a while.
His family's used to him not being around,
From not hearing from him.
They say he has a drinking problem.
He's been known to take drugs,
Which is why he's in the halfway house.
[james] she brought him to the farm.
She gave him a place to live and food.
He was working at the farm for her.
They engage in a very intense sexual relationship.
I think he saw sheila as providing
Some sense of security.
[michael] at first, michael deloge's family is thrilled.
But one day, they get a letter
From sheila accusing them of abusing mikey,
And this is all confusing and frightening to them,
And of course, none of it was true.
[narrator] investigators also find audio and video
Of michael in sheila's batch of recordings.
[narrator] in February of 2005, michael's family received
Another letter from sheila's address
Asking them to leave him and sheila alone.
The family of mikey deloge has been extorted
Into leaving them alone.
The next time they try to get in touch,
Sheila said he's not here anymore.
You know, he left, he, uh, didn't say where he was going.
Family members had actually assumed that he had left there
And, and just went traveling.
The search kind of turned into what happened to michael?
Where is he? And does any of the evidence
That was already located in the home,
Such as blood spatter or blood stains,
Did any of it possibly belong to him?
[narrator] while investigators sift
Through the evidence collected on the farm,
They get word that that sheila may be looking to skip town.
[kirsten] a woman came by the police department in epping.
She explained that she and her daughter
Were at a pet store the day before,
And they'd met shelia, who had one of her rabbits with her.
She offered them money in order to care for her rabbit
The three women ended up having a conversation,
Which led to shelia going back home with them.
They were watching the evening news,
And the news was reporting
The missing person's investigation
Regarding kenny countie.
Shelia labarre, at that time,
Started explaining that kenny countie was her boyfriend.
[narrator] the woman says sheila then aske
For a ride to a local bank.
[kirsten] sheila, she was concerned she was being framed
And that she needed to get bail money.
The woman described driving sheila labarre
To a branch of td bank and observing sheila labarre
Withdraw $85,000 from the bank.
After that, she dropped sheila labarre off
On the side of the road and had no further contact with her.
I had been fearful the whole time that she would leave.
I know that she had access to funds.
[kirsten] we are trying to figure out
What our next moves are,
While we're continuing to build the case.
We are still sorting through all the stuff
That's in the house.
[narrator] investigators dig deeper
Into the hundreds of hours of audio recordings.
I haven't seen another cache of recordings like that
In the rest of my career.
[narrator] in these recordings,
Sheila seems to coerce her male visitors
Into making alleged "confessions".
I could hear her questioning kenneth about being a pedophile,
And asking him over and over again,
"you are a pedophile, aren't you?",
And at some point he did say yes.
And then she said,
"kenneth countie is now pretending to throw up."
And then she said, "why are you passing out?
Kenneth countie is now faking that he passed out."
[narrator] the recordings suggest kenny
Was under duress when he made these statements.
There was no evidence that he was a pedophile
And no indication that he ever did anything like that.
[narrator] investigators sorting through photos in the house
Make another disturbing discovery.
[james] the most eerie picture
Was this picture that she took herself
Of kenneth countie at the walmart in epping,
And he has a gas can in the front of his cart.
And that was within a day or so
Of her killing him and burning him.
[narrator] when the state lab finally issues its report,
The findings are damning.
There was actually blood spatter
That was matched to kenneth countie and his dna.
They used dna technology to determine
That both kenneth countie's and michael deloge's blood
Were all over the walls at sheila's house.
[narrator] on March 31st, authorities are finally able
To issue an arrest warrant for sheila.
There's only one problem.
[sean] nobody knew where she was.
I had some fears that something may happen
Where she would never face trial for this.
[narrator] coming up...
The manhunt for sheila intensifies.
There was a bolo put out for shelia labarre,
Be on the lookout.
[narrator] and investigators' worst fears are realized.
It starts to become clear that we may have more victims.
[theme music]
[narrator] sheila labarre,
The prime suspect in the disappearance
Of 24-year-old kenny countie,
Has just withdrawn over $85,000 and fled town.
[richard] so, there was a bolo put out for shelia labarre,
Be on the lookout, and that gets broadcast
Through massachusetts and new hampshire.
It was on the news that, uh,
That police had issued a warrant for sheila's arrest,
Which caused a witness
To phone in that she'd been in revere, massachusetts.
He told us she was hitchhiking
And looking for a ride down to massachusetts,
And so he picked her up.
And so, police were sent to their location
And they found who they believed
To be sheila labarre in a parking lot.
However, her hair was now dyed red.
She denied that she was sheila labarre
For quite some time, but it was apparent
Based on the photographs police had of her
And she was finally arrested.
[narrator] on April 2, 2006,
Sheila is finally behind bars,
But investigators still have questions.
[kirsten] we come across some of the blood smears,
Spatter, that were in the home
That did not match mike deloge or kenny countie's dna.
[richard] as we're investigating this,
It starts to become clear that we may have more victims.
[narrator] with evidence piling up against her,
Sheila finally comes clean... But there's a catch.
[sean] after she was arrested, she had obtained legal counsel.
She wanted to plead insanity,
But understanding in order to do so
That she had to provide a confession.
[james] she confessed to the state's psychiatric expert
About her version exactly how she killed both of these men.
Now, do I believe those versions are true?
No, I don't.
But then she said, I was not, uh, sane when I did it.
[narrator] in April of 2006,
Sheila labarre is charged with the murders
Of kenneth countie and michael deloge.
Ultimately, she killed kenneth.
I think she probably stabbed him over and over again,
Which created all that blood cast,
While he lied in bed.
When she realized that she had killed him,
She decided to dismember him and burn him
In an attempt to hide.
I think michael deloge suffered much the same fate.
[narrator] at her trial in may of 2008,
Sheila pleads not guilty by reason of insanity.
It was almost immediately apparent
From the first time I met her,
She was absolutely stark raving mad.
That's basically the heart of any insanity,
The client did it, but should not be held responsible for it.
There's a big difference between mental illness and insanity.
Insanity's a legal distinction,
The perp did not understand the difference and quality
Between right and wrong.
[kirsten] sheila purposely,
After finding out she could be held accountable,
Went to lengths to take out money,
Escape the jurisdiction,
Hide her appearance,
And these are all things that show she knows what she's doing
[narrator] on June 20, 2008,
After 13 hours of deliberation,
Jurors return with a verdict: Guilty on all counts.
[james] it was a very emotional verdict
Both kenneth countie's family
And michael deloge's mother were in the courtroom.
There was a lot of just plain relief and tears
By those family members that this woman met justice.
There is no evidence against kenneth countie
Or michael deloge for ever being a pedophile,
Ever committing such an act or being sex offenders.
[narrator] even now, detectives wonder...
Are there more victims?
[richard] I think it was more towards the end of the search,
Toes that were found at sheila's home
And sent off for a dna comparison.
And it did not match michael deloge
Or kenneth countie.
To this day, sheila has never mentioned a third victim.
She will not talk about it
And that section of this case remains open.
[music]