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Barnaby murder case witness depositions will resume in June

By Dean Shalhoup - Senior Staff Writer | May 18, 2018

NASHUA – The judge overseeing the Anthony Barnaby murder case, which is headed for trial later this summer, canceled hearings set for Thursday and today to review a response to a defense motion filed late Wednesday.

The purpose of the hearings, which will resume in June, is to interview and possibly depose, via video conference from Toronto, several Canadian residents who are likely to be called to testify in Barnaby’s trial.

Barnaby, who is facing his fourth trial, after three earlier proceedings ended in mistrials, is accused of killing Charlene Ranstrom and Brenda Warner. The two women were found beaten and stabbed to death in 1988 in their apartment in Nashua. Barnaby was charged with the alleged crimes along with David Caplin, who was extradited From Canada in 2015 and who pled guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in a plea arrangement in February. Under the plea agreement, Caplin agreed to testify against Barnaby when his case goes to trial.

State prosecutors requested, and were granted, the depositional hearings in Barnaby’s case, citing that the New Hampshire Attorney General’s office cannot compel Canadian citizens to testify in the United States.

Two potential witnesses – Brenda Goulette and Frank Metallic – appeared via video Wednesday. Although Goulette told the court she would be OK with traveling to Nashua to testify in person, Assistant Attorney General Susan Morell nevertheless voiced concerns that Goulette, given her history of being difficult to locate and non-committal about agreeing to testify, may change her mind about coming.

The next series of depositions is scheduled for June 19-22 in Hillsborough County Superior Court South, again via video conference from Toronto.

Jury selection in Barnaby’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 27. Trial itself will follow, and is expected to run through September and possibly into early October.

The case was reopened in 2010, and both Caplin and Barnaby were rearrested.

Caplin’s plea deal requires he serve 7½ years in state prison. He also must return to Canada after he completes his minimum sentence and not return to the United States.

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