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 Miranda Barbour, 19, and her husband, Elytte Barbour, 22, have
pleaded not guilty to the stabbing and strangling in November of
Troy LaFerrara, 42, whose body was found dumped in an alley in
Sunbury.
Prosecutors say the couple used the Craigslist classified ad website
to lure him to a meeting, offering sex, in a shopping mall parking
lot. If convicted, they face the possibility of the death penalty.
Miranda Barbour was scheduled on Tuesday morning to appear in
Northumberland County Court of Common Pleas in Sunbury,
Pennsylvania.
Edward Greco, her public defender attorney, said on Monday he will
pursue a habeus corpus petition at the hearing, essentially asking
prosecutors to justify their arrest of his client.
He said he also would challenge the aggravating circumstances that
District Attorney Anthony Rosini has presented in court to justify
seeking the death penalty.
Greco also said he will ask the court for permission to hire an
expert to examine the hard drives of computers owned by the victim
and his mother, Harriett Ferrara. The hard drives are in the custody
of the Sunbury police.
Barbour has said in two jailhouse interviews published by a local
newspaper that she has killed at least 22 people around the country,
including Alaska, Florida and North Carolina.
Authorities have expressed skepticism about her statements that she
is a serial killer, noting her petite size and a lack of
corroborating evidence.
In the first interview published in February by Sunbury's Daily Item
newspaper, she said she was a member of a satanic cult.
In the second interview published on Sunday, she said two other men
responded to her online post but failed to show up to their planned
meetings.
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She said in the second interview to have dumped body parts of a
victim in Big Lake, Alaska, other body parts in the area of Mexico
Beach, Florida and a body, apparently intact, along Interstate 95
near Raleigh, North Carolina.
On Monday, Rosini declined comment on the Daily Item interview.
A spokesman for the Raleigh police said on Monday that while the
interstate is not part of his department's jurisdiction, the report
of a body does not appear to relate to any unsolved homicides in the
area.
A spokeswoman for the Alaska State Troopers said the department was
aware of Barbour's claims and will investigate if "credible leads or
evidence" become available.
Police in Mexico Beach, Florida, did not respond to requests for
comment.
(Editing by Ellen Wulfhorst and Eric Walsh)
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