The discovery of remains in a rural area outside Fargo, N.D., has led to renewed criminal charges against a Twin Cities man suspected of killing a Vadnais Heights mother last summer.
Timothy Barr reportedly turned himself in to Ramsey County law enforcement officials Friday afternoon armed with a key piece of information: where authorities would find Michelle Newell’s body.
It was the disclosure law enforcement officials had been waiting for since Newell was first reported missing in late August.
Though text message data and police informant testimony indicated that Barr had killed the Vadnais Heights woman, her body had not been found, complicating the investigation and prosecutors’ ability to charge him with her death.
That changed Friday, when Barr, 51, showed up at the Ramsey County Law Enforcement Center and told authorities that Newell’s remains could be found near a culvert in a remote area of Cass County, N.D.
Ramsey County officials provided a map to Cass County law enforcement based on Barr’s account and partial human remains were soon discovered in the area, court documents say.
While identification of the remains is still pending, Sgt. Tim Briggeman of the Cass County sheriff’s office said he’s hopeful the discovery can help the investigation into what happened to the 45-year-old mother of four and give her loved ones answers.
“Anytime there is new information like this in a case, it’s very encouraging,” Briggeman said. “If we can provide some type of closure for the family, that is obviously very important as well.”
The discovery was enough to compel the Cass County state’s attorney’s office to file charges against Barr in Newell’s death, including one count of manslaughter and another of duty in accident involving death. Both are felonies.
It’s the second time Barr has faced charges in the case. The Ramsey County attorney’s office filed second-degree murder charges against him in September but they were later dismissed and Barr was released from custody.
With no body or information about where Newell had been killed, the county lacked jurisdictional authority.
Barr told several people that he accidentally killed Newell when he ran over her with his car, according to court documents filed in Cass County and previously filed in Ramsey. He reportedly said she had been hiding behind it because she had stolen methamphetamine from him.
He told people he disposed of her body in rural North Dakota.
The couple was seen on a surveillance video at a Taco Bell in North Dakota on Aug. 28 and then on a man’s private property the following day.
Cass County sheriff’s office officials and highway patrol had contact with Barr a couple of days later after someone called to report spotting a man lying in a ditch just west of Embden, N.D., off Interstate 94.
Barr told them at the time that his car had broken down a few miles away and he was resting. When authorities spotted his car nearby, he said he had initially lied about his car’s whereabouts because he was scared he would be in trouble for being on private property.
He later told officials he and his girlfriend had stopped at the spot to have sex. When asked where his girlfriend had gone, Barr reportedly said she’d left with another boyfriend because his car had broken down, court documents say.
A widespread search had been underway in eastern North Dakota for Newell since mid September.
It’s unclear why Barr felt compelled to disclose the location of her remains to authorities. An acquaintance of his reportedly contacted law enforcement the day before to say Barr was ready to cooperate.
Brooke Newell, Michelle Newell’s oldest daughter, said Monday that she’d been told it was Barr’s mother who persuaded him to talk to authorities.
“If it was her, I really appreciate that,” said Newell, who is 21.
She added that she is still trying to process everything that’s happened. A part of her had held out hope that her mother would be found alive, she said.
“I think you always want to hold on to that,” Brooke Newell said. “A part of me kind of knew right away that she was gone, but you always hold on to (hope), you know, until you can’t anymore. … I kind of just feel really numb now, just really in shock.”
One of Michelle Newell’s children died years ago. She and her ex-husband, Gregory Newell, divorced in 2013.
Gregory Newell is in federal prison in Colorado on a 15-year sentence for felony drug possession.
Brooke Newell has said that both of her parents struggled with drug addiction. Michelle Newel also suffered from brain injuries caused by a car accident and from domestic violence inflicted in an earlier relationship.
Friends of Newell’s said she and Barr were acquaintances who had been spending more time together in the lead-up to her death.
None of Barr’s relatives could be reached for comment. He is expected to be extradited to North Dakota from Ramsey County.