Episode 358

**SPEAKER_1** (0:00)
Sword and Scale contains adult themes and violence and is not intended for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised.

**Brittany Barron** (0:12)
And then he gave me the night, and even then he was concerned about me walking behind him. And I'm like, well, we both got trust issues now, don't we?

**Sword and Scale** (0:22)
There is no honor amongst thieves, or murderers, really. Sometimes people that listen to this show get things a little confused. They think I hate this race, or this sex, or this pansexual binary dogkin, or whatever the fuck you want to be.
I really couldn't care less. Sure, you're unusual, but I think that's what you're going for. But this show is about murder, not your personal political causes. So if I make fun of some asshole that's pretending to be a victim, and is instead a killer, well, too bad.
We're gonna keep doing what we do.
And if you don't like it, well, you know where the door is. You don't have to announce your exit.
It's Monday, September 23rd, 2020, Keene, New Hampshire. That's the day 25-year-old Jonathan Amerault was reported missing. At first, nothing about it seemed urgent. John was a hiker, one of those obsessed types. The mountains of New Hampshire were his second home. Long, grueling day trips, sometimes stretching into the night. That was normal for him. He had already conquered 99 of the 100 highest peaks in New England, and nearly every 4,000-footer in the region. So when his mother didn't hear from him over the weekend, she wasn't that alarmed. Maybe he was just out of service. Maybe he was with friends. He had plenty of them. John had a full life. But then Monday came and John didn't show up to work. That's when the unease set in.
Because that just wasn't like him. John was dependable, focused. At just 25, he was already a biomedical engineer at Teleflex Medical, building devices that helped save lives. He showed up for work. He checked in and he loved his career. So his mother made the call. She asked the police to check in on him. But when officers arrived at his quiet Cape style home, John was gone. And so was his Subaru Impreza, the one with the run happy bumper sticker.

**SPEAKER_5** (3:11)
State police looking for a missing 25 year old man from Keene. Police say that Jonathan Amerault was reported missing after he failed to show up for work in Jaffery. His family hasn't heard from him since Saturday. He may be driving a gray Subaru Impreza with New Hampshire plates. Anyone with information asked to contact state police.

**Sword and Scale** (3:30)
While John's friends rallied on social media to try to find their friend, the police pinged his phone and discovered its last known location was near a hiking trail in Jaffery, New Hampshire. A desperate scramble started. Most of John's friends and family were concerned that something had happened to him out on the trail. Maybe he was just sitting there with a broken leg, waiting for help. But the police got to work chasing down leads. When they spoke with Teleflex, they learned that not only had John mysteriously been absent from work, but another Teleflex employee, 31-year-old Brittany Barron, had also failed to show up on that same day.
On Monday, September 21st, Brittany had called HR. Not to call out sick or a personal day, but to quit, just like that. After six and a half steady years at Teleflex, she walked away without a warning. It didn't make sense. Brittany was a married mother of three young girls. Her husband did not work. She was the sole earner for the family, and she loved Teleflex. She too had been moving up in the ranks over the years.
Brittany Barron lived in Jeffrey, New Hampshire, with her husband Armando and their three kids.
They lived modestly on one side of a duplex house, and Armando's parents lived on the other side. When the police arrived at the Barron house, they found Armando's mother, her hands full, watching her granddaughters, because apparently Brittany and Armando were on a hiking trip. Brittany's mother-in-law told the police that she hadn't seen Brittany since Saturday when the couple left for the mountains.

**Armando's mother** (5:16)
I think it was Sunday when she called my cell phone, but unfortunately, you know, so bad, we're listening to the messages that it's full. I don't bother to delete it, believe.
Guess what's the point, you know? Guess I ain't full. And then she just, she just texts me and she says, mama, please let the phone ringing to get to the boys' mail. I want to leave a boys' mail to the girls.