Thomas Barnard, in middle, speaks with attorney Ashley Minton, with other lawyer Michael Heisey seated, during his March 2013 murder trial. Barnard was found guilty of first-degree murder, and sentenced Nov. 15 to life in prison.
During jury selection this morning in the Thomas Barnard murder trial, six potential jurors were dismissed after meeting individually with St. Lucie Circuit Judge Gary Sweet and attorneys in the case.
Questioning of another 53 panelists is expected to continue following a lunch break. Sweet earlier said they hoped to seat a jury of six members plus two alternates for the trial, expected to last into early next week.
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Before the break, one woman told Sweet her Christian beliefs prevented her from judging someone charged with a crime. She was dismissed.
Two men said they didn't believe they could serve as an impartial juror and after being questioned by Sweet, both were dismissed.
One of the dismissed men said he had a problem with Barnard's facial expressions when he noticed Barnard smile at his attorney Ashley Minton as she passed him a note.
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FORT PIERCE -- Jury selection is under way in the first-degree murder trial of Thomas Barnard in Fort Pierce. He's accused of killing his former boss, Fort Pierce tax attorney Ashley Pollow, 58, who police say was strangled inside his home Nov. 28, 2010.
About 60 potential jurors are being summoned to the courtroom of St. Lucie Circuit Judge Gary Sweet. Attorneys must select 12 jurors plus at least two alternates to determine whether Barnard, 35, is guilty of first-degree murder.
Before potential jurors could be called into court, Barnard's former girlfriend and alleged accomplice after the fact, Michele Lochridge, appeared before Sweet for a short status hearing. She is being tried separately, and it's unclear when her trial will be scheduled.
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Because she's told authorities Barnard confessed to her that he strangled Pollow, the two must be tried separately. And while jurors will likely hear the statements she made to investigators implicating Barnard in the homicide, it's doubtful she will appear as a witness in his trial.
Barnard, who later entered the courtroom wearing a dark suit, gray shirt and tie, sat at the defense table with his Fort Pierce attorneys, Ashley Minton and Michael Heisey, as they waited for potential jurors to arrive.Fort Pierce, Florida is known for its beaches and amazing sunsets -- as well as its high crime rate. One of the most disturbing acts of violence to happen in the area was the murder of local tax attorney Ashley Pollow.
On Dec. 7, 2010, a young woman contacted police to request a welfare check on Pollow, her former employer, saying he hadn't been seen in days.
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“Well ... once I left [his workplace] I was still friends with some of the other people who worked there. I tried to call Ashley and it just went straight to his voicemail, she says in audio footage of the call obtained by 's Florida Man Murders after she was asked about her relationship with Pollow.
When investigators arrived at his home, they noticed there were several packages at the doorstep, although his car was still there. There was no sign of forced entry or any kind of struggle.
They reached out to his family, who lived out of state and they said they hadn't seen him since Thanksgiving Day of that year. His family was immediately concerned.
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His car was there, his keys were there. I watched too much to know that when somebody goes missing, it's not great, his sister Jackie Fishman told producers.
A further search of the property revealed a custom hurricane shelter, which had a lock on it. After breaking it open, they finally found Pollow. He was laying inside dead, wrapped in a rug with a bag over his head. His body was decomposing and it appeared he and his clothing had been burned with acid. An autopsy would confirm he was strangled to death.
Investigators started digging into Pollow's life to uncover who would have wanted him dead. They learned he studied law at University of Memphis in Tennessee, met a woman there, and moved with her to Florida, where they married and had kids. They later divorced, but his daughter told producers he was a doting parent despite being something of a workaholic.
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He did struggle with depression. He had breakdown, he moved to Fort Pierce to give himself a fresh start, daughter Megan Pollow said.
Investigators spoke again with the ex-employee who had requested the welfare check. She maintained her innocence and had a strong alibi. However, she did offer a potential lead: somebody had tried to kill Powell six months earlier, a man named John Wilson.
Wilson's girlfriend worked for Powell, and Wilson was convinced the two were having an affair. After a heated argument with his mother, Wilson stabbed her in the neck, and then went over to Pollow's home to attack him, too.
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I completely lost my goddamn mind. There's no way of getting around it, Wilson told police in audio obtained by Florida Man Murders.
Wilson's assault on Pollow was interrupted after a neighbor witnessed the fight and tried to intervene, with authorities eventually arriving on the scene.
Wilson couldn't have been the one who actually killed Pollow, though. He had a rock solid alibi: he was in custody at the time on first-degree murder charges after his mother died from her injuries.
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Investigators questioned two current employees of Pollow: Michele Lee Lochridge and Thomas Barnard. The two were romantically involved. They claimed they last saw Pollow on Saturday, Nov. 27, dropping off Powell's car because Powell had gotten too drunk the night before at a dinner to drive himself home.
Their stories didn't match up, though. Barnard said the two went to work on Monday, Nov. 29 but Pollow wasn't there. Lochridge, however, claimed Powell was there, just locked in his room.
Casting even more suspicion on the duo was the fact Barnard and Lochridge both had a criminal history, although Lochridge had a more extensive one. She had recently served 10 years in prison for charges stemming from fraud and was currently on probation.
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Police soon got a tip from Barnard's former coworker, who claimed Barnard had confessed to killing Pollow. The two maintained their innocence, however, and a search of their home yielded nothing.
Then, Lochridge made an error: She tried to cash in a check from Pollow with a forged signature. The bank contacted authorities, and Lochridge was taken into custody for a probation violation.
After some time behind bars, Lochridge told police Barnard had killed Pollow, eventually claiming she had helped him move the body and clean the crime scene. They needed more evidence, though, so they listened to her jailhouse phone calls with Barnard.
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At one point, Lochridge told Barnard she would take the fall for him if he would take care of her kids, but she just needed to know exactly how he did it so authorities would believe her confession. Barnard agreed and revealed crucial details on the call, and was arrested for first-degree murder.
Investigators learned Pollow had discovered Lochridge was forging checks in his name and confronted the pair. The two knew they would end up back in prison, so Barnard attacked Pollow and eventually choked him until he died. They then tried to burn him with acid to get rid of the evidence.
Lochridge took a plea deal and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Barnard was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
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