FARGO - A judge on Wednesday, Dec. 14, set bail at $1 million-cash or bond-for a St. Paul man charged with manslaughter in connection with the death of a Minnesota woman.
Timothy Barr, 51, appeared in Cass County District Court Wednesday afternoon via closed circuit TV from the Cass County Jail.
Cass County State's Attorney Birch Burdick told Judge John Irby that Barr's criminal record includes convictions for theft, DUI, controlled substances and fleeing.
At the close of the hearing, Irby set conditions for release at $1 million, cash or bond.
Barr is charged with manslaughter and duty in an accident. The charges were filed after Barr shared information with Ramsey County, Minn., investigators earlier this month that led to the discovery of human remains in rural Cass County.
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Acquaintances of Barr told Ramsey County investigators that Barr told them he accidentally backed over Michelle Newell, 45, of Vadnais Heights, Minn., and killed her as she tried to hide from him, according to Cass County court records.
Barr reportedly told the acquaintances Newell tried to hide under his vehicle after she stole a pound of methamphetamine from him and stashed it in the woods, documents state.
Barr met with Ramsey County investigators on Friday, Dec. 2, and used a map to show them that Newell's remains were within 5 to 10 feet of a certain culvert in rural Cass County, documents state.
The same day, investigators with the Cass County Sheriff's Office and North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation went to the site and found human remains, including hair, teeth, a forearm bone and other bones, documents said.
The remains have yet to be identified, according to the Cass County Sheriff's Office.
Barr is accused in Cass County District Court of recklessly causing Newell's death sometime between Aug. 31 and Sept. 17.
Newell was reported missing Sept. 8.
Later in September, Barr was charged in Ramsey County District Court with killing Newell, but the charges were dropped in October due largely to the fact her body had not been found.
