Murder charges dropped against man suspected in Vadnais Height woman's death
Timothy Barr | photo: Ramsey County Sheriff's Office
RAMSEY COUNTY, Minn. (KMSP) - The Ramsey County Attorney’s Office has dismissed charges against a Lakeville man who had been accused of running over and killing a Lakeville woman and then disposing her body.
Timothy Barr, 51, pleaded guilty to one count of fleeing a peace officer in a motor vehicle, because of his criminal history he will likely face 19 months in prison. The attorney’s office accepted a motion to dismiss the separate homicide charges on Wednesday morning.
Barr will be sentenced on Nov. 17.
Family members reported Michelle Newell, 45, missing on Sept. 8. She was last seen in Cass County, North Dakota on Aug. 30.
Barr was initially charged with two counts of second degree unintentional murder and one count of criminal vehicular homicide. The attorney’s office says the investigation is active and ongoing and murder charges could be refiled at a later date if jurisdictional issues are resolved.
According to the charges, Barr admitted to several people he accidentally ran over Newell with his vehicle, killing her. He said he later left her body covered with hay inside an abandoned barn or farm building in eastern North or eastern South Dakota.
Investigators searching for Newell's body
Authorities are still asking for the public’s help in locating Newell's remains. She was last seen in Cass County, North Dakota on Aug. 30.
Anyone who lives in the areas east of Jamestown, North Dakota and Aberdeen South Dakota is asked to check out their buildings and barns for anything suspicious.
Anyone with additional information regarding the case is asked to call the Ramsey County Sheriff’s Office at 651-266-7320.