Barbara Asher, who goes by the pseudonym Mistress Lauren M, was arraigned today in Massachusetts court on charges of manslaughter. She allegedly dismembered client Michael Lord and disposed of his body after he suffered a heart attack in her dungeon.
Nelson said Asher told police that she and Ferrer used a hacksaw the next day to dismember the body of the 280-pound Lord and dumped it in Augusta, Maine.
She has pleaded not guilty to the charges. She faces an additional one million dollar civil lawsuit by the family of the deceased.
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Yeah, I'd definitely call taking a hacksaw to a body and disposing of it "a mistake".
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Yeah, I'd definitely call taking a hacksaw to a body and disposing of it "a mistake".
Ooops!!
The hacksaw slipped, alright? Ten.... fifteen times. It happens.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Yeah, I'd definitely call taking a hacksaw to a body and disposing of it "a mistake".
Ooops!!
The hacksaw slipped, alright? Ten.... fifteen times. It happens.
The hacksaw didn't slip, he just fell on it, ten or fifteen times.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
this is a rash, stupid decision that is going to get her in trouble, period. i would expect legal recourse to someone who just found a body and hacked it up before throwing it away. that man, however dead, had the right to proper disposal, and i'm sure his potential friends and family would have liked to know what happened to him. just because she found herself in a big pickle doesn't give her the right to decide what happens to somebody post-mortem.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Yeah, I'd definitely call taking a hacksaw to a body and disposing of it "a mistake".
Ooops!!
The hacksaw slipped, alright? Ten.... fifteen times. It happens.
I can't tell you how many times I accidentally cut people up into tiny pieces and buried them piece by piece in remote areas throughout the continental US after they keeled over in my dungeon.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
wont autopsy show cause of death? also, if he was a repeat client, cant she show that she had a trusted history with him prior to CHOPPING HIM TO PIECES?
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
Yeah, I'd definitely call taking a hacksaw to a body and disposing of it "a mistake".
Ooops!!
The hacksaw slipped, alright? Ten.... fifteen times. It happens.
I can't tell you how many times I accidentally cut people up into tiny pieces and buried them piece by piece in remote areas throughout the continental US after they keeled over in my dungeon.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
this is a rash, stupid decision that is going to get her in trouble, period. i would expect legal recourse to someone who just found a body and hacked it up before throwing it away. that man, however dead, had the right to proper disposal, and i'm sure his potential friends and family would have liked to know what happened to him. just because she found herself in a big pickle doesn't give her the right to decide what happens to somebody post-mortem.
No, it doesn't. I'm not arguing with you there. She did a shitty thing, and she's probably going to get punished for it. But it doesn't mean there aren't two sides to the story, and it CERTAINLY doesn't mean that there isn't something wrong with a society that would put her in that position in the first place.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
this is a rash, stupid decision that is going to get her in trouble, period. i would expect legal recourse to someone who just found a body and hacked it up before throwing it away. that man, however dead, had the right to proper disposal, and i'm sure his potential friends and family would have liked to know what happened to him. just because she found herself in a big pickle doesn't give her the right to decide what happens to somebody post-mortem.
I don't think he was excusing it. I think he was saying, basically "I understand why she did it."
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
wont autopsy show cause of death? also, if he was a repeat client, cant she show that she had a trusted history with him prior to CHOPPING HIM TO PIECES?
Yes, but case history in situations like this tends to go against the dominatrix. It has been ruled that consent does not validate assault, and under the legal definition of assault, BDSM fits the bill.
EDIT: To make my point more clear, I'm assuming he had a heart attack as a direct or indirect result of whatever was happening in the dungeon, or that she assumed the DA would try to pin it on her. I'm not validating what she did, I'm just pointing out that it's unfortunate that she would feel the need to do it in the first place. Just because somebody does something terrible doesn't negate our responsibility to ask why. She didn't hack up a corpse for fun.
Um, there's a rather large portion of the story missing, and it's found in the posted article:
"A month later, Asher confessed to police following a two-hour interrogation, and that confession forms the basis for much of the state's case. But the interview was not taped, Page said, and the investigators bullied her into saying things that conformed to their theory of what happened.
"Michael Lord was never at Barbara Asher's place in July 2000," the defense lawyer said, "and certainly she didn't decide to chop up a body in a bathtub."
Forensic testing of the tub and Asher's car turned up none of Lord's DNA, Page said, nor did they reveal the presence of bleach or any other cleaning agent."
Basically, the police have never found the body and there's no DNA evidence at her place linking her to the crime. They just have a 'confession' that was never even recorded. Something is fishy.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
wont autopsy show cause of death? also, if he was a repeat client, cant she show that she had a trusted history with him prior to CHOPPING HIM TO PIECES?
a. probably not, if the body is in bad enough condition.
b. maybe. it really depends on the jury amd judge, and how they view dominatrixes. this isnt dying at the grocery or the barber. people have preconcieved notions about sex trades.
surlyclown said:
Um, there's a rather large portion of the story missing, and it's found in the posted article:
"A month later, Asher confessed to police following a two-hour interrogation, and that confession forms the basis for much of the state's case. But the interview was not taped, Page said, and the investigators bullied her into saying things that conformed to their theory of what happened.
"Michael Lord was never at Barbara Asher's place in July 2000," the defense lawyer said, "and certainly she didn't decide to chop up a body in a bathtub."
Forensic testing of the tub and Asher's car turned up none of Lord's DNA, Page said, nor did they reveal the presence of bleach or any other cleaning agent."
Basically, the police have never found the body and there's no DNA evidence at her place linking her to the crime. They just have a 'confession' that was never even recorded. Something is fishy.
I don't care how hard I was confronted or bullied by the police, I wouldn't just blurt out "we cut him up with a hacksaw" unless that was actually what had happened.
Chitin said:
That's one of the shitty things about the law in this country: it is utterly, completely unfavorable to a professional dominatrix should the worst happen on her property. He probably had a heart attack and, knowing that she would probably get screwed legally and probably do some jail time, she panicked and made a mistake.
dismembering a body is a wee bit more than "making a mistake"
I didn't say it was a SMALL mistake. But put yourself in her position: you're stuck with a body that you are probably going to be blamed for, despite the fact that you didn't kill the guy, just because of your chosen profession. I think I would probably make some pretty rash, stupid decisions in that situation.
this is a rash, stupid decision that is going to get her in trouble, period. i would expect legal recourse to someone who just found a body and hacked it up before throwing it away. that man, however dead, had the right to proper disposal, and i'm sure his potential friends and family would have liked to know what happened to him. just because she found herself in a big pickle doesn't give her the right to decide what happens to somebody post-mortem.
No, it doesn't. I'm not arguing with you there. She did a shitty thing, and she's probably going to get punished for it. But it doesn't mean there aren't two sides to the story, and it CERTAINLY doesn't mean that there isn't something wrong with a society that would put her in that position in the first place.
crispy said:
I don't care how hard I was confronted or bullied by the police, I wouldn't just blurt out "we cut him up with a hacksaw" unless that was actually what had happened.
Perhaps, but even in cases like that of the West Memphis 3, the police have a knack for getting the results they want, particularly if there's political pressure on the DA. It's stilll hard to buy the story without a body and with apparently zero evidence.
MarsMars
Long Beach, CA
June 2003
JAN 17, 2006 02:45 PM