BRENTWOOD, N.H. — A 43-year-old Maine woman is seeking a private investigator to help her defend against charges she helped her brother kill his ex-wife, Amanda Warf.
A circuit court judge granted a request Monday from Michelle Corson’s attorney to engage a private investigator in the case. Corson, of Skowhegan, Maine, is charged with being an accomplice to first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. She waived her right to a probable cause hearing Monday on the two felony charges.
Firefighters found Warf’s body inside an abandoned concrete plant on Hampton Road in Exeter on March 7. An autopsy later showed the 36-year-old former salon worker and longtime Exeter Hospital employee had been murdered.
Aaron Desjardins — Corson’s brother — was arrested and charged with killing Warf by cutting her throat.
Corson is accused of supplying her brother with a .32-caliber pistol that was also used in the murder plot. She allegedly delivered the weapon to New Hampshire after receiving a coded message from Sarah Desjardins, her brother’s new wife.
The message called for a “roasting pan” — words that were allegedly code for a firearm.
Corson is being held without bail. In court Monday, Senior Assistant Attorney General Susan Morrell asked a judge to rule that Corson should have no contact with Sarah Desjardins, who is being held at the same jail as Corson.
The request was granted, and Corson was also ordered to have no contact with the victim’s mother and brother.
Corson’s defense attorney, Andrew Cotrupi, also filed a motion seeking the services of a private investigator due to the “seriousness” of the charges. A judge granted the motion, but declined Cotrupi’s request to have the motion sealed.
The case now moves to Rockingham County Superior Court for a possible indictment on the charges by a grand jury.
Aaron Desjardins is also awaiting the outcome of the grand jury process. He is being held in jail on a first-degree murder charge.
Warf and Desjardins were married for seven years before splitting up in 2011, according to family court records. Their divorce was finalized in February 2012. Warf was pregnant at the time, and she gave birth to the couple’s son two months later. Court records indicate Desjardins married his new wife, Sarah, around the same time.
He was finalizing a parenting agreement for his child at the time of Warf’s death. Warf and Aaron Desjardins were said to be in counseling together, and making progress, according to court documents. One of the only major issues left regarding the parenting plan was whether Sarah Desjardins should be allowed to accompany her husband to pick up his child.
“The parties acknowledge that there is a tension between Ms. Warf and Mr. Desjardins’ current wife,” a November 2012 court order states.
The court ruled that Sarah Desjardins was to remain in the car and have no communication with Warf during the exchanges.
Sarah Desjardins is charged with conspiracy to commit murder and conspiracy to commit hindering apprehension or prosecution. She is being held on $50,000 cash or corporate surety bail, after waiving her right to a probable cause hearing in April. Her case has also been handed up to the superior court for a possible indictment.
Distributed by MCT Information Services