Loudon Man Pleads Guilty In 2019 Child Murder Case

CONCORD, NH — A man from Loudon, accused of killing a child in September 2019, is heading to prison for at least 30 years after a plea agreement on Wednesday.

Douglas Barton, 41, of Loudon pleaded guilty to a single second-degree murder charge for the blunt force trauma killing of Colton Emery, who was nearly 2-years-old at the time of his death.

Around 4 a.m. on Sept. 24, 2019, police were sent to School Street in Loudon, just across the Concord line, for a report of a child who had died. A few days after the discovery of the child’s body, Barton was arrested on second-degree murder and reckless second-degree murder charges by Manchester police and state troopers. A few months later, he was indicted on both charges.

“As part of a negotiated disposition,” Heather Cherniske, an assistant attorney general, said, “Mr. Barton pleaded guilty to knowing second-degree murder and was sentenced to 35 years to life in the New Hampshire State Prison, with the ability to have 2 1/2 years suspended after serving 15 years based upon good behavior and the successful completion of substance abuse treatment, anger management, and parenting classes.”

Barton was no stranger to police at the time of his arrest. His criminal history dated back to the late 1990s when he was arrested on assault, theft, harassment, and criminal threatening, according to superior court records. In June 2013, he was arrested on a theft charge in Manchester. About five months later, Barton was arrested on burglary, drug, and six theft charges after an incident in Manchester. In another Manchester case, in November 2013, he was accused of burglary and attempted burglary. Barton was arrested again in July 2016, on a burglary charge on Old Shaker Road in Loudon. A month later, he was arrested again on two felony counts of burglary in Loudon. Barton was indicted on the charges later. Also in August 2016, he was arrested in Loudon on possession of a narcotic drug and operating after a suspension, second offense, after being convicted on the driving charge in August 2012.

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