Long Valley Olympian Indicted For Attempted Murder

LONG VALLEY, NJ - Former Olympic equestrian Michael Barisone, 54, was indicted Wednesday for his role in a double-attempted murder, according to authorities.

Barisone, of West Mill Road, Washington Township, has been indicted on charges related to the shooting that occurred in August in Washington Township, according to Morris County Prosecutor Fredric M. Knapp, Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Acting Chief of Investigations Christoph Kimker, and Chief Jeffrey Almer of the Washington Township Police Department.

The indictment was returned charging Barisone with two counts of attempted murder, crimes of the first degree, and two counts of possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, crimes of the second degree.

The charges in the indictment are related to an incident that occurred on Aug. 7. Barisone, an Olympic dressage rider and coach, is accused of shooting Lauren Kanarak point-blank in the chest several times following months of an escalating landlord-tenant dispute between the pair. Kanarak and fiance Rob Goodwin were living in a home on Barisone's farm when he allegedly shot her on the front porch, and attempted to shoot Goodwin, officials said.

Police were called to Barisones's Long Valley horse farm nearly half a dozen times in the week leading up to the double-attempted murder, according to 911 calls and incident reports.

Between July 31 and Aug. 6, the day before the alleged attempted murder, Washington Township police were called out to Hawthorne Farms on West Mill Road at least five different times. They were also called to the farm on Aug. 8, the day after the shooting.

Kanarek also called police to the farm once.

The four calls placed by Barisone to 911 share several similarities. In each call, Barisone complains of harassment against him and his family by Kanarek and Goodwin. He described the couple, who were living in Barisone's home on the property, as guests, squatters, not tenants.

On each of the calls, Barisone tells the 911 operators that Kanarak and Goodwin did not have weapons, nor did they threaten him with one. On the three four calls, Barisone said he was not in immediate danger, but on the fourth call he said he "wasn't sure" if there was immediate danger or not.

Barisone's defense attorney, Jeffrey Simms, said Kanarek also called Division of Child Protection and Permanency (DCP&P) to the farm, alleging that Barisone was abusing his fiance's children. Simms has said the call was a harassment tactic, and denied that Barisone abused the children.

"While there may have been a civil disagreement between Lauren and Mr. Barisone, such things never justify the use of a gun," Kanarek family lawyer David said in a statement.

Kanarek filed suit against Barisone, Sweetgrass Farms, and a barn manager, following an early-August shooting that left her with serious injuries. The suit claims that the shooting came after "an extended and protracted campaign" of harassment against Kanarek and her fiancé, Rob Goodwin.

This story contains reporting by Katie Kausch

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