Key Evidence Tossed In Case Against Alleged Wayne Baby Killer

WAYNE, NJ — The case against an accused baby-killer suffered a major blow Wednesday after a judge dismissed two key pieces of evidence against her.

Judge Joseph A. Portelli said retired Wayne police Detective John Loertscher's actions during the investigation in Keri Barry's murder trial "defy logic, reason and objectivity," NorthJersey.com reported.

Portelli ruled the plastic bag the dead newborn was found in and Barry's laptop computer inadmissible, the report said, because of the way Loertscher handled the plastic bag and because they were confiscated without a search warrant.

Loertscher took possession of the bag and did not open it until three days later, according to the report, citing information given in court Wednesday.

"I cannot rule that confiscation of the plastic trash bag and/or delay in the opening of the plastic trash bag are in conformance with our federal and state constitutions," Portelli said in the report.

Assistant Passaic County Prosecutor Jorge Morales told Portelli that the state could not go to trial without the bag and computer, according to the report.

The case against Barry goes back years.

Barry, then 22, gave birth to a "full-term" baby Dec. 11, 2009 at her Alps Road home, the Passaic County Prosecutor's Office said in 2011 when she was indicted by a Grand Jury on a first-degree murder charge.

According to the prosecutor's office, an autopsy determined the child was born alive and died of asphyxiation.

Barry was initially indicted in April 2010, but Judge Greta Gooden-Brown dismissed the indictment on the grounds that the "previous grand jurors may not have been fully questioned as to any knowledge that may have read about the case in internet postings that had accompanied online press articles about the case."

Authorities said that when Barry's family learned that something was wrong with her, they took her to Chilton Hospital in Pompton Plains. Hospital staff realized Barry had recently given birth and were concerned about the baby, which could not be located.

Barry reportedly never informed either her family or hospital staff that she had given birth.

Wayne police searched Barry's home, with her consent, and collected garbage bags where the afterbirth was alleged to have been placed, the prosecutor's office previously said.

Barry's father said he used towels to clean up blood from the bathroom, put them in a plastic bag and placed the bag in a shed. Loertscher later confiscated the bag, NorthJersey.com reported.

Barry's attorney John Bruno previously claimed Wayne police compromised evidence in the case.

Related: Resident Again Indicted on Murder Charge

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