Published: January 11, 2007 12:52 am      

BARRETT CASE: Love triangle case unfolds

BUFFALO — It seems as though the Internet love triangle police say is at the center of a brutal homicide was far more illicit and convoluted than it once appeared.

Thomas Montgomery appeared Wednesday in Erie County Court wearing a white shirt and light khaki pants, his hands cuffed together. Montgomery, charged with the September shooting death of Brian Barrett, a Town of Lockport man, is facing second-degree murder charges in a bizarre case involving a deceitful Internet love triangle.

Barrett, 22, was shot to death in his truck the night of Sept. 15 as it was parked outside the Dynabrade Corporation on Sheridan Drive in Clarence, where Barrett and Montgomery both worked.

Both men had been chatting online with a West Virginia woman who reportedly presented herself to them as an 18-year-old girl. The woman, whose name has not been released, is actually in her mid-40s and used her daughter’s e-mail and pictures in her correspondence.

Montgomery, 47, of East Grand Boulevard, Cheektowaga, was also passing himself off as an 18-year-old to the woman — telling her he was a young Marine about to be shipped to Iraq, Assistant District Attorney Ken Case said Wednesday.

During Wednesday’s conference, Erie County Court Judge Amy J. Fricano asked Case to clarify how many search warrants were used and who consented to the search of each computer.

Montgomery’s attorney, John Molloy, said he’s waiting for the Erie County District Attorney’s office to turn over more information about search warrants in the case before he can begin pre-trial proceedings.

“I specifically asked for the contents of computers involved,” Molloy said, adding Case has indicated there were as many as four search warrants executed.

“I don’t know if there’s a search warrant for my client’s computer,” Molloy said. “I need to know if it’s consensual and who gave consent.”

Case said he’ll have all the information ready by the end of this week.

“I will certainly provide all materials relative to the search warrants over to the court immediately,” Case said.

“Anything it has to be, I want it in one week,” Fricano said. “All warrants, materials in one week.”

The information on the computers played a large part in the investigation leading up to Montgomery’s arrest on Nov. 27. Montgomery, Barrett and the West Virginia woman used MySpace, Yahoo! Messenger and Pogo.com to communicate with each other.

“There were hundreds of pages of chatroom contact,” Case said. “There’s a lot of material.”

Believing Montgomery to be a young Marine preparing for active duty, the woman sent him several items through the mail, including a pair of custom-made dogtags and some “undergarments,” Case said. She also sent photos of her daughter, claming they were photos of herself.

Erie County Sheriff’s Lt. Ronald Kenyon has said the woman’s daughter did not know her mother was using her photos and information.

In early 2006, one of the packages from the woman was intercepted by Montgomery’s wife, who figured out what was going on, Case said. She took the return address from the package and decided to send a letter back to West Virginia.

“She sent a family portrait, saying, ‘As you can see, Tom’s not 18. He’s married. He’s a father of two. He’s 47,’” Case said.

Montgomery and his wife are currently going through a divorce, he added.

Shortly after receiving the letter, the West Virginia woman first contacted Barrett, a 2002 graduate of Starpoint High School and a student at Buffalo State College. She found him among Montgomery’s online list of friends.

“(Montgomery) had told her about his friend named Brian,” Case said. “The victim and the defendant were good friends before all this happened.”

The woman contacted Barrett “to verify what (Montgomery’s) wife had sent her,” Case said.

At some point, the woman told Montgomery what she had learned about him from his wife, but she continued chatting with him anyway, Case said.

In his e-mails and chats, Barrett was apparently entirely truthful about his identity, though he, too, believed the woman to be 18 years old. Erie County Sheriff Thomas Howard has said the nature of Barrett’s correspondence with the woman was romantic.

Montgomery soon found out about Barrett’s relationship with the woman, Case said.

“She admitted it to him while chatting, and Brian was talking about it at work,” he said.

Case declined to release many details about the night of the shooting, saying only that Barrett was shot three times and Montgomery has not admitted to the crime. Court documents filed in the case say Barrett was shot three times with .30 caliber bullets, which struck him in the left arm and neck, around 10 p.m. on or about Sept. 15.

He was found two days later, still in the front seat of his truck.

Montgomery pleaded not guilty to the charges Dec. 12 in Erie County Court after the case was moved up from Clarence Town Court.

Fricano asked Case on Wednesday if he’ll be offering Montgomery a plea, but he said it’s too early to make that determination.

Montgomery’s next court date is Feb. 7, when the defense and prosecution will argue motions in the case.

“I expect to argue the consent issue that was the impetus for (searching) the computer at my client’s home,” Molloy said. “There were statements given by my client, I assume the prosecution will argue, (but) he wasn’t in custody at the time. That will be an issue.”

Fricano also set a tentative trial date of June 4, which she said is “something Mr. Case and Mr. Molloy can work around.”

Contact April Amadon at 439-9222, Ext. 6251.