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CNN Live At Daybreak

Barton Free on Bond

Aired June 28, 2002 - 06:35   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: The Forest Service worker linked to the largest wildfire in Colorado history is now free on bail. Besides posting the $600,000 bond, Terry Barton has agreed to stay at a halfway house and not go near any forest area. Barton has pleaded not guilty to arson and three related charges. Her trial is now set for August 26.

Barton, of course, as I said, denies deliberately setting the Hayman fire. Those who know Barton say such an act is not in keeping with her love for the outdoors.

CNN's Mark Potter has this profile.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Terry Barton lives in Florissant, Colorado, a small mountain town near the Pike National Forest. She and her husband, John Barton, have two daughters and bought this house in 1994, although friends and coworkers say the couple has been plagued by marital troubles.

Police records show John had brushes with the law, including a charge he had battered Terry 10 years ago. The charge was later dropped, after he took a domestic violence course.

Neighbors say Terry was friendly and considerate. She sold Mary Kay cosmetics for extra money, jogged with a heavy knapsack to stay in shape and loved the mountains and woods.

RICK GRENFELL, NEIGHBOR: She would, you know, talk about things that she enjoyed about being out in the forest. It was just one of the things she loved to do and where she wanted to be.

POTTER: Working for the U.S. Forest Service, Barton fought fires in several states, and was described by her supervisor as a reliable and trusted employee. She taught local schoolchildren how to make bat houses and appreciate nature.

KATHLEEN GRENFELL, NEIGHBOR: She is the type of person that always come to everybody and tell us how for us to live with nature, the bears, the deer, instead of us driving them out.

POTTER: Neighbors were stunned when Barton was arrested for allegedly setting the huge Hayman wildfire intentionally. JOHN SUTHERS, U.S. ATTORNEY: We are here to announce that Terry Lynn Barton has been indicted by a federal grand jury this afternoon in Denver for starting the Hayman fire, the largest wildfire in Colorado history.

POTTER: Barton claims it was an accident that occurred after she burned a letter from her estranged husband. On the CNN program "CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT," her brother-in-law made the same argument.

CONNIE CHUNG, CNN ANCHOR: So you believe that in fact there was a letter?

LOWELL FREEMAN, BROTHER-IN-LAW: Yes.

CHUNG: And that she did burn it?

FREEMAN: Yes, and if the fire started because of her burning the letter, it was a total accident.

POTTER: In court, Barton sat with her head bowed as federal officials claim she staged an intentional fire to make it look accidental. Stephanie Howard, a defense witness and close friend, suggested Barton's actions can indirectly be blamed on troubles with her husband.

Possibly affecting the Barton case now is the recent death of a 50-year-old Colorado woman, who, according to her doctor, died from asthma caused by smoke inhalation. If prosecutors determine that her death can be directly linked to smoke from the Hayman fire, an option would be to file state arson and felony murder charges. But officials say no such decision has been made.

Mark Potter, CNN, Denver.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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