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Friend recounts suspect's moves on the lamBy Chris O'Connell  Stuart Barney, 60, faces life in prison if convicted of murdering his 26-year-old wife. MOUNT HOLLY, New Jersey (CourtTV) -- A fellow parishioner of accused murderer Lester Stuart Barney told jurors about an encounter she had with the man just hours after he allegedly slashed the throat of his mail-order bride and went on the run with their 4-year-old son. Judith Hanney testified that Barney, 60, brought his son Daniel to her house on September 29, 2003, and as soon as the child was out of earshot told her he had just hurt his estranged wife, Alla Barney, with a knife. "He said he waited to talk to her. They got in an argument and he did a dumb thing," Hanney told jurors. Hanney said she first thought Barney was referring to some conflict the legally separated couple had at a custody hearing earlier that day. Barney, however, told her it was much worse. "There was a knife," Barney said, according to Hanney. "He said he grabbed [Alla] by the wrist and he cut her, and then made a motion cutting at his arm." Barney is on trial for the murder of his 26-year-old wife and the abduction of their son. The couple met on an Internet matchmaking service and got married after Stuart Barney brought Alla back to the United States from her native Ukraine. Prosecutors say Barney was angered on the day of the killing by a judge's extension of a restraining order keeping him away from his wife, as well as by another ruling extending the custody arrangement between the two. As a result, prosecutors say Barney lay in wait for his estranged wife in the parking lot of KinderCare, their son's day-care facility. Police issued an Amber Alert for Daniel after Alla's body was discovered. Barney allegedly drove around with his son for several hours eluding authorities and even stopping at a mall to buy toothpaste and a toothbrush. Barney then brought Daniel to the Hanneys, members of a Greek Orthodox church he attended. Barney's public defenders have argued that he killed his wife in self-defense, after Alla Barney attacked him with a knife. He fled because he was nervous and was planning on turning himself in, they say. However, two crime scene investigators testified Wednesday that they found no signs of a struggle in or around Alla Barney's car. 'I have to go'Hanney told jurors that after Barney dropped his son off at her house, he never mentioned Alla was dead. "He said, "She's at the hospital. I don't know how she is," Hanney said. Hanney said she encouraged him to call his lawyer, as well as their priest. She testified that Barney later said he was going to leave Daniel with them. "He apologized," Hannah told jurors. "He said, 'I have to go, I have to go,' and then he walked out the door." The Hanneys called police and helped them locate Barney in his Mercedes shortly after he left their house. On cross-examination, defense attorney Mike Riley attempted to portray Barney's words to the Hanneys as an admission of self-defense. Judith Hanney agreed that Barney truly loved Daniel. "He had a very close relationship with his son," he said. "Danny was always taken very good care of." If convicted on all counts, Barney faces life in prison. 
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