Woman testifies about threats by ex-boyfriend
A Butler woman recounted threats she received from her former boyfriend, who didn't want to go to prison.
She testified the threats were 31-year-old Joseph R. Brandon's attempt to get her to drop charges against him for allegedly brutalizing her dog.
“Probably the worst was he was going to do to me what happened to my (relative),” the victim said, referring to Melissa Barto.
State police said Melissa Barto, 26, was shot three times in the Butler area in June 2017 before her body was set on fire and dumped in Lawrence County. Barto's boyfriend was accused in the killing and awaits trial in Butler County court.
District Judge William Fullerton at Brandon's hearing ordered him to stand trial on a felony charge of intimidation of a witness or victim and a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats.
He is already facing trial on a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to an animal for what he allegedly did to the woman's dog in February.
The woman testified Monday that her cross-breed golden retriever and poodle suffered several broken ribs, contusions to the lungs, bruises over her entire body and other injuries. The dog was treated at an animal hospital.
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