Michael Barisone made progress toward resuming his career as a dressage trainer on Friday, when a judge gave permission for the 2008 U.S. Olympic team alternate to leave New Jersey and travel to his Florida horse farm.
“I do think it is appropriate at this time to take the next step in relaxation of restraints on Mr. Barisone to allow him to return to Florida,” said Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor in Morristown, N.J.
“I need to figure out how I’m going to move forward,” said Barisone, 60, who is under an interim suspension by the U.S. Equestrian Federation for “allegations of misconduct,” so his legal issues are ongoing.
“We feel confident he will be reinstated,” said attorney Ed Bilinkas, who represented Barisone with attorney Chris Deininger.
It is five years since Barisone has been anywhere near a horse, after being arrested for the 2019 shooting of his student, Lauren Kanarek, at his Long Valley, N.J., farm. He said he doesn’t remember the incident, which left her clinging to life in a hospital Intensive Care Unit. Kanarek took two bullets in the chest during a confrontation, the culmination of tensions that had escalated for months between Barisone and his tenants, Kanarek and her boyfriend, Rob Goodwin.
In 2022, during a trial that drew international attention, a psychiatrist testified the horseman “became increasingly desperate, because he saw himself in a situation in which he was being physically threated by Lauren Kanarek and Robert Goodwin…He was afraid he’d be killed and wanted to defend himself.”
During the trial, Bilinkas asked Kanarek whether she was bent on destroying Barisone and threatening everything he held dear. She replied, “at some point, yes.”
After the jury deliberated for more than three days, Barisone was found not guilty by reason of insanity on a charge of second-degree attempted murder. Following his time in jail and psychiatric institutions, at a Krol hearing last fall the judge gave permission for Barisone to be released from Greystone Psychiatric Hospital and live at the home of a friend, Brenda Putnam-Higgins in Readington, N.J., where he has been busy doing repairs and driving her to doctors, grateful for her help.
Michael Barisone in his competition days. (Photo © by Nancy Jaffer)
But the judge ruled at the 2023 court session that Barisone could not leave the state. Krol hearings are held periodically to determine the progress of a criminal defendant who has been confined to a psychiatric institution following a verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity. At Friday’s Krol hearing, Taylor imposed several conditions in connection with allowing Barisone to go to the farm in Loxahatchee, Fla., he shares with his fiancée, Lara Osborne.
Noting that Kanarek resides about five miles from Barisone’s property, Taylor said “the court does have some significant concern” about Barisone being there “because of its location close to where the victim lives.”
Superior Court Judge Stephen Taylor. (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
He also noted that with Barisone’s return to the equestrian community, he might run into Kanarek somewhere.
“And there’s no telling what Miss Kanarek’s reaction may be to see Mr. Barisone,” nor the reaction of both people’s supporters, Taylor commented. For that reason, he wants to continue Barisone on Krol status, meaning he will have to return to New Jersey for hearings. The next is scheduled for February.
Taylor, who believes lessening of any restraint on Barisone should be gradual, specified that he cannot go to any state except New Jersey or Florida, he should continue with treatment by a psychologist and no guns can be brought to the Florida farm. The judge warned that should Barisone refuse to return for a Krol hearing, he could face a criminal contempt complaint.
After the hearing, Bilinkas said about his client, “I clearly think him being back with his family in his own home is going to help his mental health and he’ll progress to the point where he doesn’t need any more supervision. To me, this is the first big step and it’s extremely important.”
Michael Barisone and Lara Osborne with attorneys Ed Bilinkas (left) and Chris Deininger (right). (Photo © 2024 by Nancy Jaffer)
Morris County Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Schellhorn told the judge at the start of the hearing that the restraints keeping Barisone in New Jersey were appropriate in relation to a psychiatric diagnosis of delusional disorder. He contended that could present a risk because Barisone “will always believe at some level that Lauren Kanarek was bound and determined to destroy and kill him,” something Schellhorn said was a belief “not based in reality.”
Lauren Kanarek’s mother, Kirby Kanarek, said before the hearing that she was upset by the thought that Barisone could be moving to Florida.
“He’s never really apologized to us. He never apologized to my daughter. If he’s not apologizing, that means he doesn’t feel sorry,” insisted Mrs. Kanarek, who attended all the court hearings with her husband, Jonathan.
She is also disturbed that stories on social media posts “by some of the equestrian community are completely false and lies.
“I’m very upset that the equestrian community has gone after our family.
We didn’t pick up a gun and shoot anyone. My daughter was shot. He came down to her house and shot her. Her body was significantly damaged.”
