A dominatrix from Massachusetts waited too long to call for help after a client died of a heart attack on a torture rack before a bondage session in her makeshift dungeon, a court in the state was told.
Instead, Barbara Asher telephoned her boyfriend with whom she dismembered and disposed of the body of Michael Lord, 53, rather than reporting the death, prosecutors said.
Ms Asher denies the charges, although the case against her relies on a confession she made after a two-hour interrogation. The confession was not taped and her lawyer claims that investigators bullied her. “No body, no blood, no DNA evidence,” Stephanie Page, for the defence, told the court in Dedham. “Barbara Asher is here because of a theory.”
Ms Asher, who used the name Mistress Lauren M, denied the manslaughter and dismemberment of Mr Lord, a retired telephone company worker. He died in July 2000 while she was changing into her costume in an adjoining room at her flat in Quincy, according to police.
Ms Asher also faces a $1 million (£565,000) lawsuit for wrongful death filed by Mr Lord’s family. (AP)