Cara Rintala in court. (File photo – WWLP)
By BOB DUNN
@BDGazette
NORTHAMPTON — Cara Lee Rintala, whose murder trial so far has produced two deadlocked juries, is out on bail.
On Friday, the Hampshire Superior Court clerk’s office confirmed that Rintala had been released on $150,000 bail. Rintala had been held without the right to bail since her arrest on the murder charge in October 2011.
While out on bail, Rintala must submit to GPS monitoring, remain in western Massachusetts, surrender her passport, obey a curfew, report to Hampshire County probation once a week and honor any visitation agreements already in place between her daughter and her late wife’s parents.
Rintala is expected to face a third first-degree murder trial in connection with the strangulation death of her wife four years ago.
Rintala, 47, is accused of killing her wife, Annamarie Cochrane Rintala, 37, in the couple’s Granby home on March 29, 2010.
Shortly after her second trial ended in a mistrial, First Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Steven Gagne, who prosecuted both trials, said he plans to bring the case before a third jury by the end of the year.
Rintala’s second trial lasted about a month before jurors reported to presiding judge Mary-Lou Rup on Feb. 4 they were hopelessly deadlocked in an 8 to 4 split. A unanimous verdict is required to convict or acquit.
There was no indication from the jurors which verdict that split favored. Rintala’s first trial on the murder charge ended in March 2013, also with an 8-4 deadlock, that time in favor of conviction.
Between the two trials, Rintala made two unsuccessful bids to have bail set in the amounts of $100,000 and $250,000, respectively.
In the wake of the second mistrial, Gagne and Rintala’s lead defense attorney David Hoose of Northampton, agreed to the $150,000 bail with release conditions.
Rintala is accused of strangling her wife in the basement of their Granby home after a tumultuous relationship plagued by debt, arguments and mistrust.
Her defense team maintains she was the target of a sloppy investigation that presumed her guilt from the start.
Bob Dunn can be reached at [email protected].
