White River Junction — A White River Junction man who is on parole for a 1999 second-degree murder conviction in Addison County is being held without bail after a Windsor Superior Court judge found probable cause to charge him with three felonies against his wife, including domestic assault and kidnapping, in a July 8 incident.

Bryan Lafayette, 54, appeared before Judge Theresa DiMauro on Friday afternoon and pleaded not guilty to those charges, as well as a charge of second-degree unlawful restraint.

His public defender, attorney Robert Lees, waived Lafayette’s right to probable cause hearings on two of the counts — domestic assault and second-degree unlawful restraint — but tried to argue against probable cause on the kidnapping charge.

Referring to a police affidavit, Lee said Lafayette told his wife, Christie Stark-Lafayette, to “Just leave. Just Leave.” Lees later questioned how long his client had allegedly held his wife against her will because it might not have been long enough to constitute kidnapping.

But Windsor County Deputy State’s Attorney Glenn Barnes, who is prosecuting the case, said when Stark-Lafayette ran down their apartment stairs on Christian Street to leave, her husband chased her, pushed his 6-foot 3-inch, 245 pound frame against the door so she couldn’t open it, then threatened her.

“Get back upstairs or I will throw you upstairs,” Lafayette said to his wife, according to her statement in the police affidavit.

DiMauro, who agreed with the prosecution, said Lafayette not only demanded his wife stay but threatened her with bodily injury.

“It fits the statutory definition of kidnapping,” DiMauro said. “Time is not relevant to the nature of confinement.”

According to the affidavit, which was written by Randy St. Peter of the Hartford Police Department, Stark-Lafayette came to the station on Thursday to report that her husband assaulted her after they got into an argument on July 8.

When Lafayette prevented her from leaving, he also grabbed her, causing bruising on both arms, the affidavit states.

“I also hurt my back as we struggled by the door,” Stark-Lafayette told St. Peter.

Lafayette was arrested without incident at his apartment on Thursday afternoon and held at the Southern Correctional Facility in Springfield, Vt., until his court appearance. Lafayette did not speak in court.

Lafayette, who was put on parole in January 2016, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in December 1999 for killing a friend who he accused of becoming involved with the woman he intended to marry. Lafayette also was convicted of first-degree arson in 1993.

“Mr. Lafayette has a history of turning domestic situations into violent ones,” Barnes told DiMauro.

Along with being held without bail, Lafayette was ordered to have no contact with his wife.

The date of his next court appearance wasn’t immediately known.

Patrick O’Grady can be reached at pogclmt@gmail.com.

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