Key witness takes the stand in Charlotte County cold case

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PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.- A key witness took the stand Friday in the murder trial of Phillip Barr, one of the men accused of killing 19-year-old Tara Sidarovich.

Linda Dille, Barr’s girlfriend at the time of the crime, told the jury Barr gave her several different versions of what happened on Oct. 1, 2001, the day the teen disappeared.

Sidarovich had been home alone, waiting for septic workers, the last day she was seen.

“Told me they knocked on the door, told me the girl answered the door. They went inside to flush the toilets and so forth, whatever, he told me that he was outside, Dave was inside the house,” said Dille.

She told the court Barr started acting strange after Sidarovich’s disappearance, cutting his hair and changing his appearance.

Dille says Barr also asked her how to get rid of DNA and she told him “bleach.”

The State Attorney’s Office says that is proof that Barr took the teenager from her home and killed her.

David McMannis, Barr’s work partner, is also charged in Sidarovich’s death.

Dille added that Barr told her McMannis and Sidarovich fought that day, because McMannis made the teenager uncomfortable. Barr said he calmed her down and that that was the last he had seen of Sidarovich.

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