NORTHAMPTON, Mass. (WWLP) – Cara Rintala returned to court Tuesday for a bail hearing as she awaits her fourth murder trial.

Rintala is charged with first degree murder in connection with the 2010 killing of her wife Annamarie Cochrane Rintala. She was tried three times for the crime with her first two trials ending in mistrials. Rintala was convicted during her third trial but the state’s highest court threw out her conviction this past September. She has been in the women’s state prison in Framingham for the past five years.

According to a news release sent to 22News from Northwestern District Attorney’s Office Spokesperson Laurie Loisel, Hampshire Superior Court Judge Richard Carey set bail at $50,000 cash and required her to wear a GPS monitoring bracelet. Carey also ruled that she can live in Narragansett, Rhode Island with her parents and 14-year-old daughter.

“The procedural history of this case demonstrates that a significant cash bail and strict release
conditions will likely ensure the defendant’s appearance at future court dates,” First ADA Gagne noted
in a motion for bail and conditions of release. “The Commonwealth therefore agrees that it would be
appropriate for the Court to admit the defendant to bail – albeit a significant one – that is
commensurate with the crime charged and the potential penalty the defendant faces if convicted.”

Rintala must abide by a curfew that requires her to be home between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., not apply for a passport; sign a waiver of extradition; and report to the Hampshire Superior Court Probation Department weekly by telephone or video conference.

Rintala is accused of strangling her wife Annamarie Cochrane Rintala in the basement of the couple’s Granby home back in 2010. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the Commonwealth had presented enough evidence in the trial to support a conviction. The Northwestern District Attorney’s Office intends to try the case again. “We don’t walk away from a murder case just because it is difficult to try,” said First ADA Gagne.