Florida | Murderer's family anxiously awaits his execution

Convicted of killing two women ― including his wife ― and admitting to two more murders while on death row, Barnes destroyed numerous families. For his actions, the state of Florida will inject him with poison on Aug. 3 and his life will end.

The pain and suffering he imposed on his victims' families will surely simmer on. But at least one family is hoping his execution brings them some sort of point to reset, or at least a chance to live the rest of their lives out from under his shadow of violence and blood.

"Our family is glad the nightmare will soon be over, and maybe we’ll be able to sleep in peace," Barnes' older sister, Beth Catron told me, detailing the mental toll of having a murderer for a brother has had on her and her siblings. "We're all mental cases and oh God, my sister, my little sister has a hard time coping with day-to-day life. We were all drug addicts."

Catron, who lives in Grant-Valkaria, went on to tell me that Barnes' twin sister, Jeannice, still struggles with drug addiction, another sister kicked the habit and their little brother, Michael, killed himself.

With Gov. Ron DeSantis signing the death warrant and Barnes waiving his rights for further appeal, it appears the end in imminent. I asked Catron if she thought his execution might bring some closure or peace.

"We hope so," she said. "I hope it more for my sister Jeannice, the twin, because she has had a very hard time coping.

"I believe if it wasn't for James, our family would have held together. I believe Mike would still be alive today. You know, I have a certain belief that if it wasn't for James, we wouldn't be where we are now. We would be home."

Barnes already had a lengthy record with numerous convictions for drugs, arson, theft, burglary, a pair of stabbings and other crimes when he was arrested for murdering his wife, Linda, in 1997, after she learned he was selling drugs. He was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. Unbeknownst to law enforcement at the time, it wasn't the first time he had murdered.

Years later, citing a religious conversion to Islam, Barnes confessed to raping and murdering Melbourne nurse Patricia "Patsy" Miller in 1988. He stalked Miller, hid in her closet in the nude, watching her for several hours before raping her and then bludgeoning her to death. He then set her apartment on fire to try and conceal evidence.

For that crime he was sentenced to die. He told German filmmaker Werner Herzog in 2012 that he killed Miller because she had humiliated him but gave no other details. He also confessed two other murders to Herzog ― Brenda Fletcher, for stealing his wallet, and Chester Wetmore, for stealing his drugs ― but was never convicted in those cases.

Catron has had no contact with him since 1997 but would not turn him away if he reached out.

"As a sister, I had hopes and dreams for him," she said. "I wish he could have had a life. I wish he could be free. I wish for the normal things for him but that's never going to happen. It was never going to happen."

Catron said it was evident from a very early age that her brother James was unlike other children.

Barnes killed the family cat and he would shoot frogs that got into the family swimming pool in Satellite Beach with a pellet gun rather than scoop them out with a net. He also set a number of fires over the years.

"At the age of 4 he was locking my sister underneath the basement steps, and she was petrified," she said. "She was terrified when she would hear footsteps and she was always in my room."

His childhood was littered with stints in juvenile detention.

"James was diagnosed as a sociopath as child," Catron said. "We used to go to Rockledge back in the '70s for his psychiatry appointments and that's where he got his diagnosis."

Catron believes Barnes could be responsible for more deaths, including some out of state. She said there were some incidents in Oklahoma that she heard about while Barnes was living there. During the interview with filmmaker Herzog, Barnes said "There are other crimes out there that I've committed that I have not been held accountable for."

"It's scary to know there are people out there like him," Catron said. "Pure evil needs to be exterminated. There is no place in our world for him. Think of the families he destroyed, including ours. My dad used to ask, 'Is he dead yet?' I’d answer 'No.' 'That’s a shame,' is all he could say."

Source: floridatoday.com, John A. Torres, June 30, 2023

_____________________________________________________________________

FOLLOW US ON:

CONTACT: deathpenaltynews@gmail.com

"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted."

— Oscar Wilde

South Korea ferry disaster: Surviving passengers of Sewol tragedy give evidence in court

Surviving passengers of a South Korean ferry which sunk in April, killing 304 people, are due to give evidence in the trial of its captain and 14 crew members. Students from the Danwon High School in Ansan, 18 miles south of Seoul, will testify with other passengers in a smaller court nearer to their home, rather than the one where the defendants are being seen in Gwangju, in the south of the country. The Sewol ferry set sail on 16 April with 476 passengers and crew on board - more than 300 of which were schoolchildren. They were enroute from the mainland to the island resort of Jeju as part of a school trip, when nearing the end of the journey, the vessel, which was overloaded, also made a sharp turn to the right causing it to capsize. Captain Lee Joon-seok, 68, was caught on rescue footage being one of the first to leave the ship, while many passengers, obeying orders, remained in the cabins. It is thought a delayed evacuation order from the captain did n...

Tennessee | Questions Raised About the Doctor Who Was Overseeing Tony Caruthers’ Execution

Mark Fowler, according to a deposition, had not placed a central line in a patient for more than a decade when he attempted to put one in Carruthers Around 11 a.m. Thursday morning in the execution chamber at Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville, a medical doctor stepped in and attempted to place a central IV line in Tony Carruthers’ chest. By that point, the prison staff had spent some 30 minutes trying unsuccessfully to insert a backup IV line that would allow them to proceed with the lethal injection. According to Carruthers’ attorney Maria DeLiberato, who was in the room, after asking a staff member to attempt inserting a line through Carruthers’ jugular vein, the doctor moved on to the central line, which is identified as the last resort in Tennessee’s lethal injection protocol .

Florida: The Daily Routine of Death Row Inmates

The breakfast carts rattle through the concrete prison at about 5:30 am and as they approach Death Row the first sounds of morning repeat the last sounds of night - remote controlled locks clanging open and clunking closed, electric gates whirring, heavy metal doors crashing shut, voices wailing, klaxons blaring. A maximum security prison has no soft or delicate sounds. At the end of each corridor of death row cells a guard opens a heavy door of steel bars and a prison trusty pushes a breakfast cart inside. The door closes behind him and when it locks a second door opens and admits the trusty to the wing. He steers his cart along the wing stopping at each cell to pass a tray of powdered eggs and lukewarm grits through a small slot on the bars. Food is prepared by prison staff and transported in insulated carts to the cells. The food carts are full of cockroaches, the food is often undercooked or just rotten and is served on Styrofoam plates with a plastic "spork" - fork/spoon...

Arizona executes Leroy McGill

Arizona executes inmate who set couple on fire in 'horrific attack' Arizona has executed Leroy McGill for setting 21-year-old Charles Perez and his 24-year-old girlfriend on fire. Perez died the next day and Perez survived with severe burn injuries. Arizona has executed a death row inmate for setting 2 people on fire more than 20 years ago, killing 1 of them and changing the other's life forever. The state executed Leroy McGill, 63, by lethal injection on Wednesday, May 20, for the 2002 murder of 21-year-old Charles Perez. McGill set Perez and his girlfriend on fire after they accused him of theft, court records say. Perez died of his injuries the next day while his girlfriend survived with severe burns.

20 Minutes to Death: Witness to the Last Execution in France

The following document is a firsthand account of the final moments of Hamida Djandoubi, a convicted murderer executed by guillotine at Marseille’s Baumettes Prison on September 10, 1977. The record—dated September 9—was written by Monique Mabelly, a judge appointed by the state to witness the proceedings. Djandoubi’s execution would ultimately be the last carried out in France before capital punishment was abolished in 1981. At the time, President Valéry Giscard d'Estaing—who had publicly voiced his "deep aversion to the death penalty" prior to his election—rejected Djandoubi’s appeal for clemency. Choosing to let "justice take its course," the President allowed the execution to proceed, just as he had in two previous cases during his term: Christian Ranucci , executed on July 28, 1976 and Jérôme Carrein , executed on June 23, 1977. Hamida Djandoubi , a Tunisian national, was sentenced to death for killing his former lover, Elisabeth Bousquet. He was execu...

Tennessee fails to execute Tony Carruthers after IV difficulties. State won't try again for a year

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee officials on Thursday called off the lethal injection of Tony Carruthers, who was convicted of kidnapping and murdering three people in 1994, after his executioners tried and failed for over an hour to establish an intravenous line. Gov. Bill Lee announced soon afterward that the state would not try again for at least a year. In a written statement, the Tennessee Department of Corrections said medical personnel had quickly established a primary IV line but were unable to find a suitable vein for a backup line as required by the state’s execution protocol. Efforts to insert a central line also failed, and officials called off the execution.

EU GSP+ Reform: Will Brussels Finally Enforce Its Own Conditions on Pakistan?

The EU has tightened the rules governing GSP+ trade preferences, but Pakistan’s record raises a harder question: whether Brussels is prepared to suspend market access when a major beneficiary fails to demonstrate sustained compliance with human rights, labour and governance obligations. The European Union has formally adopted revised rules for its Generalised Scheme of Preferences, strengthening the conditions attached to preferential market access for developing countries. The new framework will apply from 1 January 2027 and is intended to tighten monitoring, widen the list of international conventions, and make suspension of benefits easier in cases of serious violations.

Former Oklahoma death row inmate Richard Glossip goes free on $500k bond

Richard Glossip was released from jail Thursday, May 14, on a $500,000 bond, a major victory for the former death row inmate who has come so close to execution that he has had three last meals. Glossip, 63, is awaiting his third trial in his 1997 murder-for-hire case. He walked out the front door of the Oklahoma County jail, holding hands with his wife, Lea Glossip, as a stiff Oklahoma breeze whipped his hair. "I'm just thankful for my wife and my attorneys," he told reporters. "I'm just happy." His release came hours after Oklahoma County District Judge Natalie Mai set bail in a 13-page order that pointed to issues with the key witness against him.

New Mississippi billboard warns criminals: ‘Firing squad is legal’

DESOTO COUNTY, Miss. (WREG) — A billboard standing on Interstate 55 southbound as you cross the Tennessee state line and enter Mississippi from Memphis is sending a grim message to those coming into the state. DeSoto County District Attorney Matthew Barton recently announced the new billboard campaign, which features the sign reading, “WELCOME TO MISSISSIPPI. WHERE THE FIRING SQUAD IS LEGAL. THINK TWICE.” It references Mississippi’s law permitting execution by firing squad under certain circumstances for inmates sentenced to death. Barton says this campaign is aimed at deterring violent crime and sends a direct message to criminals entering Mississippi.

Florida executes Richard Knight

Man convicted of killing a woman and her 4-year-old daughter is executed in Florida A Florida man convicted of fatally stabbing his cousin’s girlfriend and the couple’s 4-year-old daughter was put to death Thursday evening, becoming the 7th person executed by the state this year. Richard Knight, 47, was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. following a 3-drug injection at Florida State Prison near Starke. Knight was convicted of 2 counts of 1st-degree murder in the June 2002 killings of Odessia Stephens and her daughter, Hanessia Mullings. The curtain of the death chamber went up promptly at the scheduled 6:00 p.m. execution time. Knight was already strapped down with his arms extended and an IV line in place.

Death Penalty News

Search This Blog