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Thread: James Phillip Barnes - Florida Execution - August 3, 2023

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    James Phillip Barnes - Florida Execution - August 3, 2023


    Patricia “Patsy” Miller


    Linda Barnes’ Grave


    James Phillip Barnes


    Summary of Offense:

    James Barnes was convicted in the murder of Patricia Patsy Miller.

    On April 20, 1988, Barnes went to Miller’s condominium unit in Melbourne, Florida, took off all his clothes in order not to leave evidence, obtained entry by removing a screen, and entered through a bedroom window. Barnes admitted he went there with the intent to rape and kill Miller. Once inside, he armed himself with a knife from the kitchen. After secretly watching Miller go about her normal activities for a short period of time, he confronted her in the bathroom and forced her at knife-point to the bedroom where he sexually battered her. He then bound her hands behind her back using shoelaces he had removed from some tennis shoes, tied her feet together, and sexually battered her again. Barnes admitted he tried unsuccessfully to strangle her to death with a belt he had removed from her terrycloth robe, so he bludgeoned the back of her head with a hammer he found in her bedroom. Barnes confessed that he collected everything he touched in Miller’s residence, including the clothing Miller was wearing, and placed the articles in a bag. Barnes then set fire to the bed where Miller’s body lay in order to eliminate forensic evidence left there. Before leaving in his car, Barnes took all the items he had bagged, as well as the window screen he had removed, and left to dispose of the items at another location.

    Shortly after 11:00 p.m., firefighters responded to a fire alarm at the condominium complex and found Miller’s charred body face down on the bed in her master bedroom. Her hands were still bound behind her back with shoelaces. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma from multiple blows to Miller’s head. The blows were consistent with being beaten with a hammer. Signs of attempted strangulation were also discovered in the autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Miller’s body was set ablaze after she died from the multiple blows to her head.

    Despite Barnes’ attempt to destroy forensic evidence by setting the bed ablaze, sperm was recovered from Miller and preserved for DNA testing. Within one week of the murder, the police considered Barnes a suspect, and he was questioned by Sergeant Dennis Nichols of the Melbourne Police Department. At that time, Barnes denied any involvement with the murder and agreed to give a sample of his blood for possible DNA comparison. In 1988, however, the available method of DNA testing was inadequate to produce a match and the case remained unsolved.

    In 1997, the sperm recovered from Miller was resubmitted for DNA testing and produced a positive match to Barnes. Barnes was serving a life sentence for the 1997 first-degree strangulation murder of his wife, Linda Barnes. Sergeant Nichols and Brevard Sheriff‘s Office Lieutenant Todd Goodyear traveled to the prison to speak with Barnes about the Miller murder, but he refused to speak to them. For unspecified reasons, charges were not filed against Barnes for the Miller murder at this time. He was not charged until after he wrote several letters to an assistant state attorney in 2005 and confessed in a recorded interview, which Barnes arranged and in which he was questioned by another inmate about the Miller murder. In that videotaped interview on November 1, 2005, Barnes admitted to the burglary, sexual batteries, murder, and arson. During his interview, Barnes described with accuracy Miller’s physical appearance, the interior of the apartment, and specific objects he saw in the apartment. Further, his descriptions of the homicide, the sexual batteries, and the arson were consistent with the evidence gathered by police.

    While on death row, Barnes confessed to having committed the unsolved murder of Brenda Joyce Fletcher and the disappearance/ murder of Chester Ralph Wetmore. However, no evidence has been found that he was involved in either case, his claims haven't been collaborated. Authorities currently believed that he made false confessions.

    Barnes was sentenced to death in Brevard County on December 13, 2007.

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    The Florida Supreme Court upheld Barnes' conviction and death sentence in an opinion dated February 4, 2010.

    Opinion is here:

    http://www.floridasupremecourt.org/d...10/sc08-63.pdf

    On May 5, 2010, Barnes filed a petition for writ of certiorari in the United States Supreme Court. That petition was denied on October 4, 2010.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Tonight at 10:00 pm EST, ID Network will air the first of Werner Herzog's four-part series, "On Death Row". This evening's episode will feature James Barnes.

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    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    Soon as i heard about this series, i programmed it for my DVR.....Pretty excited to watch this new series, been following all the one the national geographic channel has done.....

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    The first segment I couldn’t even believe that he would go on about how many people he hurt and lives he's ruined. Instead of him coming out his first words should be at least an apology to the families or some sight of remorse on his part for that matter, but all he says is that how the Lethal Injection is inhumane and burns and it's not comforting for the death rollers . The images that blew through my mind are the horror these victims went thru & felt & die the same way the victims did. He never once gave his victims a fighting chance to live and thinking that this is a human life you’re taking. I only wish that he would go thru the same torture, pain and horror his victims went thru!! Crimes like this should have the death penalty in my opinion. The only reason why I feel so strongly about this, 3 years ago I was brutally beaten & raped, ended up on life support and thank the lord I pulled thru, but I sustained frontal lobe damage and now suffer from Gran-Mal seizures and I’ll have this ailment for the rest of my life, not to mention the emotional and physical scars.

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    Senior Member Member nmiller855's Avatar
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    He alluded that he may have been responsible for 4 deaths. I wonder how many he thinks he should have been allowed before being put to death? I didn't see any remorse for his victims or their families.

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    And there it is, classic sign of a sociopath..blame the victims for the crimes he committed.

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    Senior Member Frequent Poster stixfix69's Avatar
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    Not going to lie, on 1 hand i give him props for coming clean on a few things he has done wrong, and him not throwing some pitty party or why me excuse.....Having listening to his dunce twin sister i would have to classify both as borderline retarded.....seriously that family had issues....But the part i appreciated was at the end where he said straight up, that whatever the circumstances are, you have to be 100% accountable for the actions one takes......This one i will have to ponder, and maybe watch a few times to get a better feel, about how i feel about this one......

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    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Having listening to his dunce twin sister i would have to classify both as borderline retarded
    It tickled me when Herzog asked her if she would like to see James, and she hesitated. I thought to myself, "she probably has felonies and can't go to the prison" and sure enough that was the case.

  10. #10
    Senior Member Frequent Poster PATRICK5's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by watsonjessica View Post
    The first segment I couldn’t even believe that he would go on about how many people he hurt and lives he's ruined. Instead of him coming out his first words should be at least an apology to the families or some sight of remorse on his part for that matter, but all he says is that how the Lethal Injection is inhumane and burns and it's not comforting for the death rollers . The images that blew through my mind are the horror these victims went thru & felt & die the same way the victims did. He never once gave his victims a fighting chance to live and thinking that this is a human life you’re taking. I only wish that he would go thru the same torture, pain and horror his victims went thru!! Crimes like this should have the death penalty in my opinion. The only reason why I feel so strongly about this, 3 years ago I was brutally beaten & raped, ended up on life support and thank the lord I pulled thru, but I sustained frontal lobe damage and now suffer from Gran-Mal seizures and I’ll have this ailment for the rest of my life, not to mention the emotional and physical scars.
    I am truly sorry that happened to you. By any chance did they catch the guy? I agree that when they cause serious physical injury, they should get the death penalty, too. However, that will never happen. If they arrest this guy, there is no reason for him to ever be released from prison.

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