James Barnes was sentenced to death by the State of Florida for the murder of Patricia Miller
According to court documents James Barnes would break into Patricia Miller, strip naked, tied her up, sexually assaulted her and then killed her. Barnes would then set the bed on fire
The brutal murder would go unsolved for ten years until the advancement of DNA
James Barnes would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
After being convicted of the Patricia Miller murder James Barnes would confess to the murder of Chester Wetmore
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Where Is James Barnes Now
James Barnes is incarcerated at Union Correctional Institute
James Barnes Case
The facts of the murder, based upon Barnes’ written and tape-recorded statements and upon the forensic evidence at the penalty phase, show that on the night of April 20, 1988, Barnes went to Miller’s condominium unit in Melbourne, Florida. Once there, he took off his clothes and entered the apartment after removing a window screen. Barnes admitted that he went there with the intent to both rape and kill Miller.
Once inside, Barnes armed himself with a knife and, after secretly watching Miller go about her normal activities for a short period of time, confronted her and forced her at knife-point to the bedroom where he sexually battered her. He then bound her hands behind her back with shoelaces, tied her feet together, and sexually battered her again. Barnes admitted that he tried to strangle her with a terrycloth belt but was not successful, so he bludgeoned her in the back of her head with a hammer that he found in her bedroom.
After taking a bank card from Miller’s wallet and collecting everything he touched, Barnes then set fire to the bed where Miller’s body lay. Shortly after 11 p.m., firefighters responded and found Miller’s burned body face down on the bed with her hands bound behind her back. The medical examiner testified that the cause of death was blunt-force trauma from multiple blows to Miller’s head. Signs of attempted strangulation, including a fractured hyoid bone, were also discovered in the autopsy. The medical examiner determined that Miller’s body was set ablaze after she died.
After Barnes confessed, an indictment was issued charging him with first-degree murder, burglary of a dwelling with an assault or battery, two counts of sexual battery by use or threat of a deadly weapon, and arson of a dwelling. Barnes immediately sought to waive counsel and a Faretta hearing was held. He then represented himself throughout the proceedings with standby counsel available at all times. Immediately after the first of many Faretta hearings, Barnes entered an open plea of guilty and waived a sentencing jury. The trial court ordered a presentence investigation (PSI) report and also ordered that Barnes’ school records be obtained. In addition, the court appointed Dr. William Riebsame, a board-certified forensic psychologist, to provide a psychological evaluation of Barnes.
After presentation of aggravating circumstances at the penalty-phase Spencer hearing, Barnes refused to present any evidence of mitigation and announced that he would rely only on the fact that he came forward and took responsibility for the murder. Over Barnes’ objection, the court appointed special mitigation counsel to investigate and present any mitigation at a second Spencer hearing. After mitigation was presented, the sentencing order was entered on December 13, 2007, finding that the six aggravating factors outweighed the one statutory mitigator and nine nonstatutory mitigators. The court imposed a death sentence for the murder, separate life sentences for each of the burglary with battery and sexual battery counts, and a thirty-year sentence for the arson.