Brevard death row inmate James Barnes scheduled to die Thursday by lethal injection

Brevard County death row inmate James Barnes is scheduled to die by lethal injection Thursday, ending his life behind bars decades after he murdered two Space Coast women — including his wife — during the 1980s and '90s.

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Barnes, who is 61 and used to live just outside West Melbourne city limits, is scheduled to be executed at 6 p.m. Thursday at the Florida State Prison in Raiford. This would be Florida's fifth execution in six months.

"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 of Grant-Valkaria, told FLORIDA TODAY last month. She declined further comment for this story.

Barnes has declined to participate in any media interviews prior to his execution, according to the Florida Department of Corrections public affairs office.

A timeline of key events in Barnes' criminal past:

● 1997: Brevard County Sheriff's Office investigators found the body of Barnes' wife, Linda, a 44-year-old medical assistant, inside a bedroom closet at their home in the Woodland Oaks subdivision off Eber Boulevard in unincorporated West Melbourne.

Barnes was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

● 1998: Barnes was sentenced to life in prison.

● 2005: Barnes — who remained incarcerated in prison — wrote a letter to Assistant State Attorney Michael Hunt requesting an interview.

Per Barnes' request, in a prison interview videotaped weeks later by a Melbourne detective, Barnes described how he had entered a bedroom window in 1988 at the River Oaks Condominiums and killed Patricia "Patsy" Miller, a 41-year-old Melbourne nurse.

Barnes raped her, strangled her with her bathrobe belt and fatally struck her in the head with a hammer — and then he set her bed afire with her body on it to eliminate evidence, a sentencing order said. Asked by the court if he knew Miller, he replied, "No, I didn't."

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● 2006: Barnes pleaded guilty to first-degree premeditated murder in Miller's death. He was also convicted of two counts of sexual battery, armed burglary and arson.

● 2007: A trial court sentenced Barnes to death for the "senseless, brutal and tortuous killing of Patricia Miller in her home."

Brevard-Seminole State Attorney Phil Archer declined comment on Barnes' pending execution.

Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a death warrant to carry out Barnes' execution on June 22. Six days later, the Brevard County Circuit Court issued an order granting Barnes' motion to dismiss all pending motions and appellate review prior to the execution.

Last week, the Florida Conference of Catholic Bishops sent a letter to DeSantis asking him to grant Barnes a stay and commute his death sentence to a life sentence without parole.

"Mr. Barnes’ willing acceptance of death, the punishment put in place by the justice system, does not absolvethe state from bringing it about. Simply put, no one should be executed in our modern penal system, evenif they willingly accept it," the letter said.

"The alternative punishment of life in prison without parole is a severe penalty that still provides closure to victims and protects society. It is more humane and ceases to perpetuate the cycle of violence that began by the sufferings inflicted on him in his youth, which included physical and sexual abuse," the letter said.

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Barnes' 2007 death-sentence order notes that an expert in forensic psychology testified he was a psychopath who "grew up in a violent home without love or support with his family," and he had a cocaine dependency and antisocial personality disorder.

From the 1970s until he was arrested for his wife's murder, Barnes racked up convictions in Brevard for burglary, grand theft, aggravated battery, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, violation of state probation, resisting arrest, battery domestic violence and trafficking in stolen property.

Rick Neale is the South Brevard Watchdog Reporter at FLORIDA TODAY (for more of his stories, click here.) Contact Neale at 321-242-3638 or rneale@floridatoday.com. Twitter: @RickNeale1

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This article originally appeared on Florida Today: James Barnes: Convicted Florida murderer scheduled for execution