Executed killer James Barnes 'confessed' to more murders -- but detectives don't believe him
During a 2012 jailhouse television interview, now-executed double-murderer James Barnes faced the camera and made startling claims: He was involved in the unsolved homicides of two additional victims.
But investigators in Brevard and Manatee counties didn't believe Barnes' televised claims. And now — leading through the years all the way to Barnes' Thursday execution by lethal injection — they still don't believe him.
“His self-serving, baseless confessions gave false hope to two families that their cases might come to a successful conclusion — knowing the information he provided was publicly available or could not be corroborated," Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said in a Thursday email.
"This is yet another example of his narcissism for self-gratification,” Ivey said.
Barnes was a Brevard death row inmate when he was interviewed from Florida State Prison for an episode of “On Death Row,” a 2012 United Kingdom television documentary series by German filmmaker Werner Herzog.
Barnes had been sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of Melbourne nurse Patricia “Patsy” Miller inside her condominium. He confessed to that homicide while he was serving a life sentence for fatally strangling his estranged wife, Linda, in 1997 at her home near West Melbourne.
During the "On Death Row" episode, dressed in an orange shirt worn by Florida death row inmates, Barnes said he fatally shot and buried Chester Wetmore, who was last seen leaving his Bradenton home in May 1986 at age 14.
More: James Barnes executed by lethal injection after murdering two Brevard women in their homes
Barnes also said he was involved in the murder of Brenda Joyce Fletcher. Her body was discovered in April 1991 west of Cocoa, in a water-filled drainage ditch along the northbound on-ramp from State Road 520 to Interstate 95.
However, investigators did not charge Barnes in either case — both of which remain unresolved. During the TV episode, Herzog voiced doubts regarding Barnes' alleged confessions.
"I was suspicious of Barnes using me as an instrument either to procrastinate or speed up his execution by opening new cases against him," Herzog said during the episode.
Fletcher remains listed as an unsolved homicide on the Brevard County Sheriff's Office website, while Wetmore remains listed as a missing person on the Manatee County Sheriff's Office website.
"Manatee County Sheriff’s Office detectives spoke to Werner Herzog about the alleged confession. They reviewed the confession video and found that Barnes was extremely manipulative and was possibly using this confession as a tactic to stay his execution — Herzog agreed," MCSO spokesperson Randy Warren said in a Thursday email.
More: 'I am prepared for execution': Here's how Brevard death row inmate waived his appeals
"Lengthy follow into this information was completed, but there was no information discovered to even confirm Barnes knew Wetmore. Barnes also refused to speak with our detectives about the case," Warren said.
"After a thorough investigation, we have no reason to connect Barnes with the Missing person case of Chester Wetmore," he said.
"One of our detectives wrote the following: 'At the time of this report there is nothing substantial to indicate that what James Barnes stated in his interview was truthful,' ” he said.
In his Thursday email, Ivey echoed those sentiments.
"The investigation of the allegations made by James Barnes that he was involved in an unrelated homicide found no evidence that linked him to having any contact with her prior to her death," Ivey said.
“A review of the evidence recovered from the scene found no evidence linking Barnes to the victim or the scene itself. The information provided by Barnes consisted of publicly available information and there is no credible information that gives validity to his claims,” he said.
Barnes was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m. Thursday in the Florida State Prison execution chamber. He did not give a final statement.
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: Did executed killer James Barnes murder two more victims? Deputies say no
