James Barnes executed by lethal injection after murdering two Brevard women in their homes
Brevard County death row inmate James Barnes was executed Thursday for the brutal 1988 rape and murder of Melbourne nurse Patricia “Patsy” Miller, who was inside her Melbourne condominium when he entered through a bedroom window, attacked and killed her.
Barnes was also convicted of strangling his estranged wife, Linda, and leaving her body inside a bedroom closet in 1997 inside her home near West Melbourne.
"The commonality between these two women? They were both hard-working professionals. They were someone's daughter. They were someone's sister. They were someone's mother," Andrew Miller, Patricia's brother, told reporters during a post-execution press conference.
"No one should live in fear within the safety of their own home. We do. My family does," he said.
Barnes, 61, was pronounced dead by lethal injection at 6:13 p.m. at Florida State Prison in rural Bradford County, northwest of Starke.
He is the 104th person executed in Florida since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976, Department of Corrections records show.
This was Florida's fifth execution in the past six months under Gov. Ron DeSantis, a 2024 Republican presidential candidate. No executions had occurred since August 2019, when Gary Bowles of Duval County was put to death, before the pace increased this year, DOC records show.
More: Florida executes Brevard death row inmate James Barnes | Recap
"James Barnes was a violent and ruthless criminal," Melbourne Police Chief David Gillespie said in a Thursday email.
"And, while today's execution ensures he will never harm another individual again, let us not forget the victims and the torture they had endured. My heart goes out to the victims and their families," Gillespie said.
Barnes did not give a final statement.
Execution took place without incident
Before his execution, about 20 witnesses gathered inside a white-walled rectangular execution-chamber viewing room, seated in gray padded chairs facing a large glass window. At 6 p.m., the curtain behind the window slowly opened and Barnes could be seen lying on a gurney inside the chamber, covered by a white sheet. His left arm was exposed with IV tubes and a brown strap attached.
At 6:01 p.m., Barnes declined to give a final statement, and the execution process began. Three suited execution team members wearing earpieces observed him from a few feet away. At 6:12 p.m., a physician emerged to check his vital signs.
Barnes was pronounced dead at 6:13 p.m., and the curtain slowly lowered. The witnesses in the viewing room remained silent and stoic throughout the proceedings.
More: Brevard death row inmate James Barnes scheduled to die Thursday by lethal injection
"The execution took place without incident," Kayla McLaughlin, DOC spokesperson, said afterward.
Victim's brother thanks Melbourne police
In May 2006, Barnes pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in Miller's homicide. He was sentenced to death in December 2007. He was also convicted of two counts of sexual battery, armed burglary and arson in the case.
According to Barnes' sentencing order, he entered Miller's condo through a bedroom window and repeatedly raped her, strangled her with her bathrobe belt, killed her by striking her head with a hammer, and set her bed on fire with her body on it to eliminate evidence.
Barnes confessed to Miller's murder while he was behind bars — he was serving life in prison for killing his wife Linda, 44.
During his Thursday remarks, Andrew Miller praised Melbourne police investigators for keeping a photo of his sister in their locker for 18 years — "and would not retire their badges until someone was brought to justice for this heinous crime."
Barnes, who woke up at 5:30 a.m. Thursday, neither had any visitors nor met with a spiritual advisor, McLaughlin said. He also did not request a last meal before his execution.
While serving a life sentence for his wife’s murder, Barnes mailed a letter in October 2005 to Assistant State Attorney Michael Hunt in Viera saying a fellow inmate — who he described as “my Muslim brother” — had convinced him to “confess an unresolved matter” that happened in 1988 in Melbourne.
Specifically, Barnes offered in the letter to grant a jailhouse interview to law enforcement. During that interview, which was videotaped by a Melbourne police detective three weeks later, Barnes described how he had brutalized and killed Miller at her home in the River Oaks Condominiums before setting her bed ablaze with her body in it, his sentencing order said.
Seven years earlier, in 1998, advances in DNA testing had linked Barnes to Miller's homicide. But he had refused to speak with Brevard County Sheriff’s Office investigators about the matter.
In his October 2005 letter written from the Columbia Correctional Institution in Lake City, Barnes noted that it was Ramadan, the Islamic holy month, which he described as “a time of purification.”
Barnes confessed to Miller’s murder and provided a detailed narrative of his crimes in a pair of December 2005 follow-up letters to Hunt.
“Contrary to popular opinion, I’m not looking to go to death row. As you can tell from the video, I like fresh air and sunshine and being healthy. I plan on living another 40+ years,” Barnes wrote on Dec. 7, 2005.
Death penalty opponents call system "broken"
After Thursday's execution, Floridians for Alternatives to the Death Penalty released a statement saying Florida's "broken and unjust system" puts innocent people at risk of execution and allows the executions of people with serious mental illness.
FADP said Barnes’ childhood was rife with abuse and trauma. For example, his father would conduct "blanket parties" where he would put a blanket over Barnes' head and make his four siblings whip him with a belt, covering his body in welts.
"James was abused and betrayed by the people who were supposed to protect him. We make no excusesfor James’ actions, and there is no way to bring his victims back. But there was also no justice for thechild who was rejected and beaten," the FDAP statement said.
"That child is as much the man that committed these murders, and as much the man who was executed tonight. This is why we stand against all executions. This is why we have to care," the statement said.
In a Thursday email, Brevard County Sheriff Wayne Ivey said Barnes' victims suffered painful, horrifying deaths, and the crimes "were perpetrated by an unremorseful, violent individual with no regard for human life."
"Our prayers are with the victims’ families in hope that the finality of the punishment of James Barnes may bring some peace and closure," Ivey said.
"Once his death sentence is complete, the world becomes a better place and is rid of a monster that can no longer inflict pain and suffering,” he said.
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: Florida death row inmate James Barnes executed by lethal injection
