AL AL - J.B. Beasley, 17, & Tracie Hawlett, 17, Ozark, 31 July 1999 #3

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Bulldog23 said:
I looked back at some articles from around the time that Barrentine was arrested. First, they said they had their man. Then they said they were looking for a second suspect. (I'm guessing this happened when the DNA did not match.) Then Barrentine's lawyers told him to shut up, so he did. Then the grand jury cleared him. But an ABI agent, whom I tend to place more trust in than a local, said that Barrentine could identify the girls' clothing and such. Just out of curiosity, how many of the sleuths on the board think Barrentine was completely uninvolved?
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Interesting question. So many ways this could be looked at. I don't know that anyone or anything can be ruled out based on the information that is public.

Here are the different options with Barrentine in MOO:

1) absolutely involved; and had help
2) involved but unknowingly; gave a ride to someone who was involved, etc., but didn't realize what had happened
3) drove by the Big/Little that night and saw JB and Tracie there and decided to try to get the reward money
4) Not involved at all and didn't see anything; made up his story on newspaper articles and leading questions by the investigators in hopes of getting the reward money

I am leaning towards #3 or #4, but I again I don't believe there is enough known by us to completely rule him out.
 
Bulldog23 said:
I looked back at some articles from around the time that Barrentine was arrested. First, they said they had their man. Then they said they were looking for a second suspect. (I'm guessing this happened when the DNA did not match.) Then Barrentine's lawyers told him to shut up, so he did. Then the grand jury cleared him. But an ABI agent, whom I tend to place more trust in than a local, said that Barrentine could identify the girls' clothing and such. Just out of curiosity, how many of the sleuths on the board think Barrentine was completely uninvolved?
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I don’t think he was involved. I think he got himself mixed up in it trying to get the reward money. If he had any real knowledge the FBI would of gotten it out of him.
 
#3 for me. I think he saw the girls somewhere-probably at the Big/Little Store that night and was thus able to identify their clothing. I have never heard what the "other things pertinent to the case" that ABI Investigator Huggins testified to. Then again, all the info he knew may have been fed to him. I don't think he was involved in the murders. Simply put he was just a dunce after the reward money. Sadly, his clumbsy effort sidetracked the investigation for a month and valuable time and resources were wasted.
 
CoolJ said:
Lets not forget the grand jury did not indict Barrentine due to the DNA. I would think if Spivey could have ruled out the DNA at that point in time he would have.
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MOO, I think somewhere along the way they learned that the semen was unrelated to the murders. But, they continued to push the DNA and cleared not only Barrentine, but Eutsey the "Michigan Man" and maybe others. Who knows at what point they discovered the truth concerning the semen donor (assuming they did learn the person's ID)?
SavageMarkIII said:
Ted, it seems like VS is indicating there is not a definitive agreement between all the agencies and investigators, both current and past, on how the DNA fits. It seems like there are 2 factions: 1) the DNA is not related to the murders 2) it is related and has been used to clear suspects.

I can only offer MOO on this, because I am not in this situation and have never experienced anything like this However, I believe I would want to know definitively about the DNA, if I was in the same situation. Especially in this time, when DNA has advanced and the ability to use familial DNA to research suspects has come out lately, I would want a definite answer.
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I agree with what you are saying <modsnip - discussing >
 
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<modsnip - quoted post removed>

Understood. But I would believe that either Ozark PD or the lab has possession of the clothes that contained the semen. So, they (Ozark PD) is going to have to give its blessing to any further testing.
 
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I am with KR; I lean toward #2. My understanding is he got involved in the case when he asked the video store clerk for the footage from the Big Little for the night of the murders. He told the clerk that he saw a fight in the Big Little Parking lot and wanted to see who was involved, right? This raised suspicion, the clerk called the cops, the cops talked to his wife, his wife said he went out for milk but came home an hour or two later upset and told her he was almost hit by a black truck on HERRING. She said, IIRC, he was so upset that he ended up staring at the TV all night. -Now like everything else, I have no way of knowing whether or not this is accurate, but Mrs. Barrentine really had no reason to lie, and I think she probably told the officers the truth as she knew it when they came to talk to her.

So if Mrs. Barrentine's story is true, then I think that leaves us with choice 1 or 2, correct? Is Mrs. Barrentine still alive? Does anyone know? Wouldn't it be great if she would agree to be interviewed again, and possibly take a polygraph test?
 
Bulldog23 said:
I am with KR; I lean toward #2. My understanding is he got involved in the case when he asked the video store clerk for the footage from the Big Little for the night of the murders. He told the clerk that he saw a fight in the Big Little Parking lot and wanted to see who was involved, right? This raised suspicion, the clerk called the cops, the cops talked to his wife, his wife said he went out for milk but came home an hour or two later upset and told her he was almost hit by a black truck on HERRING. She said, IIRC, he was so upset that he ended up staring at the TV all night. -Now like everything else, I have no way of knowing whether or not this is accurate, but Mrs. Barrentine really had no reason to lie, and I think she probably told the officers the truth as she knew it when they came to talk to her.

So if Mrs. Barrentine's story is true, then I think that leaves us with choice 1 or 2, correct? Is Mrs. Barrentine still alive? Does anyone know? Wouldn't it be great if she would agree to be interviewed again, and possibly take a polygraph test?
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Didn’t this happen after he had already went to police. And him & his wife had been looking for clues where the car was found.
 
Islands said:
Didn’t this happen after he had already went to police. And him & his wife had been looking for clues where the car was found.
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According to Dime Detective, Barrentine (1) talked to Spivey and gave him a name- Spivey told Barrentine the guy wasn't a suspect. (How in the world did Spivey know this without investigating the name he was just given?) (2) Went with his wife and brother-in-law to Herring to look for a clue(s) (3) Went to the video store requesting the tape from the Big Little. When he went to video warehouse, investigators responded by speaking with his wife.. setting his arrest in motion. The wife told them about Barrentine's behavior on the night in question.

If Barrentine's wife was truthful... That he told her, right after it happened, he was almost hit by a black truck on Herring (an isolated, out of the way street) then I definitely believe he was involved. There is no other explanation for him mentioning Herring the night of, or even morning after, the murders! This fact is something that could have been used as leverage to get truthful information out of Johnny if the investigators would have played their cards correctly.. in my opinion. Thoughts?
 
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Bulldog23 said:
According to Dime Detective, Barrentine (1) talked to Spivey and gave him a name- Spivey told Barrentine the guy wasn't a suspect. (How in the world did Spivey know this without investigating the name he was just given?) (2) Went with his wife and brother-in-law to Herring to look for a clue(s) (3) Went to the video store requesting the tape from the Big Little. When he went to video warehouse, investigators responded by speaking with his wife.. setting his arrest in motion. The wife told them about Barrentine's behavior on the night in question.

If what Barrentine's wife said was true... That he told her, right after it happened, he was almost hit by a black truck on Herring (an isolated, out of the way street) then I definitely believe he was involved. There is no other explanation for him mentioning Herring the night of, or even morning after, the murders! This fact is something that could have been used as leverage to get truthful information out of Johnny if the investigators would have played their cards correctly.. in my opinion. Thoughts?
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BBM...According to DD, the wife first stated that he told her his car WAS struck by a black truck. Maybe I am confused about the timeline, but didn't Barrentine go to the Police 30 days after the murders? If so, maybe LE had already interviewed and cleared the person Barrentine told him about. Also, at what point in the investigation did LE interview the wife? Was it also 30 or so days after the murders? Maybe Johnny did see a black truck somewhere that night? I believe that was the first of six different stories he told the Police when interviewed. I've always wondered if the wife wasn't part of the scheme to collect the reward money and most of her statements just supported what he told the Police. I'm just very skeptical of anything the Barrentines had to say.
 
I have always believed that somewhere in barrentine's statement lied a grain of truth. That he inadvertently knew something. Not being too bright and knowing he was innocent he decided to try for the reward money and failed miserably.
 
killarney rose said:
I have always believed that somewhere in barrentine's statement lied a grain of truth. That he inadvertently knew something. Not being too bright and knowing he was innocent he decided to try for the reward money and failed miserably.
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I agree. With most lies there is a grain of truth involved. I believe he did see a black truck driving recklessly that night and it may have hit his car. He mentioned the black truck in the first of his six stories, which makes me think that part may be true. But it doesn't mean it was involved in the murders.
 
Looking back at DD's post, Barrentine said he approached Spivey "a few days" after the murder, and he, wife, and Brother in Law went to Herring "a few days" after the murders.

He was arrested 30 days after the murders. While I guess it is possible that Spivey had already "cleared" this guy in several days, I'm not so sure I believe it.
 
CoolJ said:
They are? How involved in the investigation are they?

Who is leading the investigation?

Depends on who you ask is what it seems like to me.
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It was said at one time that the FBI wouldn't work on it anymore bc OPD had screwed up the case too bad. I'm hoping that was a rumor and it may have been, but that's what i had heard.
 
CuriousD said:
It was said at one time that the FBI wouldn't work on it anymore bc OPD had screwed up the case too bad. I'm hoping that was a rumor and it may have been, but that's what i had heard.
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The FBI is involved in the investigation at present.
 
The thing that makes me believe that Barrentine saw something is that he was reportedly so shook up when he got home. I don't think a fender bender would've caused such an extreme reaction.
 
I agree, KR. If Mary Barrentine was telling the truth about that night, then I think Johnny Barrentine saw or heard the murders occurring. If he came home shaken up, he had a really good reason. Johnny was sort of rough and tumble. I think I remember him having a couple of assault charges, one for striking his sister, I think. If he came home that upset, he saw something significant that night.
 
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