MELBOURNE, FLORIDA: Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, a member of the Republican Party, has signed a death warrant for James Phillip Barnes, a man who confessed to the rape and murder of a nurse in Brevard County in 1988. Barnes, now 61 years old, was sentenced to death in 2007 after pleading guilty to the violent murder of 41-year-old Patricia 'Patsy' Miller.
In a letter to an assistant state attorney in 2005, Barnes admitted to the crime, stating that he broke into Miller's condominium in Melbourne and raped her twice before killing her and subsequently setting her body on fire. He was convicted of first-degree murder, burglary, two counts of sexual battery with a weapon and arson.
Who is James Barnes?
Barnes was found guilty of the murder a decade after he committed the crime. In 1998, DNA found from Miller's body was identified to be his. At the time, Barnes was already serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife in 1997. Although he had been questioned earlier in Miller's case, he had chosen not to cooperate with law enforcement, as revealed in court records.
Barnes' admission letter to the attorney in 2005 came after his conversion to Islam as he expressed a desire to cleanse his conscience while observing Ramadan. Barnes, who had no prior connection to Miller, broke into her residence on April 20, 1988, through a bedroom window. Armed with a knife, he confronted Miller, raped her twice, attempted to strangle her with her bathrobe belt, and finally struck her head with a hammer, according to court documents, as per Fox News.
'She knew he was going to kill her'
In an attempt to cover up the crime, Barnes confessed to using shoelaces to bind Miller to the bed before setting it ablaze. The cause of death, determined by a medical examiner, was blunt-force trauma to the head. Barnes was reportedly inside Miller's home for approximately 45 to 60 minutes. Barnes' actions left a lasting impact on Miller, as described by then-Brevard County Circuit Judge Lisa Davidson in her 37-page decision to sentence Barnes to death.
"She knew he was going to kill her for the duration of her conscious state, and she was unable to resist due to being bound and overpowered by the defendant," wrote Judge Davidson. "Patricia Miller suffered, over a period of time, a terrifying ordeal culminating in a horrifying death at the defendant's hands."
Judge Davidson "stated unequivocally that he went there to murder Ms. Miller and that it was not an afterthought," adding that he "worked calmly and coolly toward his goal" of murdering her in a "brutal and ruthless manner." Barnes's execution is scheduled to take place on August 3. If carried out as planned, his execution will mark the fifth instance of lethal injection in Florida this year.
