Charlotte, NC: Man pleads guilty to killing woman in 1995 cold case

by RAD BERKY / NewsChannel 36
E-mail Rad: RBerky@WCNC.com

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A mother's words to the killer of her daughter filled a Charlotte courtroom on Thursday where Jeffrey Barton pleaded guilty to the brutal murder of Rachel Dietrich in 1995.

After Barton entered his plea, Detective Steve Furr, of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department's Cold Case Squad, read a letter aloud from Dietrich's mother, Deborah.

It was addressed to "Mr. Barton" and read in part: "I pray God will never let you forget her beaten body, her crying out. I can only thank God that they found her."

Barton was sentenced to 11 to 14 years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Dietrich was working as a private security guard at a Duke Energy facility on the night of Oct. 14, 1995. During the night, another guard noticed she was missing from her post and police were called.

The following morning, someone arriving at a church about a mile away found her body on the grounds of the church. She had been beaten with a blunt object and was partially nude.

Police had few clues and virtually no leads. The case languished in the cold case file for 10 years until detectives decided to take another look.

In 2005, DNA technology was being applied to a number of cold cases. When the fingernails of Dietrich were checked again, the lab found a DNA match. It was Jeffrey Barton, Dietrich's supervisor from a previous job.

Barton had been questioned early on in the investigation. Friends of Dietrich had said she had complained the Barton was hounding her because he wanted a personal relationship. But Barton always denied he had any contact with Dietrich after she left that first job.

When finally confronted 10 years later and asked how his DNA wound up on Dietrich's fingernails, Barton finally admitted he had been with her the night she was killed but still insisted he was not the murderer.

But in a plea deal with prosecutors, Barton told a judge in court on Thursday, he in fact was guilty.

Furr read one more line from Dietrich's mother's letter to Barton. "There is no punishment here on earth that will ever compare to the punishment you will receive when you draw your last breath here on earth."

Barton was led away, his hands chained in front of him.

Deborah Dietrich told NewsChannel 36 by phone that while she wished Barton would spend more time behind bars, she was satisfied that at last he admitted what he had done.
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