Sunday, July 4, 2010

Sandusky, OH: NAACP wants answers in 2007 murder-suicide case

BY JASON SINGER

Three years later, questions still persist.

And considering the magnitude of the crime, the NAACP thinks someone should answer those questions.

On a warm July evening in 2007, three gunshots echoed across Lions Park.

Sandusky police said Larry Barnett Jr., 25, a black man, murdered his white girlfriend, Rachelle Baskey, 30, and then killed himself.

But after a retired Detroit homicide detective re-examined the case, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People has assembled an "evaluation team" to potentially look further into the matter.

"My conclusion was that it did not happen the way it was judged to have happened," Jerry Garrett, the executive director the NAACP's local chapter, told city commissioners last week.

One of the victims' families enlisted the help of the Detroit detective. After finishing his investigation, the detective presented his evidence to the NAACP.

Acting police chief Charlie Sams was out of the office Friday, and unavailable to answer questions.

But the Register received a list of some of the questions and alleged inconsistencies raised by the Detroit detective. They include the following:

* Medical evidence. Neither body had gunpowder burns on them according to the coroner's report, which should have occurred if Barnett committed the shootings from close range.

* The placement of the gun. Sandusky police Officer Chris Parsons, who said he witnessed the murder/suicide, said Barnett still possessed the gun after committing the shootings.

Yet no crime scene photos show Barnett holding the gun. They only show Baskey in possession of the gun.

* Audio recording. Sandusky police Officer Mark Gilliam helped investigate the crime scene. At one point, according to the retired detective, Officer Gilliam's microphone recorded Gilliam saying, "place the gun on her with the barrel pointed down. The gun is in the trunk of my car."

The detective raised 58 questions including these, Garrett said. They involve evidence and perceived procedure errors, he said.

"There obviously needs to be a more in-depth investigation," Garrett said.

The Register requested copies of the entire case file last week from the Sandusky Police Department. Sams said the department will comply with that request.

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