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Brevard County man convicted in brutal 1988 murder receives execution date

James Barnes, 61, sentenced to death in 1988 murder

2018 photo of James Phillip Barnes, 61 (Florida Department of Law Enforcement)

BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. – A Brevard County man sentenced to death for the 1988 murder of a woman whom he sexually battered has finally received his execution date, according to state officials.

On Thursday, state documents were filed to confirm the execution date of Aug. 3 at 6 p.m. for James Phillip Barnes.

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Court records show in 1988, Barnes broke into a woman’s condo in Melbourne to rape and kill her.

He sexually battered her at knifepoint before tying her up, beating her to death with a hammer and setting fire to the bed her body was laid in to eliminate the evidence, the records state.

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Despite his attempts to burn the remains, forensic evidence taken from the scene pointed toward Barnes being the killer in 1997. At that time, Barnes was already serving a life sentence for the murder of his wife, Linda Barnes.

According to state records, Barnes wasn’t charged in the Melbourne murder until 2007 after he admitted to the crimes in a videotaped interview. Barnes was ultimately convicted and sentenced to death for that murder on Dec. 13, 2007.

Despite an appeal in 2008 and a petition in 2010, Barnes’ conviction and death sentence have been affirmed by the Florida Supreme Court.

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