Death of a Baseball Mom

Summary

Cold Case Files: "Death of a Baseball Mom"

Host: Paula Barros
Release Date: December 24, 2024
Platform: A&E / PodcastOne

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Introduction

"Death of a Baseball Mom" delves into the harrowing true story of Jinora Stevens, a beloved mother whose brutal murder in 1987 remained unsolved for years. Hosted by Paula Barros, this episode unpacks the intricate details of the case, the tireless efforts of Detective Mike Huff, and the emotional toll on Jinora’s family.

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Victim and Family Background

Jinora Stevens, described by her son Troy as "very beautiful, very loving" (01:03), was more than just a mother; she was a doting baseball mom and a pillar in her community. Her sister, Glenda McCrae, highlighted their close bond, stating, "J'nour and I had this bond. She was very protective of me" (01:13). Jinora’s active lifestyle included speed skating and softball, earning her admiration from family and friends alike.

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The Night of the Murder: May 12, 1987

On the evening of May 12, 1987, tensions flared between Jinora and her son Troy. An argument erupted over Troy’s decision to leave for a defensive driving class, with Troy recalling, "The last words that I heard from my mother were, I love him and we'll talk when we get home" (05:30). Shortly after, Troy returned home to discover Jinora brutally murdered, "almost 30 times" stabbed, leaving the family and community in shock (19:13).

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Discovery and Initial Investigation

Detective Mike Huff was among the first responders to the crime scene. Officer Jim Clark described the scene as "one of the worst crime scenes I had ever seen" (08:06). The investigation initially focused on Troy, given the lack of forced entry and their heated argument the night before. Glenda recalled, "The police were in the very beginning checking out Troy if he was on drugs, if he was an alcoholic" (12:41). However, Troy’s distressed reaction, "I'd just been asked if I'd killed my mother. I was frantic and I was screaming" (01:24), led Detective Huff to eventually rule him out as a suspect.

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Suspecting Phil Stevens

Attention shifted to Jinora’s husband, Phil Stevens, whose behavior raised suspicions. Glenda noted Phil's odd actions post-murder, such as "smelling Jinora's lingerie and getting rid of everything that reminded him of her within a week" (20:25). Despite these red flags, Phil provided a solid alibi, claiming he was fishing that night, which was corroborated by his friends.

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Quentin Barnes: The Breakthrough

Detective Huff persisted in uncovering fresh leads. Three months after the murder, a significant break emerged when girls reported seeing a man matching Quentin Barnes' description near the crime scene (22:26). Initially dismissed due to lack of violent criminal history, further forensic analysis linked Quentin to the murder. Detective Huff detailed, "There were now three different ways that tied Quentin Barnes to the scene that night forensically" (28:56).

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Renewed Forensic Investigations

Upon returning to the case in June 1991, Detective Huff requested a more thorough forensic examination of the evidence. Contrary to earlier results, the new analysis confirmed that hair found on Jinora matched Quentin’s (28:07). Additionally, fibers from a light blue jean jacket found in Quentin’s closet matched Jinora’s robe and were found under her fingernails, suggesting a struggle (28:34).

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Arrest and Interrogation

With mounting evidence, Quentin Barnes was arrested. During his interrogation, Barnes admitted to being present at the scene but vehemently denied murdering his sister, instead blaming their other sister, Victoria Barnes. Detective Huff confronted him, saying, "If you didn't have sex with that woman, how did sperm get in her throat?" (36:30), exposing inconsistencies in Barnes’ story.

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Trial and Conviction

The trial was intense, hinging on forensic evidence and Barnes' implausible testimony. Prosecutor Doug Horn emphasized the fiber evidence and Barnes' attempt to shift blame. Despite the death penalty being sought, the jury recommended life without parole. Shortly after the verdict, Quentin Barnes took his own life in custody, bringing a sense of closure to the devastated family (39:40).

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Aftermath and Reflections

Jinora’s family expressed profound relief and sorrow. Glenda shared, "When Victoria told her story, then that. That nailed him" (38:44), while Troy reflected on the lasting impact, "My mother's murder, it has formed a lot of my life" (39:59). Detective Huff expressed satisfaction in solving a case that had haunted him for years, despite the personal challenges he faced during the investigation.

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Conclusion

"Death of a Baseball Mom" underscores the relentless pursuit of justice in cold cases. Through meticulous investigation and unwavering dedication, Detective Mike Huff and the Stevens family navigated years of uncertainty to ultimately find closure. This episode not only highlights the complexities of criminal investigations but also the enduring strength of a family seeking answers.

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Key Quotes:

• Troy Stevens (01:24): "I'd just been asked if I'd killed my mother. I was frantic and I was screaming."
• Glenda McCrae (12:41): "The police were in the very beginning checking out Troy if he was on drugs, if he was an alcoholic."
• Detective Mike Huff (28:56): "There were now three different ways that tied Quentin Barnes to the scene that night forensically."
• Detective Mike Huff (36:30): "If you didn't have sex with that woman, how did sperm get in her throat?"

---

Timestamp Reference

For ease of navigation, notable quotes are linked to their respective timestamps within the podcast transcript.

Transcript

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[Marissa Pinson]

I'm Marissa Pinson, and if you're enjoying.

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[Marissa Pinson]

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[Troy Stevens]

The way I would describe My mother is very beautiful, very loving. Everything a mother is supposed to be.

[Glenda McCrae]

J'nour and I had this bond. She was very protective of me, which is funny because she was the younger sister.

[Troy Stevens]

I'd just been asked if I'd killed my mother. I was frantic and I was screaming.

[Doug Horn]

Jinora was stabbed almost 30 times.

[Detective Mike Huff]

But the crime scene left a lot of questions. No evidence, no leads. So many twists and turns.

[Glenda McCrae]

Jinora was very good at covering things up. You drive yourself crazy thinking up all these things that could have happened. It never leaves your mind.

[Marissa Pinson]

There are over 100,000 cold cases in America. Only about 1% are ever solved. This is one of those rare stories. It's May 12, 1987, in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

[Glenda McCrae]

Jinora was a sweetheart. She was funny and witty, just like our dad. She was very athletic. She used to speed skate and played softball. She was good at everything she did.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenda McCrae and her sister, Jinora Stevens are more like best friends than siblings.

[Glenda McCrae]

It was like, you know, you've heard of soul sisters. That's how we were. We'd talk on the phone, plus have lunch every day. And she was a talker like I am. She told me everything and I told her everything.

[Marissa Pinson]

Troy Stevens is Jinora Stevens, son.

[Troy Stevens]

My mom was fantastic. She was my best friend growing up because I didn't have brothers or sisters. My mother and I did a lot together. She was the quintessential baseball mom for sure.

[Marissa Pinson]

Kerry Montgomery is Jinora Stevens niece.

[Carrie Montgomery]

Troy was a little ornery, fun. He Loved sports and he spent a lot of time at the ballpark. He was a very good. He was a good ball player.

[Troy Stevens]

She was at every practice, every game. My father coached the team. But my mother was the glue and she was my biggest fan.

[Glenda McCrae]

She was super involved. Troy was kind of her whole life, to be honest with you. He really was. On May 12, 1987, Jenora and I did not have lunch because she said she was going to have lunch with her husband, Phil, because her husband and my husband were going to go fishing that evening.

[Marissa Pinson]

As their husbands will be at the lake, the sisters make plans of their own.

[Glenda McCrae]

That day, me and Carrie went to Jenora's house because we were all going to go shopping for a prom dress for my daughter Kerry. Later that week, there was a prom at the private school that Troy and my daughter Carrie attended.

[Carrie Montgomery]

When me and my mother arrived, Troy and Jinora were arguing.

[Glenda McCrae]

Troy had gone to have his hair cut that day. He was due to have his pictures taken for school before the prom. And she wanted his hair to be longer. And because of that, Gennara was furious.

[Carrie Montgomery]

They were loud, you know, yelling at each other, going back and forth. And so me and my mother stepped into the bathroom and shut the door and we were kind of overwhelmed by that. I don't think it was very unusual for them to argue like that, but at the intensity that they were arguing, it was pretty high.

[Troy Stevens]

She and I had words. It was a little more out of hand than it should be.

[Marissa Pinson]

The blow up continues until Troy has to leave to go to a defensive driving class.

[Troy Stevens]

I had gotten my first car and I got into a little fender bender and I had to do that to keep my insurance clear. The last words that I heard from my mother were, I love him and we'll talk when we get home.

[Glenda McCrae]

We spent all evening looking for a prom dress. And we got back to Jenora's house and she got out of the car and went to the back door and she came through the house and went to the front door and opened the door and stepped out on the step and waved by to me. And I thought, good, she's okay. So I went home. I would never have guessed that would be the last time I'd ever see her. And still to this day, I can't believe it, you know.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenda and Carrie head for home. Troy Stevens arrives back at his mother's house half an hour later.

[Troy Stevens]

I got home after school about 10 o'clock. When I walked into the house that night, from the doorway I could see her laying in the floor. The closer I got, the more vivid it became. I saw my mother just brutally, brutally, brutally, just butchered. I don't know how else to put that. There are certain things we're just not meant to see. I remember physically going into shock. Strangest thing. But from the shins up, I remember that. I just remember that feeling in my body. I was pretty frantic and I was screaming. I wasn't trying to piece together what had happened. I just knew that my mother was gone. I backed up into the kitchen to go use the phone and got an ambulance on the way.

[Marissa Pinson]

Next, Troy calls his Aunt Glenda's house.

[Carrie Montgomery]

I was on the phone talking to my boyfriend. And on the other line, I got a beep in, and it was my cousin Troy. And he was yelling.

[Glenda McCrae]

He.

[Carrie Montgomery]

He was screaming, I need to talk to Aunt Glenda.

[Glenda McCrae]

And he said to me, aunt Glenda, you better come quick. Mama's on the floor. I said, honey, she's probably fainted, because we do that a lot in our family. I said, okay, honey, I'll be right there. Because I could tell he was scared.

[Troy Stevens]

I sat next to my mother while I was waiting on the police. And then I remember the sirens, all the emergency personnel showing up.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jim Clark is a patrol officer with the Tulsa Police Department.

[Officer Jim Clark]

We were the first car there. So we got out of our car, walked up and approached that front door. And we remained quiet so we could listen and see if we could hear a fight or a disturbance inside. I remember it was very quiet. We knocked, Nobody answered. I pushed the door open. And it was then I could see from the porch all the way back to the den, Jennora leaning against a wall in a somewhat seated position. She was wearing her night clothes. She appeared to have sustained multiple wounds. You could tell that there had been a tremendous struggle. It was an extremely vicious attack. It was probably one of the worst crime scenes I had ever seen. Someone had attacked her with such aggression that she was almost decapitated.

[Glenda McCrae]

Carrie and I started driving to Jenora's house. And as we turned the corner, about halfway down the street, I saw lights. I could see the yellow tape and a truck in the driveway.

[Carrie Montgomery]

My cousin Troy was sitting on the curb, and he had a bat, a baseball bat, aluminum bat laying, like, next to him.

[Glenda McCrae]

His hands were on his head and he was going like this, and he was shaking. And the first thought that came to my mind was, oh, my God, did they get in another fight? And I went over and hugged him because I just thought, oh, my God, you know what? In the world happened.

[Troy Stevens]

My mother was dead on the floor in a pool of blood. I didn't know how to rationalize what was happening. I didn't understand it.

[Officer Jim Clark]

I think that when the young man saw what he saw, I think it just overwhelmed his senses, and he just seemed like he was very confused and disoriented to me.

[Marissa Pinson]

After talking to Troy, patrol officer Clark secures the scene and waits for homicide detective Mike Huff to arrive.

[Detective Mike Huff]

On that night in May, it was a normal night, although it was a little humid, which actually played a factor into this investigation later on. I didn't know what I was walking into. Jenora was lying on the floor of the kitchen wearing a maroon house robe. There was a large amount of blood. The TV was on in the adjoining family room. There was a kitchen and a bar, and it looked like the incident happened there. There were some broken pieces of a large knife, which indicates that knife hit something hard and it broke. So that struck me as really brutal, a lot of force. This knife looked like it came from a kitchen drawer. So maybe this wasn't a premeditated murder. On the hallway wall to the left, there was a couple large blood smears, which indicated to me that the victim came in contact with that wall, probably trying to get out the door.

[Troy Stevens]

She almost got out. Do you know how many times I've thought about, well, what if she had? She's that far away. Breaks my heart.

[Marissa Pinson]

Detective Huff searches the home looking for a motive or any clues as to what happened.

[Detective Mike Huff]

The residence didn't appear to be ransacked. It wasn't missing articles of expensive, you know, nice televisions, a stereo. There was even $1,000 cash. So I didn't think that a burglary or robbery had occurred. The crime scene left a lot of questions. There was a fingerprint technician that went through the house. I don't recall that he got any prints that were valuable enough to be compared, but there were numerous strands of hair which appeared to be the victims.

[Marissa Pinson]

Next, hough focuses on investigating those closest to Jinora, starting with her son Troy.

[Detective Mike Huff]

There were circumstances where it made you think that Troy could be a suspect. There was no signs of forced entry. He had an argument with his mother that night, and he left. And it wasn't on the best of terms.

[Glenda McCrae]

The police were in the very beginning checking out Troy if he was on drugs, if he was an alcoholic, and all that kind of stuff. Understandably so, because we even questioned it as the family for a while.

[Marissa Pinson]

Glenda can't help thinking about that phone call from Troy on The night of.

[Glenda McCrae]

Her sister's murder, he never said one word about, oh, my God, there's blood everywhere. I mean, that's the first thing that would have come out of my mouth. And I always wondered why. You know, I thought maybe he knows more than he's telling me.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I spoke with Troy for quite a while. Troy was upset.

[Troy Stevens]

I'd just been asked if I'd killed my mother. What in the hell are you talking about? Did I kill my mother? I believe anyone would immediately take offense to that, especially an irrational kid that just found his mother murdered like a farm animal.

[Detective Mike Huff]

That's just part of the job. You have to sometimes be the bad guy. You have to sometimes kind of test those limits to see what the response is. But we saw Troy very soon after the discovery, and his reactions were consistent with somebody just discovering a tragedy. So I didn't come away thinking he was a viable suspect. About, I'm wanting to say, one or two in the morning, Phil, the husband, arrived home. I spoke to him and found out that he had come home from a fishing trip. Phil's demeanor was demanding answers. What happened to my wife? But I don't recall Phil being very candid about their relationship.

[Glenda McCrae]

If you just met Phil on the street, he was a nice enough guy. He was a nice looking guy. He had been a marine. So I always respected him for that. I acted like I liked him because of Genora, but I didn't like him now. Never liked him. He was a shyster.

[Carrie Montgomery]

Phil was my uncle and a real strict father to Troy. Very controlling, very intimidating. When I went over to their house, I would always ask my cousin, will you go get me a drink? Because I really was kind of scared of him.

[Glenda McCrae]

Jinora was very good at covering things up and being loyal to her husband. But you could tell because she'd have bruises. And, you know, I encouraged her, to be honest with you, to leave him. Like most battered wives, they don't do it.

[Marissa Pinson]

Jinora's sister Glenda, has good reason for suspecting Phil.

[Glenda McCrae]

The night that we went shopping, she said to me, linda, if anything ever happens to me, will you promise me that you will never let Troy live with Phil's mother? And I said, of course. You don't have to worry about him. If anything ever happened to you, but it's not going to. When you look back at it, you're like, oh, my God. She said that to me. You know, was there something to be afraid of? It haunts me.

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[Marissa Pinson]

Doug Horn is a Tulsa county assistant district attorney.

[Doug Horn]

The autopsy showed that Gennora was stabbed almost 30 times. It was all over her body. Her neck was cut open in a huge gash.

[Detective Mike Huff]

And what it tells me is that there's a lot of anger, a lot of rage, a lot of very personal.

[Doug Horn]

There were traces of semen that were found on her body that show she was sexually assaulted sometime during this intrusion.

[Detective Mike Huff]

This was before DNA. It's not going to lead you to an exact person.

[Doug Horn]

And she had severe gashes in her fingers and her hands where you can tell that she had tried to deflect the knife.

[Glenda McCrae]

She was feisty and she was a biter. And I can't help but think that she was scared to death. And just that in itself, it was the most horrible thought that she was that scared. And I know she was.

[Marissa Pinson]

With no new leads from forensics, suspicion shifts back to Jinora's husband.

[Glenda McCrae]

I did think Phil was capable of murdering my sister. Yes, I did. I suspected Phil because he acted so remorseful. About a week or so after her funeral, Phil said that he wanted to go and get her clothes and pack them. And so I went with him because, you know, I felt sorry for him. And Phil sat in the floor and opened the drawer of the dresser and took her lingerie out and smelled it. It was weird. And then he literally just got rid of everything that reminded him of her in a week. Didn't even ask any of us if we wanted anything of hers. Phil ended up marrying a girl that he went to high school with three and a half months or so after Jenora was buried. And Jenora and I both knew he was seeing her before, and so that was even harder. It just made me hate him that much more.

[Detective Mike Huff]

We did take a set of fingerprints to see if they matched anything in the blood, because it's his house. His fingerprints will be there. But if there was a print in the blood, that would be a big deal. And there weren't. There was no evidence, no leads?

[Marissa Pinson]

No.

[Detective Mike Huff]

Phil had an alibi that he was fishing. That alibi checked out. We just got past him as a suspect. Having a bad marriage doesn't automatically make you a killer.

[Marissa Pinson]

Almost convinced that Phil has nothing to do with Jinora's murder, Huff falls back on old fashioned police work, looking for fresh leads.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I spent a lot of time just sitting in the neighborhood, Just watching what was going on, Just getting an idea of what this neighborhood was like.

[Marissa Pinson]

Three months after the murder, Hoff's patience pays off.

[Detective Mike Huff]

In early August, I saw a couple girls sitting in a car down the block smoking marijuana. And I asked them, do you remember when that lady got murdered? And they said, oh, yeah, that night. We were sitting down here, and this guy came walking up to our car, Asked us to give him a ride somewhere. They said for some reason, he had on a light blue jean jacket and it was buttoned all the way up. And that was very odd because it was so warm and humid. They saw some scratches and marks on his neck that made them think he'd been into a fight. And this really interested me. Hey, we're onto something. We've got a path here, so let's go with it. They told me the guy's name was quentin barnes.

[Doug Horn]

Quentin barnes was a teenager. He had some background in some minor crimes, either drugs or property crimes, but no crimes of violence that we knew at that time. He was living on and off next door to jinora stevens. His sister, Victoria barnes, lived in the house next door, and he would stay some time with her and her boyfriend.

[Marissa Pinson]

Huff checks the sister's address. Quentin barnes is not there.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I did speak to Victoria barnes about her brother, and she was not uncooperative, but she had no information that was helpful that she would share with me.

[Doug Horn]

She defended her brother and said that there's no way that he could have been involved in such a horrific or brutal crime.

[Detective Mike Huff]

Ultimately, I figured out where Quentin was staying, and I put together an affidavit for a search warrant to search for any evidence specifically for a jean jacket. I found an unkept apartment, and I went into a closet, and there was a light blue jean jacket laying on the floor. I was so excited. Now here I am on the right track. When the jacket was analyzed, they found a hair that was brown. It was dyed, as was Jenora's hair. It was the same color. So I'm thinking, wow, this is good. I potentially have big evidence.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now, November 1987, six months after J'Nora Stevens is murdered, detectives send the hair for testing to try and prove for certain that it matches Jenora Stevens.

[Doug Horn]

But the analysis of the hair came back that it was not Jinora's hair. It wasn't Quentin Barnes either.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I wasn't happy with the process. I just felt that I didn't have people that really were up to date on the science.

[Marissa Pinson]

Despite the test results, Detective Huff's gut tells him Quentin Barnes is somehow involved in Jenora Stevens murder.

[Detective Mike Huff]

So I go talk to Quentin, and he denied and denied, saying he was never in the house, didn't have anything to do with it. Just look in his face and his tone of voice. I'm thinking, this guy's a ticking time bomb. And I was really getting upset with myself and not getting everything that we needed. You know, you get frustrated, but you try not to let it bother you. And then I got promoted, and you have to go back to a uniform division for at least a year to learn how to be a supervisor. So I was away from investigations, and at the same time, I'm going through a really ugly divorce. Okay? That kind of threw me for a loop. You know, it really stalled things a bit. These cases do affect your home life. I was always on call. I had a couple sleeping bags at my office, and so a lot of times, my kids had to go to sleep at the police station. There is a balance that I didn't find.

[Marissa Pinson]

With Hough off the homicide beat, the case of the murdered mother goes cold.

[Glenda McCrae]

It got cold. It got really cold. And for a while, we were thinking, no, they're never going to solve it.

[Marissa Pinson]

You.

[Glenda McCrae]

You drive yourself crazy thinking up all these things that could have happened, and you get so frustrated. Everyone has their own ideas of what happened, of who was involved and who the killer is. It never leaves your mind.

[Marissa Pinson]

It's now June 1991, four years after Jenora's murder. After Mike Hough completes his supervisor training, he's promoted to head up Tulsa PD's Homicide Unit and picks up where he left off on Jinora's murder.

[Detective Mike Huff]

When I first got back, I kind of assessed where we were, you know, where the hair evidence was, what its status was.

[Marissa Pinson]

Hough had never been happy with the first analysis of the hair found on Quentin Barnes jacket, so he requests a closer forensic examination.

[Doug Horn]

The jean jacket was sent for forensic analysis. At that point in time, the Tulsa Police Department lab had hired a forensic analyst who had previously worked for the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation. And it completely overruled the first hair analysis. Yes, there is a match on the hair. Jinorah's hair was on the jacket.

[Marissa Pinson]

And there's more damning evidence on Quentin Barnes.

[Doug Horn]

Jacket fibers were found that matched the robe that Jinora Stevens was wearing when she died. And blue fibers were found under her fingernails that matched the type of fibers that were in the jean jacket that was in Quentin Barnes closet. And it would be consistent with clawing at her attacker.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I mean, this is telling a story. It was coming together. All I needed was a final piece of evidence.

[Doug Horn]

There were now three different ways that tied Quentin Barnes to the scene that night forensically. The hair, the robe fibers, and the jean jacket under her fingernails. That forensic evidence was huge.

[Detective Mike Huff]

This case is coming together piece by piece.

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[Detective Mike Huff]

Now she was more open to telling me some more facts. She said that Quinton made comments to her admitting guilt that he killed her and will never find the knife.

[Doug Horn]

It was a huge break in the.

[Detective Mike Huff]

Case, so I convinced the DA to file the charges, to issue an arrest warrant. And I told him our best bet is to me to talk to Quinton when he's in custody.

[Doug Horn]

The determination was made that we're going to charge this case. We believe we have a strong enough case to convict him with what we have now, and we think the time to go forward is right now. Quentin Barnes, at this point in time, years after 1987, was now married, had a good job, was, if you would, an outstanding member of the community.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I found him at his home. He opened the door. I said, quinton, we need to go. He goes, mike, you know I didn't kill that woman. I said, quinten, you're under arrest for murder.

[Glenda McCrae]

Never had heard of him, ever. I never had even heard that name, period. Quentin. We were elated just that someone had been arrested. Just happy that it was going to be solved.

[Doug Horn]

Mike brought Quentin Barnes down to the police station and had a video set up to video record the statement that Quentin Barnes was going to give at the time. That was unique.

[Quentin Barnes]

You have the right to remain silent. You don't have to answer any questions or make any statement. You understand that, right? Just. I know it's tough, Quentin, but it's important that you get this straight. Remember, in as detail as you can. Oh, boy. I need to hear what happened. Quentin.

[Detective Mike Huff]

He was initially a bit confused, you know, why now? Why didn't we do this six years ago or whatever? But he was nervous.

[Quentin Barnes]

I was living with my sister, just kind of hit and missing, doing drugs. What kind of drugs were you doing?

[Detective Mike Huff]

Cooking?

[Quentin Barnes]

Were you Stalin to school? What you're having occasionally.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barnes admits to breaking into Genora's house on that night back in May 1987.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I got him to draw the interior of the house on a chalkboard.

[Quentin Barnes]

It tastes like we waited out here back in. It was. There's a little range here of my bed.

[Detective Mike Huff]

And it was good. I mean, if I hadn't been in that house, I wouldn't have known that it was so accurate.

[Doug Horn]

So Quinton Barnes admitted to being there, but being there with his sister, I.

[Quentin Barnes]

Don'T know what she was going to get. She just said we was going to try to get some drug money.

[Troy Stevens]

And you said Victoria wanted you to.

[Quentin Barnes]

Go with her so you could watch. Just for. To watch and see if somebody came home or not. I wasn't in there that long. You said in there for three minutes. I seen my sister pick up the knife after they started wrestling around.

[Doug Horn]

He pointed the finger at his sister entirely.

[Quentin Barnes]

I did not kill her. My sister did. You're saying that you saw your sister Victoria stab J'nora Steven and you didn't do anything to go help the lady? And out of all the times that I've talked to you the past seven years, you've not once told me this story.

[Detective Mike Huff]

He was just grasping at straws. To try to blame the sister. Just didn't work.

[Quentin Barnes]

She always told me that she would try to try to tell him that I tell everybody that I did it, that I was there, that I stabbed her. I did not stab her. She stabbed her.

[Doug Horn]

But Victoria Barnes had an alibi because she and her husband were at a bar, the hours during the murder.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I saw Victoria drive down the street and come home, probably about 11:30 or 12:00 midnight that night. And we were able to go back to the bar. They knew her. They knew her husband. They said, oh, yeah, she's here all evening, so she's out of it. Plus the fact that there's sperm in Genora's throat, there's no way you can shift that blame to Victoria.

[Quentin Barnes]

Did you have sex with that woman?

[Detective Mike Huff]

No, I did not.

[Quentin Barnes]

I want you to look me in the eye and I want you to tell me, did you sexually touch that woman that night? No, I did not mind.

[Detective Mike Huff]

We were walking down the hall to get booked into jail. I said, quentin, if you didn't have sex with her, how did sperm get in her throat? And he says, my sister's bisexual. And I said, you're crazy. Holy cow. That was really stupid, you know, he just dug himself a deeper hole.

[Marissa Pinson]

Barnes never quite confesses to the murder on videotape, but his story is so implausible, prosecutors are confident of a conviction.

[Doug Horn]

The trial was tense because it was a death penalty case. So there's a tremendous amount of emotion. It's just the stakes are the ultimate.

[Glenda McCrae]

After seven and a half years, the thing that was the most shocking to me was walking in and him looking at me, staring at me, and I just stared a hole through him the whole time. I just stared a hole through him.

[Doug Horn]

The picture I painted for the jury is that Quentin barnes went to that house to do a burglary, but there was a confrontation where he was discovered in the house and ended up stabbing her 30 times. That video is extremely powerful as a jury. They want to see the reaction, the body language, how their eyes are darting in and out. Did they hesitate? But it wasn't the end of the case, because it was he said, she said. How will the jury take a he said, she said, finger pointing between a brother and sister that were now, if you would, estranged. We had to build those pieces to exclude Victoria and then use that forensic evidence that we had that clearly focused on Quentin Barnes as being the killer. I put a tremendous amount of stock in the blue fibers that were found from his jean jacket, and the fingernail fibers show he was the one being clawed at. It wasn't that he was just in a back room while his sister was doing all this work.

[Glenda McCrae]

When Victoria told her story, then that. That nailed him.

[Doug Horn]

Quinn Barnes was found guilty of first degree murder.

[Troy Stevens]

The day they read the verdict, it was a whole new set of emotions. Because it had been as long as it had been.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I felt so satisfied. You know, it's a big portion of my life. It was like seven years, and that was a hard seven years.

[Glenda McCrae]

We were all just crying to ourselves and hugging each other and everything, and it just felt wonderful. We were like, finally, finally, you know, this has come to an end.

[Doug Horn]

The jury came back with a recommendation of life without parole. There was a strong sentiment in the room that death was an appropriate punishment in this case, but you need 12. And there was somebody in the room that was not willing to make that step.

[Marissa Pinson]

In the end, Quentin Barnes takes that final step by himself.

[Doug Horn]

A couple days after trial, Quentin barnes took his own life by overdosing on pills in the Tulsa county jail. Ultimately, we were asking for the death penalty, and we got it.

[Troy Stevens]

Quentin Barnes, he got what he deserved.

[Glenda McCrae]

Divine intervention. That's exactly how I felt. That was his admission right there.

[Troy Stevens]

My mother's murder, it has formed a lot of my life. It's made me a very cautious person. I've tried over the years to keep this in perspective. It became about life now and not about life without a mom.

[Glenda McCrae]

I loved her so much. I just. I can't even tell you how much and how special she was to me. When she was murdered, it was just like I lost my right arm. She was just my baby sister.

[Troy Stevens]

I don't like to think of that night. I don't like to think of her that way. My mom was something else. I miss her. I miss what I remember of her.

[Glenda McCrae]

Pluto TV is a place for movie fans like me and TV fans like me.

[Marissa Pinson]

They've got something for everyone and it's free.

[Detective Mike Huff]

I love free.

[Marissa Pinson]

And I love Jersey Shore.

[Glenda McCrae]

For me it's the Godfather, SpongeBob SquarePants. I am Patrick.

[Marissa Pinson]

Patrick is me.

[Glenda McCrae]

Oh, Forrest Gump.

[Marissa Pinson]

Come on, Criminal Minds Solving crime after.

[Glenda McCrae]

Bedtime, whatever you love to watch. Pluto TV makes it easy with thousands of free movies and shows. Pluto TV Stream now pay Never Most.

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