Barbara Knight a woman who fell victim to an unlikely killer... but who was it?
Keep reading to find out what twisty tale I have to share.
So, kick back with a cup of coffee, and safely self-isolate as I warble on about this suspenseful murder…
The evening of the crime: To set the scene, Barbara was in the kitchen cooking her family's dinner. It was a little past 6 in the evening and her family wasn't home yet. The neighborhood was full of life with children playing and dogs walking. Dinner was soon to be served all throughout the houses but where was her family? What would be a normal routine night for some was certainly not in the cards for her that night. Her phone soon began to ring which brought her to her bedroom where a surprise was waiting.
The crime scene:This scene was particularly brutal for the police to investigate. The victim, 35- year- old Barbara Knight was found stabbed to death in her bedroom. She had defensive markings on her arms and traces of skin found underneath her nails. There was droplets of blood leading to the kitchen with a butcher knife covered in blood resting on the counter. The sliding glass door appeared to have been broken into and glass was shattered everywhere. And right in front of the body were bloody footprints. There clearly had been a struggle.
The evidence found at the scene:Main Evidence:
1. Victim's body
2. Knife (found in kitchen counter)
3. Broken sliding glass door
4. Blood Pool around victim
5. Blood Drops
Trace Evidence found
1. Bloody Footprints
2. Skin Particles (found under victims nails)
3. Hair (found on the floor and around victim)
4. Fibers (found on victims shirt)
5. Finger prints (found on and around glass door frame and glass pieces)
The possible suspects:1. Husband, Gary, found out the day of the murder that his wife, Barbara, was filing for a divorce and moving out of their house. She had been seeing another man and wished to go have a new life with him and she wanted to take the kids with her. This was a shock for him and a stab to the heart. They had been married for more than 15 years and she was just walking out on him. He wasn’t going to just let her walk away from everything and ruin their lives, especially their children’s lives. She was a monster for what she had done to him.
2. Derek, the oldest son of Gary and Barbara, was enraged when he found out what his mother had done. She cheated on her own husband- his dad. Then she wanted to take him and his siblings away from their dad… NO WAY! He was not going to have that, no matter what he had to do, he would protect his brothers.
3. Jarett, the older brother of Gary, found out about Barbara’s affair and threatened her about it. He knew she was up to no good and said if she didn’t tell Gary then he would take matters into his own hands. He never trusted Barbara and certainly didn’t trust her after their wedding. He was not a big fan of her and would do whatever he had to do to get Gary and his children away from her and her problems.
4. The police also had to look into a possible burglary gone wrong. The sliding glass door was broken and there was traces of a fight and someone leaving afterward. BUT nothing in the home was reported missing and the police found no evidence of anything moved around in the residence.
So, who do you think did it?? The husband out of anger and need for revenge or the enraged son or brother-in-law. Or can it all be just a coincidence with a burglary gone wrong. All had possible motives and the means to commit murder.
If you guessed the husband… You couldn’t be more right! He just couldn’t get over the fact that she betrayed his trust and their marriage. Not to mention that she wanted to take the kids. It just wasn’t going to happen. Obviously when it came to contemplating divorce there wasn’t much room for acceptance. He thought “Divorce? No. Murder? Yes.” was his only option.
· Unfortunately, from researching this projects I found out divorces are rarely as amicable as spouses desire, but at least most spouses are able to limit their aggression to verbal outbursts in court. Sadly, for some spouses, divorce is more than a battle over property or child custody; it is, quite literally, a life-or-death situation. It is far from unheard of for spouses to lash out upon learning of their impending separation. Sometimes, the consequences are deadly. And in this case Barbara lost her life to the would be battle of divorce.
Following News headline:Tampa, Fla.- A Tampa man was sentenced Tuesday to nearly 37 years in prison for fatally stabbing his wife during an argument that came hours after she told him she wanted a divorce and packed her bags. Gary Knight, 40, pleaded guilty in April to intentional second-degree murder in the slaying of 35-year-old Barbara Knight; the defendant admitted to stabbing his wife after a verbal altercation turned physical at the couple’s home June 2. According to court documents, Barbara Knight informed her husband earlier that day that she wanted a divorce and wished to take full custody of their children.
Trace Evidence meaning: At the crime-scene, tiny fragments of physical evidence such as hairs, fibers from clothes or carpets can help tell the story of what happened. Those items can be referred to as trace evidence. Trace evidence can be transferred when two objects touch or when small particles are disbursed by an action or movement. For example, paint can be transferred from one car to another in a collision or a hair can be left on a sweater in a physical assault. This evidence can be used to indicate that a person or thing was present. It can also help in reconstruction of crime scene. Trace evidence can be things such as; Fibers, hair, soil, wood, gunshot residue and pollen. These are a few examples of trace evidence that may be transferred between people or objects at a time of crime.
Importance of Trace Evidence at the Crime Scene: When the investigators first began investigating the crime scene they were able to collect different pieces of evidence. Among the evidence collected at the scene was trace evidence. Although little and may seem irrelevant, trace evidence is extremely important. The skin particles found under the victim's nails can confirm the identity of the suspect if he is in the police database. The hair collected from around the crime scene can be compared to the victim and the suspects to help limit them down to who could possibly have been there. In this case, the husband lived in the house, so of course, his hair was found around the scene. But it also can show that other people like a random burglary may not have happened because there is no trace of them there. The finger prints found on the glass pieces of the sliding glass door and around the frame can be traced back to whoever broke it and entered through the door. Here the husband could be identified because he obviously touched it and not any other people like the suspected burglar. The police when given enough evidence can get a court order to get the prints of a suspect which they can then compare to those found. Then lastly the fibers found on the victim's shirt can be used to trace back to the shirt the suspect wore the day of the evidence. If at this point the police were thinking the husband was looking more guilty, they could then investigate the home more and find the shirt the husband was wearing. If the shirt was found that could be a perfect piece of evidence connecting the husband because they have fibers connecting the two. All of these pieces of trace evidence seem little but they are very important. This evidence pairs along side the other pieces of evidence found and help to correctly identify the killer and punish them.
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