Murdered on September 16, 2020, and her Will Jackson Road home burned to the ground, more details surrounding Thelma “Ileen” Barnett’s untimely death came to light Friday — following an evidentiary bond hearing in Trigg County Circuit Court for alleged perpetrator Jonathan McCoy.
Incarcerated under a $2 million bond and potentially facing life imprisonment or the death penalty if convicted, McCoy’s defense team — comprised of Wesley Boyarski, Christy Hiance and Rick Lawniczak — spent more than an hour cross-examining Kentucky State Police Detective and investigator Brian Hill, McCoy’s wife, Amanda, and McCoy’s mother, Theresa Hoover.
The goal, Boyarski argued, was to request bond reduction to $50,000 unsecured, place McCoy under ankle monitor, and then release him either into parental custody or a reformative long-term recovery program while awaiting trial.
Through intense questioning, Boyarski tried to prove a bond set more than two years ago was “beyond excessive” for her “innocent” client, and that another pair of repeat local criminals — Allison Hunter and John Jones — not only had intimate details of Barnett’s death, but should instead be charged.
Over the course of a few months, Hill conducted five interviews with Hunter specifically, coming away with different bits of information.
Repeatedly, and often vehemently, Commonwealth’s Attorney Carrie Ovey-Wiggins objected to Boyarski’s efforts — namely because she felt as if the hearing seemed to shift ever closer to a trial without a jury.
Boyarski repeatedly countered, however, that she was trying to prove that McCoy had been complying with all court appearances and investigation, was indigent and unable to afford anything more than public defense, could not be connected to the crime scene through forensic evidence, and was being heavily punished because he “happened to be one of many on Reddick Pond Road” during the time of Barnett’s death.
In the hours after the arson, County Corner John Mark Vinson turned her body over to state medical examiners, where it was determined she had been bound before passing.
Hill said this prompted KSP to open a homicide investigation, and at the beginning, “it wasn’t clear” who had been involved.
Hill added that in a soon-after separate investigation through Lyon County, Sheriff Brent White had conducted a forensic download of McCoy’s phone — which pinged more than 10,000 GPS points that September 16, many of them in and around Barnett’s residence.
His phone, Hill said, provided numerous details about “day-of” communications, many of them with Hunter — who admitted to spending time with McCoy that day, and planning a burglary of Barnett with him. Also according to Hill through Hunter, McCoy admitted to “killing an old lady,” and that he’d have to return to the residence “for his sunglasses” before torching the property.
McCoy is the only one currently charged with murder at this time, Boyarski pointed out, with Stewart and Hunter under lesser related offenses in the crime. But Boyarski alleges Hunter has simply spent these last two-plus years covering for Jones.
Five pieces of evidence — a piece of hair, a cigarette butt, an electrical cord, a dime and Barnett’s fingernails — either came back with inconclusive DNA swabs, or excluding of McCoy’s signature.
A sixth piece of evidence, regarding the use of gasoline for the house, also wasn’t clear.
Furthermore, Boyarski drew out that Hunter and Jones “lived in a tent” nearish to Barnett’s home at the time of the crime, and that Hill had detailed in his report a “suspicious” color change of the Hunter/Jones car from maroon to a painted black soon after Barnett’s murder.
Ovey-Wiggins noted that, in determining appropriate bond, a said bond must be “commensurate” with the gravity of the charges. The stakes, she added, were too high to lower the measures — even with a wife and mother each testifying they would be willing to take his upcoming court responsibilities in their folds.
McCoy, she said, has four prior felonies dating back to his juvenile years — having spent 25 of his 45 years behind bars, beginning with two counts of kidnapping in Marshall County while living in a brief stint with his uncle. This makes him a “bigger flight risk,” she noted, because he has “nothing to lose” when facing life in jail or death by the state.
She also argued, through testimony from Hill, that any accelerant used in the home arson would burn off and likely be undetectable.
Circuit Court Judge Jamus Redd said he would make a ruling on the bond motion at a later date, and set another pretrial conference for 9 AM April 12 involving both McCoy and Stewart — whose Friday appearance was brief.
Redd also entered that the acquisition of Trigg-Lyon County Fire Department records had been completed.
McCoy and Stewart are set for trial this July.
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