Barrett’s conviction shifts focus now to Trimble case

Roger Des Prez stood before the Nashville media Friday fighting back tears as he thanked Metro Police and the Davidson County District Attorney’s office for bringing closure to the 1975 murder of his sister, Sarah “Sally” Des Prez.

Jerome Barrett, the man accused of killing Des Prez, was found guilty of first-degree murder by a Chattanooga jury early Friday afternoon and was sentenced to ‘life’ in the state penitentiary by Criminal Court Judge Steve Dozier.

The Des Prez family attended Barrett’s trial throughout the week, but declined to speak with media until after the verdict was issued. Roger Des Prez, a physician from Tulsa, said justice was finally served.

“My family and I would like to thank the District Attorney’s office and the Metro Police Department for their hard and careful work in this case,” a tearful Des Prez said, with his family standing behind him. “We think it’s a credit to all involved that this case was successfully prosecuted after so many years. We feel that justice has been served.”

It was Roger, along with his father, who found Sally’s body badly beaten and half-naked inside of her 20th Avenue South apartment on Feb. 2, 1975. The killing of the Vanderbilt University student went unsolved until 2007, when a DNA break in the case tied Barrett to the crime.

Throughout the trial, Barrett showed no emotion during key testimony or when graphic photos of Des Prez’s body at the crime scene were shown to the jury. He again showed no emotion when the guilty verdict was read Friday.

DNA evidence recovered at the crime scene 34 years ago was re-examined by investigators in 2007. Advances in DNA technology allowed the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation to test semen stains found on Des Prez’s bedding and blouse.

The DNA was linked to Barrett at a probability greater than the world’s population, according to TBI DNA expert Chad Johnson. Barrett’s DNA was also found under Des Prez’s fingernails.

“Obviously we were happy with the verdict,” Deputy Attorney General Tom Thurman said. “We felt it was justice after 34 years. We’re really happy for the family, after all this time, they’ve been through so much. They came together during this trial. It’s so hard to go back and re-open all those wounds after 34 years.”

The focus will be on Barrett again when he is due back in court for another infamous 1975 murder — that of 9-year-old Marcia Trimble, who was last season delivering Girl Scout cookies in her Green Hills neighborhood.

DNA evidence has allegedly linked Barrett to that crime as well. The trial is scheduled to begin on July 13.

Barrett was convicted in 1976 of rape and served 26 years in prison for that crime. He was out for five years before Metro Police cold case detectives tested his DNA to see if it matched evidence found at the scene of Des Prez’s murder. One of the cold case detectives who finally brought Barrett to justice, now-retired Bill Pridemore, said he was happy with the jury’s verdict.

“I’m very happy for the victim’s family, obviously it’s been a long time coming for them,” Pridemore said. “And also for detectives that were initially investigating this case, because a lot of them are [dead] now for this to finally come about I’m sure it’s pleasing to know the work wasn’t done in vain.”

Because the death penalty was not in place in 1975, the maximum sentence Barrett could receive was life in prison.