On October 1, 1973, 14-year-old John Elliott Barnes was found murdered in his family home in Lexington, Kentucky alongside his father, Reverend John K. Barnes, and his 17-year-old sister, Francine. The three victims were discovered in a bathroom after having been shot elsewhere in the house and then moved.

The killings were carried out by two men identified as escaped federal inmates Wilmer Elvis Scott and William Sloan. Earlier that day the pair had broken out of custody, committed a carjacking, forced their way into the Barnes residence and then fled in the family car. The two continued their spree at a motel in Falmouth, Kentucky, where three more people were killed before Scott and Sloan were captured.

Wilmer Elvis Scott died by suicide in his jail cell in 1974. William Sloan remained incarcerated for his role in the crimes.