Francis Benefiel

Francis H. Benefiel, 66, and his wife, Helen Benefiel, 65, were a married couple living in Marion, Indiana. They had opened their home to their granddaughter, Candice Benefiel, and her one-year-old daughter, Ashley. The grandparents were protective of Candice, particularly concerning her ex-boyfriend and the father of her child, Charles E. Barker. Evidence presented at trial indicated a history of hostility between Barker and the Benefiels, as well as prior assaults by Barker on Candice. A court order was even in place to prevent Barker from having contact with her.

On the night of August 3, 1993, a domestic dispute turned into a horrifying double murder. Barker had been watching the Benefiels' home for several hours before he broke in by shattering a pane of glass in a rear door. He entered carrying a handgun and found Candice and her daughter asleep in a bedroom. He demanded she take the child and leave with him. When she refused, he dragged her screaming into the hallway, which awakened her grandparents. Francis, a white male who was reportedly in poor health with emphysema and heart disease, intervened to protect his granddaughter. He jumped onto Barker's back, and the two men struggled into the kitchen. Candice heard two gunshots. Francis had been shot once in the arm and once fatally in the chest.

As the terror unfolded, Helen grabbed the baby from Candice and ran into a bathroom, hiding in a closet. Barker pursued them, broke down the bathroom door, and fired his handgun, striking Helen in the head and killing her. Candice managed to retrieve her grandfather's gun from a bedroom, but she was unable to make it fire. Barker soon found her hiding in a closet, holding his daughter in one arm and the gun in the other. He forced Candice to drop her weapon, abducted her and their child, and fled the scene.

Barker first forced Candice to drive to the home of his ex-wife, Deanna, before continuing on to Tennessee. It was in Tennessee that he was apprehended by law enforcement after the women he was with contacted the police from a gas station. Upon his arrest, Barker admitted to officers that he had killed two people in Indiana. He was charged with two counts of murder, kidnapping, confinement, burglary, and carrying a handgun without a license.

The case against Charles E. Barker began in the Marion Superior Court. At his trial in June 1996, Barker claimed he had only wanted to see his daughter, asserting that he shot Francis in self-defense and Helen by accident. The jury found him guilty on all charges, and on June 27, 1996, they recommended the death penalty. The court formally imposed the sentence on December 30, 1996. However, the Indiana Supreme Court vacated the death sentence on June 12, 1998, citing significant errors during the penalty phase, including the jury not being instructed on the option of life without parole.

What followed was years of legal battles over Indiana's capital punishment statute. Finally, to spare the Benefiel family the anguish of a new trial, prosecutors reached an agreement with Barker. On December 21, 2005, he pleaded guilty to all charges. He was sentenced to two terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole for the murders. He also received consecutive sentences of 50 years for kidnapping, 20 years for confinement, and 20 years for burglary. The family expressed relief that the long legal process was over. Francis Benefiel, the victims' son, said he was "glad it is over. I won't ever have to come back to this building or these courtrooms no more." Though Barker apologized in court, the victim's son stated, "God may forgive him, but I never will." As of December 2005, Charles Barker is serving his life sentence, having waived all further appeals.