True Crime Friday: James Antonio Barnes, the Memphis Serial Killer
James Antonio Barnes was born on August 27, 1944, in Detroit, Michigan. He did not have a moniker other than American Serial Killer, so I have dubbed him the Memphis Serial Killer. He did many of his murders in Memphis, Tennessee. He attacked five sex workers from August of 1988 to November of 1988. He murdered three of them. It is suspected that he made have murdered more women but that has not been confirmed by authorities. Barnes claimed to have several personalities that made him commit the crimes. Even though Barnes was considered a suspect in a total of seven killings, he was only convicted of his confirmed crimes and sentenced to forty years in prison with the possibility of parole after sixteen years.
The Early Childhood of James A. Barnes
Not much is known about Barnes’ childhood. However, he said that he did not have a happy childhood since he was abused by his alcoholic parents. The parents also abused drugs. Barners claimed as punishment he would be placed in a sack and lowered into a well for any infraction. Because of the abuse he spent time in mental institutions in Michigan, Tennessee and Missouri. While he was undergoing treatment, he committed petty crimes and one crime was a bank robbery in Detroit. After being released from prison, Barnes eventually got a job at a General Motors plant. He was later laid off due to low sales by the company. It was at that time that he decided to make the move to Memphis, Tennessee for a fresh start. The fresh start would be committing murder.The Less Dead
Many serial killers murder victims are in the Less Dead dimension. Which includes but is not limited to the homeless, vagrants, migrant farm workers, homosexuals, the poor, elderly women, sex workers, drug addicts, poor people and runaways. They are often vulnerable in locations they frequent, and easy to lure and dominate. They are considered Less Dead because society does not care about them when they are alive and so when they are killed, they are less dead because their cases go unnoticed by the media and by the police.The Victims of James A. Barnes
- Sharon Denise Moore, 25
- Loria Ann Deberry, 28
- Joyce M. Thomas, 37
- Unidentified Victim
- Unidentified Victim
The Survivors of James A. Barnes
- Tony Lee Thompson, 23
- Eric Lewis, 30
- Larry Ward
Lady Justice
The authorities put Barnes on the radar after the murder of Joyce Thomas. The Memphis Police Department set up a special task force to investigate the recent murders in the city. A major break came right after the attack on Lewis, when a witness claimed that they had marked down the license plate of the car that had picked up Lewis. Barnes was arrested on November 10, 1988, after he was identified as the man who had attacked Thompson and Lewis.While Barnes was in jail, Lewis and Thompson picked him out of a line up as being their attacker. During his interrogation Barnes admitted to the attacks and murders of the sex workers. Sadly, another man Larry Ward had been convicted of the murder of Sharon Moore. He was released after Barnes confession.
Barnes is suspected of two additional murders in Detroit, but no additional charges were filed against him, but he is still the prime suspect in those cases. James A. Barnes was released from the Tennessee Department of Corrections on April 10, 2016.