The autumn of 1979 was a season of terror for the city of Richmond, Virginia, as a violent crime spree reached its horrific climax. On the evening of October 19, Harvey W. Wilkerson, a 27-year-old male, was at his home at 2301 Barton Avenue with his girlfriend, Judy Diane Barton, 23, and her five-year-old son, Harvey Wayne Barton. Wilkerson was an acquaintance of the Briley brothers, a local gang who, along with an accomplice, had been terrorizing the city for months with a series of robberies,
rapes, and murders. That night, the violence arrived at Wilkerson's front door.
The perpetrators were brothers Linwood, James "J.B.", and Anthony Briley, accompanied by their 16-year-old accomplice, Duncan Eric Meekins. The group forced their way into the home and quickly overpowered the family. Wilkerson and Judy Barton were bound and gagged with duct tape. What followed was an act of unspeakable brutality. Judy, who was eight months pregnant, was taken to the kitchen and raped by members of the gang within earshot of her family. After the assault, she was brought back to the living room with Wilkerson and her young son.
The three family members were then covered with sheets. James Briley reportedly told Meekins, "you've got to get one," at which point Meekins took a pistol and shot Harvey Wilkerson once in the head, killing him. James Briley then shot and killed both Judy Barton and 5-year-old Harvey. Judy was shot four times in the head. The gang ransacked the house for valuables before fleeing into the night. The home remained silent for two days before the bodies of Wilkerson, Barton, and her young son were discovered on October 21, 1979, sparking a massive police investigation.
The investigation quickly zeroed in on the Briley brothers and Meekins, who had been seen by police in the vicinity of the Wilkerson home around the time of the murders. The group was arrested on October 22. During interrogation, and with his parents present, Duncan Meekins confessed to his involvement in the triple homicide and the wider crime spree. He admitted to being the one who shot Harvey Wilkerson. In exchange for his full testimony against the Briley brothers, Meekins entered into a plea agreement with the prosecution, which spared him the death penalty. His cooperation was crucial for prosecutors in securing convictions against the notoriously violent brothers.
The trials that followed laid bare the horrific details of the gang's seven-month reign of terror. For his role in the October 19 massacre, Duncan Eric Meekins was convicted of first-degree murder and robbery, receiving a sentence of life imprisonment plus 100 years. James Briley was convicted of the capital murders of Judy and Harvey Barton, the first-degree murder of Harvey Wilkerson, as well as robbery and rape. He was sentenced to death and was executed by electrocution on April 18, 1985. Linwood Briley was also convicted of numerous murders from the crime spree and received a death sentence for a different killing; he was executed on October 12, 1984. Anthony Briley received a life sentence, as it could not be proven he was the triggerman in any of the killings.
The brutal murders of Harvey Wilkerson, Judy Barton, and little Harvey Barton marked the end of one of the bloodiest crime sprees in Richmond's history. A judge presiding over one of the trials described the gang's actions as "the vilest rampage of rape, murder and robbery that the court has seen in thirty years." The case left a lasting scar on the community and a legacy of profound loss for the families of the many victims. Duncan Meekins remains incarcerated, having been denied parole as recently as 2019.
