In the autumn of 1973, a horrific crime shattered the peace of a Lexington, Kentucky community. On October 1st, 17-year-old Francine Price Barnes, a female student at the Sayre School, was found murdered in her family's home on Russell Cave Road. Tragically, she was not the only victim of the brutal attack. Her father, the Reverend John K. Barnes, and her 14-year-old brother, John E.
Barnes, were also killed.
The perpetrators were identified as two escaped federal inmates, Wilmer Scott and William Sloan. Earlier that day, the pair had managed to break out of a federal holdover in Lexington. Their crime spree began when they carjacked a woman near the Sayre School, forcing her to drive them to her home. There, they tied up the woman and her children before stealing a rifle and her car. They then proceeded to the Barnes' residence. The motive for choosing the Barnes' home was not immediately clear, but the events that unfolded within were devastating.
Inside the home, the two men subjected the family to a terrifying ordeal. Francine was sexually assaulted before being killed. Her father and brother were also murdered. The only surviving member of the immediate family was the matriarch, who was away at a church convention in Louisville at the time of the killings. After committing the murders, Scott and Sloan remained in the house long enough to eat a meal before stealing the family's car and fleeing the scene.
Their reign of terror did not end with the Barnes family. The two fugitives then drove to Falmouth, Kentucky, where they murdered three more people at a motel. A massive manhunt ensued, and the two were eventually apprehended. Both William Sloan and Wilmer Scott were later convicted for their roles in the heinous crimes, including the murders of Francine Price Barnes and her family. Sloan was found guilty on multiple counts, including murder and rape, and received life sentences. The brutal nature of the crimes left a lasting scar on the Lexington community, a tragic story of a family's life cut short by a senseless act of violence.
