On a summer night in 1993, a domestic dispute escalated into a double homicide that ended the lives of 66-year-old Francis Benefiel and his 65-year-old wife, Helen. The white male and his wife were at their home in Marion County, Indiana, where their granddaughter, Candice Benefiel, had been staying with her and her former boyfriend's one-year-old child. The ex-boyfriend, Charles E. Barker, had been watching the house for several hours before breaking in.
Once inside, a struggle ensued between Barker and his former girlfriend. Francis Benefiel intervened to protect his granddaughter, jumping on Barker's back. However, Barker managed to shrug him off and fatally shot him in the heart. In the terrifying moments that followed, Barker broke down a bathroom door where Helen Benefiel was hiding in a closet with the young child. He then shot Helen in the head.
After the murders, Barker abducted both Candice and their child. He forced them to leave with him, first going to the home of his ex-wife before fleeing to Tennessee. It was there that law enforcement apprehended him. At his trial, Barker claimed he had only wanted to see his daughter and that he had shot Francis in self-defense and Helen by accident.
A jury found Charles E. Barker guilty on two counts of murder, as well as kidnapping, confinement, and burglary. He was initially sentenced to death in December 1996. However, his sentence was later vacated due to a legal error during the trial. Faced with the prospect of a new trial, and to spare the Benefiel family further anguish, prosecutors reached an agreement with Barker. In December 2005, he pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. He also received consecutive sentences for the other felonies.
