Murder Trial Ordered in Death of Officer 42 Years After He Was Shot

by KYW's Tony Hanson

A man charged in the death of a Philadelphia police officer who passed away decades after the defendant shot him (see related story) has been ordered held for trial.

It is an extraordinary case, and defendant William Barnes (in file photo above), now 71, has been ordered to face trial on a murder charge 42 years after the shooting.

Philadelphia police officer Walter Barclay (right) was shot and paralyzed in 1966. He died last year at the age of 64 (see previous story), and the prosecutor now argues that based on the evidence, there was an unbroken chain of causation which resulted directly from the shooting that led to the death of Officer Barclay last year.

City medical examiner Dr. Ian Hood testified that Barclay died from another in a series of infections that had plagued him since he was shot, infections which had gotten more frequent and resistant to treatment.

The officer's sister, Rosalyn Harrison, who was in court, agreed with that assessment:

"Oh yes, I was with him 41 years and I saw the consistency of his illness and how he died. I wasn't there when he died, but three days before I was there, and yes, I do believe the gunshot that he received is what killed him in the end, yes."

But Barnes' defense attorneys argue that there were intervening events. They say that Barclay, although paralyzed, had been in two automobile accidents after the shooting, which may have caused further injuries. At one point, they say, he also fell out of his wheelchair, which could have worsened his condition.

But in the end, the judge found that there is sufficient evidence, at least at this stage, to find that the shooting was the cause of the death 41 years later.

Prosecutors say double jeopardy is not an issue here. They say he was initially charged with the shooting but not for the murder. In fact, Barnes did 20 years in prison, not only for this shooting but for shooting at two other police officers.

The judge acknowledged on Wednesday that there really are no other similar cases. There are cases in which defendants are tried after a person who suffered injuries has dies a year or  a year and a half or even five years later, but nothing that's anything close to this one, where you have an intervening time period of 41 years between the shooting and the death.