Post by natalie on Oct 8, 2015 13:03:35 GMT -5
Teen Who Killed to Feel Death Gets Life
Associated Press, October 8, 2015
LAYTONVILLE, Calif. – A California teen who went on a stabbing rampage in the home of the family that took him in was sentenced to 71 years to life in prison. Ann Moorman, the sentencing judge, said she intends for 19-year-old Talen Barton to remain in prison for the remainder of his days, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reported. She added that prison officials will notify her if he ever becomes eligible for parole and will argue against his release. “I’ll see to it you never see the light of day,” she told Barton.
“That’s great,” Barton replied, flashing a thumb’s up even though he was shackled.
Barton pled guilty to stabbing his friend and his friend’s father to death in their Laytonville home about 160 miles north of San Francisco. Barton also seriously injured two others in the house. He told psychologists he killed because he wanted to know what it was like to die. He pled guilty to avoid the death penalty.
Barton lived in the family’s home for two years after his friend convinced his parents to take in the troubled teen.
On the night of July 19, 2015, Barton took a 17-inch knife from the kitchen and went into the bedroom where his friend Teo Palmieri was sleeping. Barton placed his hand over Palmieri’s mouth and slashed his throat. He then killed Palmieri’s father. He also stabbed both Palmieri’s mother and uncle, who was visiting from Canada at the time.
According to detectives, Barton showed no emotion when he was arrested after calling 911 to report the stabbings. “He is an absolute monster,” Detective Clint Wyant said in his investigative summary.