Mystery Location No. 66: August 27, 2017

This is 6535 W. Janaluska Drive in Richmond, Virginia, where Cynthia Johnson, 34, and her daughter, Heather Johnson, 7, were murdered on August 29, 1996 – 31 years ago. Glenn Haslam Barker, Cynthia Johnson’s former boyfriend, was the primary suspect, but there was never enough evidence to arrest him. Someone went to the house with pizza that night and seven fires were set in an attempt to burn the house down.

Cynthia Johnson had been warned about Barker, but she continued dating him until they broke up shortly before the murders. Barker had served 9 years in prison after the disappearance of Katie Worsky, a 12 year old girl, in 1984, but Barker claimed that he didn’t have anything to do with her disappearance, although he was there that night and gave her beer, and bloody clothing was found underneath the mattress at his apartment. A pair of panties rolled up in a pair of Barker's socks were also found. He had dated the mother of the friend that Katie was visiting that night. Also, at the age of 22, Barker had abducted an 18-year-old girl and tied her to his bed, but she managed to escape. He was upset because Cynthia and Heather had gone on a vacation with another man. Barker claimed that he was a scapegoat, though he said that Cynthia had called and asked him to come over that night, but that he didn’t go. The only crime he ever admitted to was abducting the 18-year-old girl. Barker was suspected in other murders because he always seemed to be around when terrible things happened. Barker died in 2014 at the age of 55.

The Virginia state quarter shows the three ships that brought the settlers to Jamestown – the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery.