Woman gets 7½ years for attempted murder, arson

GLOUCESTER - In the early morning hours of Nov. 11, Karen F. Barnett poured kerosene next to the bed where her husband was sleeping, dropped a lit wick onto the puddle and left the bedroom.

In court, the chain of events wasn't in question, only the intent of Barnett, a 45-year-old Gloucester Point woman who in March entered Alford pleas to one count each of arson and first-degree attempted murder. An Alford plea is a legal term in which the defendant does not admit guilt but concedes there is enough evidence for a conviction.

On Tuesday, Gloucester Circuit Court Judge William H. Shaw III sentenced her to a combined 40 years in prison, with all but 7 1/2 years suspended.

During her sentencing hearing in Gloucester Circuit Court on Tuesday, Barnett testified that she never planned to kill her husband, only to send him "a message" that the couple couldn't maintain their lavish lifestyle on their salaries. At the time of the crime, Barnett testified, she had drained $100,000 from her retirement fund, and when she suggested they begin drawing from Todie Barnett's savings, "He exploded."
 

On the night of the arson, she described in testimony how she had lit her makeshift wick and drizzled kerosene on the floor before having second thoughts.

By that time, Barnett testified, the jar's metal lid had burned her hand, causing her to drop the lit wick on the puddle of kerosene.

Todie Barnett, who sat quietly through Tuesday's hearing, testified only to the amount of his life insurance policy — between $700,000 and $800,000 — of which his wife was the sole beneficiary, said Robert D. Hicks, Gloucester commonwealth's attorney.

Hicks lobbied for a stiff sentence.

"At some point, she thought that in one fell swoop, she could get out of her marriage and her financial trouble — all at the same time," he said during his closing arguments. "She's not entitled to sympathy just because she wasn't successful."