A Time To Kill

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2:19Franklin County is a small country place. It's country. And in Carnesville, it's nothing but a little speck. Nothing really much goes on there. Sterling Barber wants a life as quiet as his hometown in rural Georgia. I want to be a good dad, a good husband, raise my family right, and I want to take care of my mom, make it comfortable for her. Sterling's got a heart as big as Texas. From the day he was born, he's taken a big bite out of life. Everything he's done has been full speed ahead. Hey, Sterling. Hey. But Sterling's simple goals had to be put off after what happened on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere.

3:10He was just 17 the night he met Gerald Douglas Wyatt. It's the most fear you'd ever have. You can't describe how it was. To his wife, Wyatt was the perfect family man. He was a very kind, caring man. To others, he was a predator. What I saw was a very evil man. Sterling Barber done what I always wished to God I'd have done. I had no other choice. There was nothing else I could have done. And if they consider that wrong, then I just have to accept it. If you believe Sterling, on the night of November 27, 1995, he was just killing time at a truck stop, One of the few public places open near his home.

4:00I was at Petro. I got off from night school. I went up there to get something to eat and hang out a little bit. And I was watching a movie. And whenever I came out of the movie room, he approached me. According to Sterling, Wyatt said he was a private detective and asked him for help. He was checking out a lawyer's wife that was supposedly cheating on him. And they were fixing to get a divorce and he needed evidence. He said, I looked like a local. and wanted some help. Wyatt offered Sterling$40 to drive him around town, but things started to go bad soon after they left the truck stop in Wyatt's car.

4:38I said, isn't it about time we go back to Petro? Barber says his new acquaintance told him he had to relieve himself. Whenever he came back in, his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped, and they climbed over on top of me. And he put his forearm in my throat, and he was trying to choke me out. I started to pass out, and whenever I did, I stopped struggling. I stopped trying to fight him, and he loosened his grip on me, and that's whenever I grabbed my knife and I stabbed him. Sterling stabbed Wyatt once in the shoulder with his hunting knife. What else was I supposed to do, just let him do it? Then he stabbed him five more times in the groin.

5:20He said, why'd you do that? And I said, because you were trying to rape me. and that's whenever he said he was sorry. And I told him it was too late for that now. Wyatt slumped forward in the car. And then I just wanted to go home. I didn't know what else to do, so I just pulled him out of the car, and I left. I went back home. Would that have been a time to go for help? I don't know. The only thing I knew to do was just to get away. That's all. Sterling took Wyatt's car and drove home to his mother, Judy Barber. I lost it. When Sterling needed me the most, I lost it. She asked me what happened.

6:04I said, Mom, a guy tried to rape me and I stabbed him. Did you tell him to call the police? Did you want him to call the police? No, I wanted to get an attorney, which is a very difficult thing to do when you don't know anybody in the middle of the night. But Judy told Sterling to take Wyatt's car back to the truck stop and Sterling went on the run Meanwhile Doug Wyatt was bleeding to death on the side of a road It was on a Sunday. Pat Wyatt his wife of 21 years did not know where he was. He was missing like for three days And during that time I Always had hope that he was still alive until I got a call one night.

6:54Well, his pants was down around his ankles, and he had a shirt on, laying out there with his eyes open. Sheriff Hugh Roach got a tip and tracked down Sterling Barber. When the deputies found him, Sterling confessed and told them where to find Wyatt's body. We come up here and we found Mr. Wyatt's body laying right in here, laying on his back. The sheriff's still not buying Sterling Barber's story that he killed Wyatt in self-defense. I don't believe it. You don't believe any of it? No, I don't believe any of it. Why not? Why would he stab him so many times if all he was trying to do was get away from him?

7:44If he had got out of that car when he got loose from Wyatt, come to us, there wouldn't have been nothing done. But because Sterling never called the police and in fact took Wyatt's car and ran, he was charged with armed robbery and murder. A Franklin County teenager pleads not guilty to murder charges. Do you think what he did after the fact was wrong? How can anybody say, I would have done this or I would have done that? You've got no idea what happens when you face evil. Is Sterling Barber a murderer? Yes. You don't even hesitate, not even for a minute. There's no doubt in your mind. No doubt in my mind.

8:29He's a murderer. And according to one witness who saw Sterling Barber that night, He didn't act anything at all like a scared boy who had just fought off a sexual attack. He came in and it was 4 o 'clock in the morning. Sat down on the end bar stool. He ordered rib eye steak, ordered french fries, double order of ice cream and a Coke with refill. Marion Pritchett says she knew Sterling from working with him at the Echo Diner. I rung up his order. He paid me with a$20 bill. He had blood on it. I said, why is this money so bloody? He said, I killed a deer and dressed it. And I always get blood all over me when I dressed a deer.

9:14Okay. I didn't have a problem with it. Never in a million years would I have thought that he had even been in a fight, much less had murdered anybody. He was too calm. Way too calm. Was there blood on your money? No, sir. There wasn't any blood on my money. You didn't tell her that the blood was from a deer? No, sir. That never happened? No, sir. I don't understand why she said that. Sterling says he never trusted the law. He's had several run-ins with Sheriff Roach before for shooting a kid with a BB gun, for beating up his older brother, and for running away from home. But Sterling Barber had never been charged with a violent crime before.

10:01And his friends do not think he's capable of committing one. He's such a good person. He really is. He talks like a gentleman. Nice all around. He's a real good guy. He's always been a real good friend to me. And as far as I know, everybody else over here is just a good person. Sterling was a standout baseball player. The boys that played ball with Sterling, I tell you, he was awesome. Sterling was one of my star players. Just an excellent kid. His coach, Scotty Atkinson, says he never saw a violent side to Sterling. I can't see it. I can't see what he's already been through. Sterling was too good.

10:40In my eyes, he was just too good. I wish we could go back. Life stopped dead that night. Life stopped for the Wyatt family as well. It flashes in my mind, time after time, of what he had to endure. how much he suffered, the pain that he went through. The Wyatts had two children, their son Braxton. He was brutally murdered by someone with no thought for life, no thought for pain, suffering. Lee is their daughter. He was a loving dad. He would do anything for anybody and he was just a good dad. He loved people a lot and it showed. Wyatt made a living as a hairdresser and a used car salesman. He was my beautician.

11:36He was my friend. He was just fantastic. Never been a better person in my opinion. He had lots of customers that just loved him because he'd go to their house and pick them up and do their hair at home if they needed it. He'd even fold their laundry when he picked them up sometimes. Wyatt was a deacon in his church, a respected citizen of Danielsville, Georgia, population 297. But there was another side to Doug Wyatt. Was he a predator? Most definitely. Well, it happened to me when I was 13 years old. This is where we drove in at. Doug Wyatt's wife knew. I know. I told her. People are saying that your husband was a child molester.

12:19You know that. Yes, I know that. When we come back, the secret life of Doug Wyatt. He said, if you ever tell anybody about this, I'll keep.

12:37Summer adds up fast. A trip here, a dinner there, a couple of outdoor concerts. With all the extra expenses this season brings, it's easy to wonder if you're getting the most out of your money. That's why you need to check out Chime. They are completely changing the game with rewarding fee-free banking, meaning no monthly fees, no minimum balance requirements, and absolutely no overdraft fees. My younger self definitely could have benefited from that. It gets better, too. You can get 5 % cash back on your Chime card in a category of your choice. I'm talking everyday purchases like gas or groceries, all while building your credit through everyday spending with no credit check required.

13:16Plus, your savings grow faster with an interest rate that's nine times the national average. Join the millions who are already banking fee-free with America's number one choice for banking. Head to chime.com slash 48 hours. That's chime.com slash 48 hours. Sign up now. It only takes a few minutes. Chime is a fintech, not a bank. Banking services and Chime card provided by Chime's bank partners. Qualifying direct deposits required. Terms and limits apply. Go to chime.com slash disclosures for details. Summer is flying by, and if your calendar looks anything like mine, it's packed with plans to squeeze in before the season ends.

13:53But more plans mean you need more energy, not more complicated steps in your morning routine. Groom's can help make your morning a little simpler. It's a convenient, comprehensive formula in one delicious daily pack of gummy bears. It isn't a multivitamin, a greens gummy, or a prebiotic. It's all those things, and then some. It's a fraction of the price. You get over 20 bioavailable vitamins and minerals, and the ingredients are backed by over 35 ,000 research publications. Instead of choking down earthy powders or swallowing a handful of oversized pills, you just open one daily pack of Grooms.

14:30Plus, they taste great, so you actually remember to take them every single day. Even better, each pack delivers six full grams of prebiotic fiber, which is three times the fiber of standard greens powders, an equivalent to over two cups of broccoli. Save up to 52 % off with code hours at gruns.co. That's code hours at gruns.co.

15:14He was stabbed to death in it by Sterling Barber. Had a little bit of blood on the door side there, but not on the seats. Doug Seegers, Wyatt's old friend in the used car business, doesn't think it's a tough sell. Do you feel a little funny selling this car? Not really. I don't think he actually died in the car anyway. I think he died in the ditch up there later. That make you feel better? Well, yeah. It runs clean. No sign of trouble. A lot of folks say the same thing about Doug Wyatt. When you first walk up and meet him, he was a nice guy. He looked pretty good, too, on the outside. But any young boy that he could come in contact with, he was going to try something with him.

15:54He was a child molester, and he saw Sterling as his next victim. I thank God Sterling Barber done what he did. These men had never met Sterling Barber, but they had met Doug Wyatt when they were young boys. When they heard Barber's story that he stabbed Wyatt because Wyatt was trying to rape him, they believed him instantly. I knew it happened the way he said it did. You knew it? Right. You didn't doubt it for a minute? No. And the reason? Because I knew Gerald Wyatt and the kind of man he was. John Davis was a 12-year-old boy playing basketball when he says Wyatt lured him into his car by pretending to be an old family friend.

16:37He said that he had to go to the bathroom and walked, I don't know, 15 yards away from the vehicle and made a remark, something to the effect that it was hard to use the bathroom with a heart on. Davis ran home shaken but unhurt. Same thing happened with me. James Watkins was 13 years old when Wyatt asked him for help hauling trash. But before they got to the dumpster, Wyatt once again pulled down a dirt road to relieve himself. When he got back in, he still had his pants down, playing with himself. And he reached over and started unzipping my pants or whatever, and I just opened the door and got out and run.

17:24Well, it happened to me when I was 13 years old. Melvin Hooper says Wyatt tried to molest him almost 30 years ago. Wyatt was just 17, and to this day, Hooper is haunted by the experience. Sterling Boyd had done what I always wished to God I'd have done. Stabbed him, shot him, anything like that. Wyatt lived in this White House here. Was he a good neighbor? Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. Nobody ever pressed charges against Wyatt until Joe and Cindy Duncan noticed something strange between their 12-year-old boy and Wyatt. When I asked him what was going on between him and Wyatt, he just turned around and looked at me and said, Daddy, he's molesting me.

18:15Sometimes it happened in the woods on the way home from school. Sometimes it happened when Joe sent his son next door to get a haircut from Doug Wyatt. The guilt that I feel with my child is something that I don't think I'll ever be able to make good again for my son. And when he finally told you what your friend, what your neighbor had been doing, what did you do? I basically went to kill him. Literally? Literally. Duncan burst into his neighbor's house and to this day swears he would have killed Wyatt if Wyatt had been home. Pat Wyatt said her husband was out. But later that night, the Wyatts came over here to talk to Joe and Cindy Duncan, who secretly recorded their conversation.

19:30Eventually, the Duncans calmed down. We didn't want to prosecute our friend. We didn't want to put him away. We thought this guy's sick. He needs help. They accepted a plea bargain where Wyatt would serve 20 years probation, get counseling, and get out of town. But incredibly, just one week before his sentencing. This is where we drove in at. It's pretty secluded. Nobody's around. Ryan James says Wyatt tried to molest him here. How many other people has he brought to the same location and might have succeeded on? Because you get down here, what's down here? Who's here to help you? And about eight months later, Wyatt was charged again, this time for aggravated sodomy.

20:16This time, police say, he used a gun. While he was waiting for trial in that case, Doug Wyatt met Sterling Barber. After he was killed, his wife Pat was left to cope with her husband's death and all the questions about his life. Was your husband a child molester? No. You're sure of that? You're asking me, was he? Okay. I can only answer for what I believe. That's all I'm asking. He wasn't a man that would hurt someone.

20:54You know, he would not force himself on someone. I think a lot of people would ask, what does it take for this lady, you, for his wife? to believe it. You know, I'm not saying that he didn't have problems. You know, I'm very aware that he did have some problems in his life. But I don't believe that he was a child molester. Pat Wyatt has got to be in deep denial to believe that none of these acts are true. He's gone. And why keep focusing on his past? The focus is supposed to be a murder. He took a life, and he should have to pay for taking that life. Next, Sterling Barber's murder case goes to trial.

22:00But will the jury hear the whole truth? It's almost as if Gerald reaches from the grave to manipulate.

22:24I told the truth and so I figured everybody would know the truth but it didn't happen like that. I learned how things really worked. And now Sterling Barber is praying this community will show him mercy for killing Gerald Douglas Wyatt. He says it was self-defense. The authorities say it's murder, despite Wyatt's extensive criminal record. It's almost as if Gerald reaches from the grave to manipulate. June Temple first knew Doug Wyatt as a deacon of the church. There were times when I thought there was some Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde there. But then she came to know Doug Wyatt as a predator. He knew that I knew.

23:08Not a sexual predator, but rather the kind that preys on elderly women, like her friend Sally Fanny Daniel. He provided her with alcohol, and he provided her with pills. And as a result, what did she give him? Anything he wanted. Her house? Her house. Money? Money. She didn't know that she'd signed over her house? He had no idea. When he got caught, a judge ordered him to give everything back, and June Temple saw it all. To be perfectly honest, I quit the church because I could not stomach the thoughts of taking communion from his serving. What's amazing about Gerald Douglas Wyatt's life is that many of his neighbors in Danielsville either didn't know about his problems or didn't want to know.

23:57I knew that he had things bottled up inside that he didn't talk about. But as long as it didn't affect my life, and it wasn't, I never saw him hurt anyone, never. He was a believable character to those that he chose to be believable to. And Wyatt was able to beat the system, say the sheriffs who had run-ins with him. The justice system is a long ways from perfect. He should have been off the streets a long time ago. And we win some, we lose some. We lost in this case, and this poor little kid's paying the price for it. Judge William Grant handled two of the criminal cases against Doug Wyatt. After all that, he presided over Sterling Barber's trial for killing Doug Wyatt.

24:39But he did not give Sterling a lot of breaks. At Sterling's trial, Judge Grant kept out most of the evidence of Wyatt's criminal history. Of all those men whose stories are so similar to Sterling's, only two were allowed to testify, and only very briefly. Here's what Judge Grant said in court. To me, all these men showed is that it's possible to fight off a sex deviant and not kill him. Judge Grant refused our request for an interview. Deliberations begin again this morning. They presented us with evidence and, you know, we deliberated and they wanted an answer. You know, it was real fast-paced for that type of case, I thought.

25:16After a two-day trial, these jurors found Sterling Barber guilty on all counts, including murder. Barbara was found guilty on five counts. I don't believe I could have ever left a human being to die. It don't take much to stop and, you know, get your sanity back in heaven. What hurt Sterling in the jurors' minds was that after stabbing Wyatt, he ran away and ate a steak dinner. If you go out to eat after you've done a crime like that, it just doesn't seem civil at all. But then we told the jurors about the evidence they weren't allowed to hear. Would you like to have heard from men who would tell the exact same story?

25:57Would that have influenced your decision at all? Yes, I think we should have. I don't believe any of us can sit here and say what we would have done if we would have heard that evidence. But I feel like we should have. That was what the whole case was about, you know. He faces a minimum of 26 years. After Sterling was convicted, Judge Grant threw the book at him. Sterling Barber, at 17 years old, got life in prison, plus 40 years. How can you do this? How can you protect a child molester and send this child to prison for life and 40 years? After the trial, Sterling's mother, Judy Barber, became his best advocate.

26:42They got their conviction, but we're appealing. And before we left that day, I put my hand on his arm and I said, son, we're appealing this. No, you're coming home. Although she suffers from arthritis, she and her boyfriend Darrell have worked harder than any lawyer or investigator to prepare Sterling's appeal. The laws depend a lot on who you are. I was nobody. There's some records we need to check. My mom's been great. She's worked almost every day. She doesn't even like to take breaks. This is the case. She just kept going and kept going, writing letters, writing people, going to courthouses, writing me letters.

27:19She just stays going 24-7. I will not leave one stone unturned until my son's home. Judy found a lot of information, and most importantly, she found a new lawyer to represent her son during the appeal. Ed Tolley is our savior. I think he will be acquitted if we do our job. He is the first strong man to stand up and fight for this child. He did not get, in my judgment, a sufficiently fair trial, and the jury rendered their verdict with inaccurate and incomplete information. Ed Tolle is taking Sterling's appeal very personally. A lawyer's worst nightmare, if they're worth a damn, is to represent somebody that's innocent.

28:01It's the kind of burden that upsets your stomach, that causes you to lose sleep, that makes you cry when the verdict comes out, whether you win or lose. Is that the way you feel about this case? Absolutely. As Sterling waits, this ordeal has brought his family closer together. Today, his mother and sister, Lynn, have come to tell him that his aunt and his grandfather have died. And Papa died this morning.