ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Thursday, July 4, 1996 TAG: 9607050029
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-4 EDITION: HOLIDAY
APRIL 30
4 a.m. - Robin Williams' Northeast Roanoke apartment is firebombed.
4:30 a.m. - Roanoke police send a Teletype to Franklin County, Roanoke County and Virginia State Police, asking them to be on the lookout for Aquilia Marcibicci Barnette. It says Barnette has "numerous felony charges pending" and is expected to be en route to Charlotte, N.C. The Teletype apparently is received by the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation in Raleigh, which routes Teletypes to North Carolina police agencies. Charlotte police are trying to verify if they ever got the message.
Barnette is listed as a wanted suspect in the National Crime Information Center, a national database accessible to police departments.
MAY 2
Roanoke police send three Teletypes regarding Barnette to police in North Carolina. The first two say Barnette is wanted on numerous felony charges. Police in Charlotte say they received only the last one, which references an earlier Teletype, gives an address in Charlotte where Barnette might be and asks police to find him.
A Charlotte patrol officer looks for the address but is unable to find it. Charlotte police mistakenly tell Roanoke the address is invalid.
MAY 23
Love letters that Robin Williams and Barnette wrote to each other are found pasted on Williams' car, which is parked at her brother's house on Leon Street Northwest. Police say they weren't notified until May 31, and that they stepped up patrols around her house then. But Williams' family says police were told about the letters right away.
MAY 31
Williams gives police a list of telephone numbers that Barnette has been calling from in N.C. Roanoke police send another Teletype to Charlotte police. It says Barnette is charged with "two counts of attempted capital murder, one count of arson and additional charges" and that he has been calling from telephones in Charlotte
Charlotte police say the Teletype was forwarded to an investigator.
JUNE 3
A Charlotte investigator tries to call a Roanoke investigator twice but does not get an answer. The Charlotte investigator goes on vacation and does not follow up on the request when he returns.
No action is taken.
JUNE 20
Roanoke police send another Teletype. Charlotte police refer it to their fugitives division. An officer there is en route to another city and asks for the message to be left in a mail box. The officer checks the mail box later but doesn't find the Teletype. It is found on June 26, a day after Barnette is arrested.
JUNE 22
Police believe Barnette killed Donald Allen, of South Carolina, during the early morning hours. They say Barnette took Allen's car, drove it to Roanoke and killed Williams outside her mother's house in Northwest Roanoke. Roanoke police alert the FBI.
JUNE 25
The FBI picks up Barnette at his mother's house in Charlotte. It is the same address Roanoke police sent Charlotte on May 2. After Barnette's arrest, Charlotte police charge Barnette with murder and robbery in connection with Allen's death.
- Sources: Roanoke Police Department, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
LENGTH: Medium: 77 linesby CNB