THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1994, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, September 9, 1994 TAG: 9409090610
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY JOE JACKSON AND MIKE MATHER, STAFF WRITERS
DATELINE: NORFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 82 lines
Derek Rocco Barnabei, accused last year of killing Old Dominion University freshman Sara J. Wisnosky, could face the death penalty under new charges issued this week by a Circuit Court grand jury.
On Wednesday, the grand jury indicted Barnabei, 27, on charges of capital murder and rape. That action upgrades the original charge of first-degree murder, and adds the rape charge, evidence for which was not presented in the spring.
Barnabei is charged with the slaying of Wisnosky, 17, of Lynchburg. Her nude body was found floating in the Lafayette River near the 5000 block of Mayflower Road on Sept. 22, 1993.
Barnabei left the area the night of the murder and was arrested Dec. 19 in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, after a police officer checked the New Jersey registration on his car. He was living with a 23-year-old woman who would later become his fiancee.
Court officials said Thursday that Commonwealth's Attorney Chuck Griffith, who is prosecuting the case, is apparently seeking the death penalty.
Griffith did not return calls seeking comment on Thursday.
Police have portrayed Barnabei as a smooth-talking ladies' man who charmed his way into the lives of college students in two states. In both Norfolk and Cuyahoga Falls, he charmed girlfriends with tales of a Mafia-like family in New Jersey and a dispute that forced him from his home, police said.
Barnabei, who is held without bail in City Jail, has maintained his innocence but has not given details supporting that claim. He has said in letters to a reporter that police and prosecutors have been trying to charge him with capital murder since February.
``They are now trying to charge me with capital murder because I won't confess to something I didn't do,'' Barnabei wrote on Feb. 25. ``(Homicide investigator Shawn) Squyres told my parents I was charged with manslaughter. He then told me during extradition I was charged with second-degree murder. While in the police station, he said if I confess I'll be charged with manslaughter. Now, I'm faced with capital murder.
``I liked Sarah,'' he wrote. ``I weep for her family. As God is my witness, I am innocent. As for me raping her, that's ridiculous. I, quite frankly, didn't have to rape anyone.''
Barnabei's attorney, James R. Broccoletti, said during a hearing in April in Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court that the state had presented no direct evidence linking Barnabei to the slaying. A forensic technician testified that blood found spattered in Barnabei's room was human blood, but she could not say what type it was, nor whose it was. Further tests were scheduled.
Nevertheless, Judge Charles Poston ruled there was probable cause to send the first-degree murder charges to the grand jury. Part of the evidence was the testimony of Squyres, the lead investigator.
On the night she was last seen alive, Wisnosky called her dormitory roommate to say she planned to spend the night with Barnabei, Squyres said. One of Barnabei's housemates, Troy Maglicmot, said he saw Wisnosky in the house sometime that night. Later, in the predawn hours of Sept. 22, Barnabei asked Maglicmot to move his car so Barnabei could pull his Chevrolet Caprice out of the driveway. Barnabei sped away and disappeared.
Wisnosky's body was found in the water off Mayflower Road at 6:02 p.m. the same day. She had been beaten on the head and choked, Squyres said. In Barnabei's room, investigators found the window open, with the screen removed.
However, no evidence was presented in April that Wisnosky had been raped.
In a letter from the jail in March, Barnabei wrote: ``I'm scared. . . . Squyres told me the other day, `I'm going to do everything in my power to put you to death!' Of course, he was smart enough to do it when we were alone. . .
Then, in a letter dated April 3, 1994, Barnabei claimed: ``God save me from man's ignorance and God save those who plot to convict me unjustly. I pray for them.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos
Derek Barnabei
Sara Wisnosky
KEYWORDS: MURDER DEATH PENALTY RAPE by CNB