Man smiled as he told police about ‘suffocating’ his stepfather, document says

Robert Barnhart “had a smile on his face” as he looked at a Caldwell Police detective and said he suffocated his stepfather for “six minutes or so,” according to court documents.

Barnhart, 38, was arrested Dec. 10 after he walked into the Canyon County Sheriff’s Office and told authorities he killed Randall Turner, 63, at his Caldwell home. Initially, police said they were skeptical, but Barnhart is now charged with first-degree murder.

Police first learned of Turner’s death after paramedics were called to Turner’s home in the 3000 block of South Illinois Avenue on Dec. 6. Responders found him dead of what they deemed cardiac arrest.

Two days later, Barnhart told authorities he wanted to confess, according to a probable cause affidavit. Barnhart told police that he and Turner were alone in the home before the death and Turner said he was going to take a nap in his reclining chair. Barnhart allegedly told police that he knew Turner was “tired” and Barnhart felt “he would be in a better place if he were gone.”

Barnhart explained to the detective that he suffocated Turner with his hands, covering the alleged victim’s mouth and nose, documents state. Barnhart told the detectives he was just watching television after killing Turner.

He reportedly told the detective that he came up with the plan to kill Turner five months ago and had been contemplating and “building up the courage to kill him.”

A Caldwell police detective was skeptical of Barnhart’s confession, so the probable cause affidavit explains that the detective challenged Barnhart at one point.

“Due to concerns of the validity of Barnhart’s confession, I fabricated a wound to (Turner) to see what Barnhart would say,” the detective wrote.

When the detective returned to the interview room, he told Barnhart that he had just gone to the coroner’s office and looked at the body and “noticed a slight incision” to the victim’s gut and asked Barnhart if he knew anything about it.

Barnhart then allegedly paused and said, “Yeah, I think I stabbed him with a pair of scissors.”

The detective countered, saying, “You think you did, or you did?”

Barnhart said, “I did stab him,” and went on to describe a pair of scissors that he “used.”

There was no such incision.

Throughout the interview, Barnhart told the detective that he had been trying to poison Turner for some time by putting Pine-Sol in his Black Velvet drink. When asked if he was happy Turner was dead, Barnhart said “yes” and that he did not regret killing him, according to the detective’s affidavit.

At one point in the interview, the detective asked Barnhart if he ever fantasized of committing a mass killing and he said “only to people who piss him off,” according to the affidavit. Barnhart allegedly said Turner was a “jerk” to him for the last 10 years.

Law enforcement later searched the home and seized a pair of scissors that were similar to what Barnhart described and seized a bottle of Pine-Sol that was almost empty and a bottle of Great Value Pine Oil that was three-quarters empty, according to the document.

Barnhart is being held without bond at the Canyon County jail. He was appointed a public defender, and his next court date is set for 8:30 a.m. on Dec. 20.

This story was originally published December 11, 2018 at 7:29 AM.