Lawyer charged with murdering neighbor

JOHN CHRISTOFFERSEN, Associated Press Writer

1 hour, 42 minutes ago

 

 

 

FAIRFIELD, Conn. - A lawyer climbed through a neighbor's bedroom window and stabbed him to death after being told by a family member that the man had molested his 2-year-old daughter, authorities say.

 

 

Barry James, 58, was stabbed in the chest nearly a dozen times Monday. The lawyer, Jonathon Edington, 29, was charged with murder and burglary and was released on $1 million bail Wednesday.

 

Capt. Gary MacNamara said that police had not received a complaint about the child being assaulted before the killing, and "we have no indication it's true or not true."

 

Edington's attorney, Michael Sherman, said the information came from Edington's wife. "The daughter gave the mother information which was alarming and disturbing. The mom relayed it to her husband. That was the spark," Sherman said.

 

James' 87-year-old mother discovered his body. When officers went to Edington's home, they found him standing by his kitchen sink with what appeared to be blood on him, and a large kitchen knife next to him on a counter, authorities said

 

"He's in shock," Edington's attorney said. "This is the most unexpected turn of events one can imagine with this young man's background."

 

Police had gone to the neighborhood before, when Edington called to complain that he could see James through a window, police said. "Either he was partly clothed or revealed parts of his anatomy that were inappropriate," MacNamara said.

 

Edington, a graduate of Syracuse University and Fordham University Law School, has been practicing patent law, Sherman said. Police said Edington has no criminal record.

 

Rita James declined to comment on her son's death.

 

James served two days behind bars in 2001 on a drunken driving charge, according to the state Correction Department.

 

"He had some bizarre behavior over the last month," said Darrell Maynard, a neighbor. "He drove his car through his garage, hit the other neighbor's building."

 

Another time a neighbor found James intoxicated on the street, Maynard said. James shouted obscenities at children, he said.

 

As for Edington, Maynard said: "Something had to happen that was terrible for this to have occurred." Edington "seemed like a computer geek or something. He was not anybody you would ever feel you were threatened by."

awful.

I'd be thinking the same thing. Now if the allegations are true, she may have been raped *and* her daddy may be in jail.

If the rape allegations are true... cant he plea temporary insanity or something like that?

If the rape allegations are true... cant he plea temporary insanity or something like that?

 

My understanding is the allegation doesn't even have to be true. Extreme emotional stress can be caused by a false belief as well.

what if the allegations aren't true though?

what if the allegations aren't true though?

 

It would be enough if he thought they were true. The jury would be less sympathetic, but he could still try the same defense.

yeah but then that dude also got killed for no reason...

Oh, I hate the "Insanity" plea. It's a cheap way to get out of jail or get out of jail sooner.

 

Let me get this straight: some lawyer (who should know better) brutally stabbed a man to death -- a man who might be a pervert and a monster, too -- to death over an allegation he didn't know was true or not. I can't say I sympathize with him, really. He ought to go to jail for a long time. What about Rita Edington who had to discover her dead, bloody son?

 

This isn't a mob country. You don't have the right to invade someone's home and stab them to death.

 

Now, if the girl was raped, then all the best to her, and I'm sorry that it happened, but this man should be in jail for a long time, too. This foul murderous man.

 

But I'll bet he gets off lite because he was temporarily unhinged! Convenient.

How was this man even given access to the 2 year old child for any length of time?

 

This guy needs to rot in jail for a long, long time, regardless of what happened to his daughter. We don't need vigilante justice.

How was this man even given access to the 2 year old child for any length of time?

 

This guy needs to rot in jail for a long, long time, regardless of what happened to his daughter. We don't need vigilante justice.

 

I hesitate to even call it "Vigilante Justice" because there was nothing just about this, and I don't see how anyone could spin it that way. He broke into someone's house and murdered them after his wife told him something (disturbing). But I'm with you.

Hmm... Wouldn't a jury be able to hear defenses which would reduce the charge from murder to voluntary manslaughter? If the evidence of sexual assault is compelling, I think a jury might nullify the verdict.

 

It's rare, but its happened before.

Hmm... Wouldn't a jury be able to hear defenses which would reduce the charge from murder to voluntary manslaughter? If the evidence of sexual assault is compelling, I think a jury might nullify the verdict.

 

It's rare, but its happened before.

 

I might be wrong, but I don't think there will be any investigation into the sexual assualt allegations. After all, the suspect has been murdered and cannot even defend himself.

 

And the charge should not be reduced if it ends up being true, anyway. That just reinforces vigilanteism. The father broke into that guy's house and brutally murdered him, end of story.

I might be wrong, but I don't think there will be any investigation into the sexual assualt allegations. After all, the suspect has been murdered and cannot even defend himself.

 

And the charge should not be reduced if it ends up being true, anyway. That just reinforces vigilanteism. The father broke into that guy's house and brutally murdered him, end of story.

 

Spot on, Double S.

 

I, I, I ain't opposed to seeking justice

but you're going about it all wrong