The murder of Alfred Barnes
Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania · 1968
Overview
Alfred Barnes, 40, of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was an assistant to the vice president at Bethlehem Steel. On October 19, 1968, hunters found his body in a field in Chestnuthill Township, Monroe County. He had been shot several times at close range, and his new 1969 Ford Thunderbird was missing. The car was later found abandoned in Warren County, New Jersey, with Barnes's blood and a .32 caliber bullet on the driver's side floor. In 1971 a witness told police that a man named Richard Keiper had offered to sell him a gun for $10, saying he had used it to shoot a man from Bethlehem Steel, and had offered some of the victim's clothes. Police did not follow up, and the case went cold. Keiper had left Pennsylvania with a traveling carnival and settled in Boyd, Texas, where he raised a family. In 2013 a state trooper took another look at the file, re-interviewed the witness, and asked the Texas Rangers for help. Keiper was interviewed on September 24, 2013, and police said he incriminated himself, offering accounts in which he acted in self-defense. He was arrested on October 17, 2013. A Monroe County jury convicted him of first-degree murder on July 6, 2015, and he was sentenced to life without parole under the law in effect in 1968. The Superior Court rejected his appeal in November 2016.
How it was solved
This was a reinvestigation that started with a loose end in an old file. In 1971, nearly three years after Barnes was killed, a witness told police that Richard Keiper, a bar acquaintance, had offered to sell him a gun for $10 and some of the victim's clothes, saying he had shot a man from Bethlehem Steel. Police did not follow up, and Keiper, by then, had left Pennsylvania with a traveling carnival. State police said in 2013 that the case had gone cold and Keiper was never tracked down and interrogated, until a trooper saw that as a loose end. The Monroe County district attorney's office said the trooper came across the 1971 statement while investigating the cold case; WFMZ also reported that Barnes's nephew had written to investigators asking them to reopen it. The witness was re-interviewed in August 2013 and confirmed what he had said in 1971. State police then located Keiper in Boyd, Texas, and asked the Texas Rangers to help. On September 24, 2013, he was interviewed, and according to the arrest affidavit reported by the Associated Press he said he shot Barnes at least three times during a struggle for the gun inside Barnes's car, drove the car to New Jersey, abandoned it, and hitched a ride to the Allentown area. Police said he gave conflicting versions of events, in one of which a third man was the shooter. A state police corporal said Keiper incriminated himself in the Ranger interview. He was arrested on October 17, 2013. At trial, defense lawyers pointed out that there was no DNA evidence or witnesses and that bullets and shell casings had been lost; prosecutors said ballistic and other evidence contradicted the self-defense claim. The jury convicted him in 2015.
Sources
- Texas Man Arrested In 1968 Pennsylvania Homicide (October 18, 2013)
“"For some reason, the case went cold, and Keiper was never tracked down and interrogated. Recently, one of our troopers saw that as a loose end," McAndrew said.”
- 1968 Murder of Lehigh Valley Man Solved, Police Say (October 18, 2013)
“Nearly 45 years to the day that a Bethlehem man was shot to death and dumped in a Monroe County field, a Texas man has been arrested for the crime.”
- Texas Man Arrested for 45-Year-Old Murder of Pa. Employee (October 18, 2013)
“McAndrew says police recently took another look at the cold case and zeroed in on Keiper, who was arrested without incident at his job at a wastewater treatment plant.”
- Arrest Made in Monroe County Cold Case (October 18, 2013)
“Mancuso says he believes one of the motives was Keiper wanted the victim's 1969 Ford Thunderbird.”
- 45 Years After a Cold-Blooded Pennsylvania Murder, the Law Catches Up With Richard Keiper in Wise County (October 18, 2013)
“Keiper became a suspect three years into the murder investigation after a witness came forward and told police that Keiper had approached him at a bar and tried to sell him a gun he'd used to shoot a guy from Bethlehem Steel, where the victim had worked.”
- Cold Case Spans Ages and Law (November 8, 2013)
“The trooper who opened up this cold case in Monroe County wasn't even born when the alleged crime occurred but the coroner who testified Friday is in his 90s.”
- Richard Keiper faces charges in murder of Bethlehem Steel worker 45 years ago (November 9, 2013)
“Police said Keiper has given conflicting versions of what happened.”
- Cold case murder trial wrapping up Monday (July 3, 2015)
“As years passed, the case went cold until Barnes' nephew sent a letter to investigators requesting they reopen the case.”
- Texas man convicted of murder in 1968 shooting death of Bethlehem Steel company employee (July 6, 2015)
“Authorities said he gave two versions of what happened but said in both that he acted in self-defense when Barnes pulled a gun on him.”
- Man gets life in prison with no parole for 1968 Chestnuthill slaying (October 2, 2015)
“A man convicted of murder in the shooting death of an eastern Pennsylvania man almost five decades ago has been sentenced to life in prison with no parole.”
- State denies appeal in decades-old murder (November 22, 2016)
“This week the state court issued a memorandum opinion denying Keiper's appeal.”
- Commonwealth v. Richard Keiper
“A state trooper investigating the cold case came across a 1971 statement of a witness who said Keiper offered to sell him a gun for $10.”