‘Rocky’ Eales killer sentenced to death

MUSKOGEE (AP) — A federal judge formally sentenced Kenneth Eugene Barrett to death Monday for the murder of a state trooper during a raid on Barrett’s Sequoyah County home.

Barrett had no reaction when Judge James H. Payne handed down the sentence.

The jury that convicted Barrett of the 1999 shooting death of Trooper David “Rocky” Eales had recommended the death sentence last month.

“I would much prefer that today be September 23, 1999, and that we have the benefit of 20/20 hindsight,” U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said.

“At this point, though, we respectfully submit that the federal jury got it right. There is no open season on law enforcement officers in the Eastern District of Oklahoma.”

In 2002, in a state murder trial, a Sequoyah County jury deadlocked on a murder charge against Barrett. In a subsequent state trial in 2004, Barrett, 44, was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and assault with a deadly weapon.

He was sentenced to 30 years in state prison.

Barrett shot and killed Eales and wounded Trooper John “Buddy” Hamilton as the two officers, driving in an unmarked vehicle, led a caravan of police cars that drove to Barrett’s rural Sequoyah County home before dawn to serve a “no-knock” search warrant for drugs.

Barrett had said that because the lead vehicle had no emergency lights on that he did not know he was shooting at police.

Defense attorney Roger Hilfiger had argued that although the law allows a person convicted and sentenced in a state court to be tried again in federal court for the same crime, most people would consider it double jeopardy.

U.S. Attorney Sheldon Sperling said Barrett intended to take out as many lawmen as he could on the night of the shoot-out and is violent, so should be put to death.

Sperling also told jurors Barrett was not remorseful about Eales’ death.