Jerome Barrett Indicted for 1975 Murder of Marcia Trimble
June 6, 2008
Davidson County District Attorney General Victor S. “Torry” Johnson and Metro Police Chief Ronal Serpas today announced the indictment of Jerome Barrett in connection with the February 1975 homicide of nine-year-old Marcia Trimble.
A Davidson County Grand Jury heard the case against Barrett on Tuesday and presented a sealed indictment charging him with first-degree murder and felony murder. The sealed indictment became public this morning when Barrett was served with a capias by Cold Case Unit Sergeant Pat Postiglione, Detective Bill Pridemore, and Commander Mickey Miller. Barrett, 61, is currently incarcerated in the Davidson County jail awaiting trial for the February 2, 1975, murder of Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez.
“The murder of Marcia Trimble is one that affected the entire Nashville community,” Johnson said. “It’s a case that no one has forgotten. For the benefit of the Trimble family, I am pleased to be able to make this announcement today.”
“For the past 33 years, more than two generations of police officers devoted thousands upon thousands of hours of investigative work to solving Marcia Trimble’s murder,” Serpas said. “I spoke to Virginia Trimble shortly after arriving in Nashville in 2004 and assured her this department would never give up on Marcia’s case or any other unsolved homicide.”
“Today, I express my gratitude to Commander Miller, who, as a Homicide supervisor, spent a number of years pursuing leads in this case. I also thank Sergeant Postiglione and Detective Pridemore, both from our Cold Case Unit, for meticulously coordinating the crucial investigative work over the past several months. This is an important day for the Trimble family and Nashville as a whole,” Serpas said.
Marcia Trimble was delivering cookies when she disappeared on February 25, 1975. After weeks of extensive searches, her body was discovered in a Green Hills garage on Estes Road on March 30, 1975. In the years since she was killed, Metro police have continued to actively investigate this case. It was recent scientific evidence that has connected Barrett to Marcia’s murder.
No further arrests are expected in this case. Barrett will be arraigned on the new indictment in coming weeks. He is set to go on trial for the murder of Sarah Des Prez in October 2008. Both cases will be prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney General Tom Thurman.
###
Virginia Trimble, Marcia's mother, issued this statement regarding today's indictment of Jerome Barrett:
"It sounds as if this could be the next chapter in the life and death of Marcia Trimble. My family and I are grateful to this wonderful community for hearts opening to us, prayers continuing to be prayed, and for friends and strangers who have stood with us believing that one day we would all know the truth of Marcia's death. I praise God for the never yielding investigating work of the Metro Police Department as they, now joined with the District Attorney's Office, may finally bring justice for Marcia and solve her murder that has haunted us all for 33 years."
District Attorney General Torry Johnson announces the indictment of Jerome Barrett for the 1975 murder of Marcia Trimble. Also pictured (l-r) are Chief Ronal Serpas, Commander Mickey Miller, Deputy District Attorney Tom Thurman, Sergeant Pat Postiglione, and Detective Bill Pridemore. The following is the text of General Johnson's prepared remarks at the indictment announcement.
Today the Davidson County Grand Jury returned a two-count indictment against Jerome Sidney Barrett, charging him with the first degree murder of Marcia Trimble.
This morning Mr. Barrett has been served with these new charges. He is currently confined to the Davidson County jail awaiting trial for the 1975 murder of Vanderbilt University student Sarah Des Prez.
The murder of Marcia Trimble has haunted the Nashville community for more than 30 years, and for the sake of the Trimble family, I am pleased to make this announcement today.
Marcia was 9 years old and selling cookies in the Green Hills area when she disappeared in February 1975. After weeks of extensive search efforts, her body was discovered in a garage on Estes Road.
In the years since her death, the police department has been very diligent in continuing to actively investigate this case. They have developed and followed hundreds of leads over several decades. And through all this time, the unsolved case of Marcia Trimble’s murder captured the attention of those she grew up with, as well as those who never knew her.
As part of this relentless investigation, recent scientific evidence has linked Jerome Barrett to Marcia Trimble’s murder. No further arrests are anticipated in this case.
The next step in this criminal process is to have Mr. Barrett arraigned on these new charges in Division I of the Criminal Court in the near future.
He is currently scheduled to go on trial in October of this year for the 1975 murder of Sarah Des Prez.
In making this announcement today, I would like to thank the dozens of police officers and detectives who have worked tirelessly on this case. Some of those people are here with us this morning: West Precinct Commander Mickey Miller was the Homicide supervisor who spent many years doggedly pursuing this case. More recently, Sergeant Pat Postiglione and Detective Bill Pridemore have taken over the investigation. They are familiar faces, because of their impressive work with the Cold Case Unit.
The following is the text of Chief Serpas' prepared remarks at the indictment announcement:
This is an important day for the Trimble family and Nashville as a whole.
For the past 33 years, more than two generations of police officers devoted thousands of hours of investigative work to solving Marcia Trimble’s murder.
Shortly after I arrived in Nashville in 2004, I was briefed on several active investigations, among them Marcia Trimble, Janet March and Tabitha Tuders. I remember assuring Virginia Trimble that this police department would never give up on Marcia’s case or any of these unsolved matters. None of us can even begin to imagine what Ms. Trimble and these other family members have endured.
Today, I want to express my gratitude to Commander Mickey Miller, who, as a Homicide Supervisor, spent a number of years pursuing leads in Marcia’s case. I also want to thank Sergeant Pat Postiglione and Detective Bill Pridemore, both from our Cold Case Unit, for coordinating the crucial investigative work over the past several months.
As many of you will remember, we reconstituted our Cold Case Unit in March of 2005. Since then, the work of Sergeant Postiglione and his six detectives has resulted in the clearance of 28 Cold Case Homicides, 25 by arrest, and three by exception (meaning that the suspect is no longer living). Five additional cases are very close to being cleared.
Our partnership with the District Attorney’s Office on Cold Cases is giving families hope AND closure. Again, as I told Virginia Trimble more than four years ago, this police department will never give up in our efforts to solve Cold Case homicides.
This booking photograph of Jerome Barrett was taken this morning after he was served with the grand jury warrant.
Jerome Barrett