A Time To Kill

48 Hours

This episode of '48 Hours' explores the true story of Sterling Barber, a 17-year-old from rural Georgia who stabbed Gerald Douglas Wyatt in self-defense during a

Key takeaways

Sterling Barber's actions were driven by immediate survival instincts during a violent attack, not premeditated violence.
Multiple witnesses who had been victims of Doug Wyatt's predatory behavior believed Sterling's story instantly, recognizing Wyatt as a dangerous predator.

Main topics

Self-defense in extreme situations
The duality of public vs. private personas

Notable quotes

"I had no other choice. There was nothing else I could have done. And if they consider that wrong, then I just have to accept it."

"He said, why'd you do that? And I said, because you were trying to rape me. And that's whenever he said he was sorry. And I told him it was too late for that now."

Conclusion

Sterling Barber's story is one of survival, moral ambiguity, and the long road toward redemption. Though convicted and

Transcript preview

Speaker 2 (0:04) Franklin County is a small country place. It's country. And in Carnesville, it's nothing but a little speck. Nothing really much goes on there. Speaker 1 (0:18) Sterling Barber wants a life as quiet as his hometown in rural Georgia. Speaker 2 (0:24) I want to be a good dad, a good husband, raise my family right, and I want to take care of my mom, make it comfortable for her. Sterling's Speaker 6 (0:36) got Speaker 2 (0:36) a heart as Speaker 6 (0:37) big as Texas. From the day he was born, he's taken a big bite out of life. Everything he's done has been full speed ahead. Speaker 1 (0:46) Hey, Sterling. But Sterling's simple goals had to be put off after what happened on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere. He was just 17 the night he met Gerald Douglas Wyatt. Speaker 2 (0:59) It's the most fear you'd ever have. You can't describe. how it was. Speaker 1 (1:06) To his wife, Wyatt was the perfect family man. Speaker 3 (1:09) He was a very kind, caring man. Speaker 1 (1:15) To others, he was a predator. Speaker 3 (1:19) What I saw Speaker 7 (1:20) was a very evil man. Sterling Barber done what I always wished to God I'd have done. Speaker 2 (1:26) I had no other choice. There was nothing else I could have done. And if they consider that wrong, then I just have to accept it. Speaker 1 (1:34) If you believe Sterling, on the night of November 27th, 1995, he was just killing time at a truck stop. one of the few public places open near his home. Speaker 2 (1:45) I was at Petro. I got off from night school and went up there to get something to eat and hang out a little bit. And I was watching a movie. And whenever I came out of the movie room, he approached me. Speaker 1 (1:58) According to Sterling, Wyatt said he was a private detective and asked him for help. Speaker 2 (2:03) He was checking out a lawyer's wife that was supposedly cheating on him and they were fixing to get a divorce and he needed evidence. He said I looked like a local. I wanted some help. Speaker 1 (2:14) Wyatt offered Sterling $40 to drive him around town, but things started to go bad soon after they left the truck stop in Wyatt's car. I Speaker 2 (2:23) said, isn't it about time we go back to Petro? Speaker 1 (2:26) Barber says his new acquaintance told him he had to relieve himself. Speaker 2 (2:31) Whenever he came back in, his pants were unbuttoned and unzipped, and he climbed over on top of me, and he put his forearm in my throat. And he was trying to choke me out. I started to pass out. And whenever I did, I stopped struggling. I stopped trying to fight him. And he loosened his grip on me, and that's whenever I grabbed my knife and I stabbed him. Speaker 1 (2:56) Sterling stabbed Wyatt once in the shoulder with his hunting knife. Speaker 2 (3:00) What else was I supposed to do? Just let him do it? Speaker 1 (3:02) Then he stabbed him five more times in the groin. Speaker 2 (3:05) He said, why'd you do that? And I said, because you were trying to rape me. And that's whenever he said he was sorry. And I told him it was too late for that now. Speaker 1 (3:16) Wyatt Speaker 4 (3:17) slumped forward in the car. And then I just wanted to go home. I didn't know Speaker 2 (3:22) what else to do, so I just pulled him out of the car, and I left. I went back home. Speaker 1 (3:27) Would that have been a time to go for help? I Speaker 2 (3:31) don't know. The only thing I knew to do was just to get away. That's all. Speaker 1 (3:37) Sterling took Wyatt's car and drove home to his mother, Judy Barber. Speaker 2 (3:42) I lost it. When Sterling needed me the most, I lost it. She asked me what happened. I said, Mom, a guy tried to rape me, and I stabbed him. Speaker 1 (3:53) Did you tell him to call the police? Did you want him to call the police? Speaker 6 (3:57) No, I wanted to get an attorney, which is a very difficult thing to do when you don't know anybody in the middle of the night. Speaker 1 (4:04) But Judy told Sterling to take Wyatt's car back to the truck stop, and Sterling went on the run. Speaker 1 (4:12) Meanwhile, Doug Wyatt was bleeding to death on the side of a road. Speaker 3 (4:16) He was on a Sunday. Pat Speaker 1 (4:17) Wyatt, his wife of 21 years, did not know where he was. Speaker 3 (4:22) He was missing like for three days. And during that time, I always had hope that he was still alive until I got a call one night. Speaker 8 (4:39) Well, his pants was down around his ankles and he had a shirt on. Speaker 8 (4:48) Went out there with Speaker 1 (4:50) his eyes open. Sheriff Hugh Roach got a tip and tracked down Sterling Barber. When the deputies found him, Sterling confessed and told them where to find Wyatt's body. Speaker 8 (5:02) We come up here and we found Mr. Wyatt's body laying right in here, laying on his back. Speaker 1 (5:10) The sheriff's still not buying Sterling Barber's story that he killed Wyatt in self-defense. Speaker 8 (5:16) I don't believe it. You don't believe any of it? No. I don't believe any of it. Why not? Why would he stab him so many times if all he was trying to do was get away from him? Speaker 8 (5:30) If he had got out of that car when he got loose from Wyatt, come to us, there wouldn't have been nothing done. Speaker 1 (5:38) But because Sterling never called the police and in fact took Wyatt's car and ran, he was charged with armed robbery and murder. Speaker 3 (5:47) A Franklin County teenager pleads not guilty Speaker 6 (5:49) to murder charges. Speaker 1 (5:51) Do you think what he did after the fact was wrong? Speaker 6 (5:53) How can anybody say I would have done this or I would have done that? You've got no idea. idea what happens when you face evil. Speaker 1 (6:05) Is Sterling Barber a murderer? Yes. You don't even hesitate? Not even for a minute? There's no doubt in your mind? No doubt in my mind. He's a murderer? And according to one witness who saw Sterling Barber that night, he didn't act anything at all like a scared boy who had just fought off a sexual attack. Speaker 2 (6:25) He came in and it was 4 o'clock in the morning. Sat down on the end bar stool. He ordered a ribeye steak, ordered french fries. Double order of ice cream and a Coke with refill. Speaker 1 (6:39) Marion Pritchett says she knew Sterling from working with him at the Echo Diner. Speaker 2 (6:44) I rang up his order. He paid me with a $20 bill. He had blood on it. I said, why is this money so bloody? He said, I killed a deer and dressed it. And I always get blood all over me when I dress a deer. Okay. I didn't have a problem with it. Never in a million years would I have thought that he had even been in a fight, much less had murdered anybody. He was too calm. Speaker 1 (7:13) Way too calm. Was there blood on your money? Speaker 4 (7:16) No, sir. There Speaker 1 (7:18) wasn't Speaker 4 (7:18) any blood Speaker 1 (7:19) on Speaker 4 (7:19) my Speaker 1 (7:19) money. You didn't tell her that the blood was from a deer? No, Speaker 4 (7:22) sir. Speaker 1 (7:22) That never happened? No, Speaker 4 (7:24) sir. I don't understand why she said that. Speaker 1 (7:29) Sterling says he never trusted the law. He's had several run-ins with Sheriff Roach before for shooting a kid with a BB gun, for beating up his older brother, and for running away from home. But Sterling Barber had never been charged with a violent crime before, and his friends do not think he's capable of committing one. Speaker 6 (7:50) He's such a good person. He really is. He talks like a gentleman. Speaker 4 (7:54) Nice all around. Real good guy. Just always been a real good friend to me, and as far as I know, everybody else over here. Speaker 6 (8:02) Just a Speaker 1 (8:03) good Speaker 6 (8:04) person. Sterling was a standout baseball player. The boys that played ball with Sterling, I'll tell you, he was awesome. Sterling was one of my star players. Just an Speaker 1 (8:13) excellent kid. His coach, Scotty Atkinson, says he never saw a violent side to Sterling. I can't see it. Speaker 7 (8:21) I can't see what he's already been through. Sterling was too good. In my eyes, it was just too good. Speaker 6 (8:28) I wish we could go back. Life stopped dead that Speaker 1 (8:33) night. Life stopped for the Wyatt family as well. Speaker 3 (8:37) It flashes in my mind time after time of what he had to endure, how much he suffered, the pain that he went through. Speaker 1 (8:49) The Wyatts had two children, their son Braxton. He was brutally Speaker