Maria was sitting in her room, playing on her computer when she heard a man scream from outside.
She looked out her window, but saw nothing. She and her parents moved to Nebraska about one year
ago, when Maria was seventeen. Her dad got a better paying job in a new location, so they were
relocated and the house they moved into was much bigger than their house in New Hampshire. The first
time Maria saw it, she thought it was perfect. It was a large brick colonial on a secluded nine-house
street. The house gave off a bit of a creepy vibe, but after a year, nothing horrible seemed to have
happened.
Maria walked downstairs to check outside to see what the screaming was about. She walked past her
dining room, where her parents were eating dinner. She opened her back door and stepped out onto her
deck. She slowly looked around trying to adjust her eyes to focus through the pitch black outdoors. She
turned to her neighbor's house, where the side door slammed shut just as she looked there. The garage
light was on, but she couldn't see who was in it. She turned and walked back into her house, curious as
to what had just happened next door.
Her next door neighbors weren't exactly what you may consider normal. They were an older couple, a
man and his wife. The man, Allen, had brown hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and always wore dress pants
with a polo shirt. He lived with his hearing impaired wife, Debbie, who seemed nice, but usually stayed
inside the house. Allen talked to himself every time Maria or her parents had seen him. He would take out
the garbage, and as he's walking down his driveway, he talked to himself, almost as if he was in a
conversation.
However, Maria had also met the rest of her neighbors since she had moved. Her other next door
neighbors were a younger couple with two small children that Maria would baby-sit occasionally. Next to
them was a man who lived by himself, more of a loner, who lived next to an older couple, who lived next
to the owners of the street. After meeting all of her neighbors last year, Maria was convinced she had
moved to a place she'd really like.
About a week after Maria heard the screaming, her dad Bruce was outside doing yard work. Allen came
from his yard and walked toward Maria's dad. He just asked how their family was doing, and before he
left, mentioned that his nephew, Lucas, moved in a few weeks before. Bruce thanked Allen for the chat,
and went back inside to get a glass of water.
Maria then received the news that her parents were leaving for a few days for her dad's business. Maria
couldn't go because she was going with her best friend Lizzy to see their favorite band, The Black List.
Not wanting to be alone for the rest of the week, Maria asked Lizzy to stay with her until her parents
returned. Lizzy and Maria were probably The Black List's biggest fans. Maria had posters all over her wall
of the lead singer, Dez, and had wanted to go to a concert of theirs for two years.
Maria and Lizzy went to The Black List concert, and started driving back home. They had bought one
of every piece of merchandise there. The laughed and sang their songs the entire way back. Once they
got home, Maria went to open her front door. She pushed the key in the keyhole, and started turning it
when she realized that the door was already unlocked. She could have sworn she locked the door, but
assumed she was so excited about the concert, that she must have forgotten.
She opened the door and walked into the dark great room. Lizzy followed closely behind her. Maria
turned on the light, and set her souvenirs on the kitchen table. She and Lizzy went upstairs and started
discussing the concert. They had tired themselves out, and didn't talk very long before they both had
fallen asleep. They woke up the next morning to the doorbell ringing. They couldn't figure out who in the
world would be ringing the doorbell, because everyone they associated with knew Maria was home alone.
Maria and Lizzy get to the front door, and Maria looks through the peephole. The first thing she saw
was two men wearing uniforms with the word "sheriff" on them. She told Lizzy to stand right behind her,
in case they weren't really police officers, and they needed to close the door on them quickly. She
opened the door and the officers asked, "Is Steve here?"
Not even knowing who they were talking about, Maria questioned what they were looking for. They said
they were looking for Steven Barnett, for multiple warrants for his arrest. Worried, Maria asked why they
were asking her about him. They answered that Steven needed to be found, and that his last known
address was here. "My house was vacant for three years before we moved here last year," Maria stated.
The officers just asked Maria to call them if she saw a tall, red haired man walking around. Maria gave
them her word, and they left.
Lizzy and Maria closed the door and walked into the kitchen. They started creating scenarios for why
Steven Barnett was wanted so badly. "Maybe he was a bank robber," Maria suggested. "He could be a
drug dealer,'' Lizzie mentioned. Maria then realized another option, and scared herself as she said, "Or he
could be a convicted killer."
Lizzy and Maria sat on the couch watching TV later that night. They were starting to get tired, so they
turned off the TV and started walking upstairs. Lizzy was behind Maria, and before she reached the first
stair, asked, "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?'' Maria asked as she stopped walking upstairs. They both
fell silent, as they listened to the yelling going on outside. They walked to the back door, and didn't see
anything. Maria then opened the door quietly and looked to the direction that the noise was coming
from. There, in Allen's backyard, she saw the outline of a man with a shovel in the flowerbed.
He seemed to be the only one around, which would mean he was yelling at himself. The biggest question
was, however, was what was he doing in the flowerbed in the middle of the night. She initially knew the
man had to be her neighbor, Allen, knowing how Allen always talks to himself. She ran inside breathing
heavily and pushed Lizzy as they ran upstairs. She didn't turn any lights on in her house that night,
worrying that whoever was in the flowerbed would see them and come after them.
The next morning, Maria and Lizzy contemplated calling the police. They wanted to in case something
really did happen the night before, however didn't want to in case nothing had happened, and Allen was
doing some late-night gardening. Maria and Lizzy wanted to take their minds off of everything like that,
so they went to the mall that day. They wanted some time to get away, and think about if they should
call the police or not.
As they returned home, Maria went to unlock the door and realized that the door was once again
unlocked. Thins time she was really scared. She knew for a fact she locked the door. She was afraid to
walk inside, so she called the police. When they arrived, Maria told them all about Allen talking and yelling
at himself, hearing screaming at night, and seeing the man digging in the flowerbed. The police searched
Maria's house immediately, and found no one. They suggested Maria leaving the door unlocked, but Maria
told them this was the second time she's found the door unlocked, and was positive she locked it that
day.
The police ran over to Allen's house and knocked on the door. No one answered. They walked around
the back of the house, and on the patio, lied a dead man. They recognized him immediately as Steven
Barnett, the former resident of Maria's house. They went to the flowerbed and started digging. There
they found three more bodies. Steven Barnett had killed them. However, the next question wasn't about
who Steven killed, it was who killed Steven?
Allen then walked out of the back door and immediately turned himself in. He had killed Steve out of self
defense. He claimed Steve came after him with a folding chair and Allen had no other choice but to kill
him. He said he knew Steven had committed all of those murders, but was afraid to confront him about
it. Maria then asked, "So there was no nephew, Steven lived here?" "Yes, my nephew Lucas lived here for
about a week before Steven came and killed him," Allen replied.
"So why were my doors unlocked?" Maria asked. Allen then told her that he would sometimes see Steven
in her house when she wasn't home. He didn't know what he did in there, but assumed he just walked
around it and observed it. "He wasn't right in the head," Allen then stated.
Allen was arrested for murder to Steven, but had a trial to plead his case of self defense. The police dug
the backyard bodies up and has a funeral service for each of them. Maria and Lizzy moved to Las Vegas
together, and Maria had to get counseling for all of the things she'd witnessed. When Maria's parents
returned home, they immediately moved out of the house, not wanting to ever remember any of it again.
Maria hoped she never had to deal with another murder in her lifetime.
She looked out her window, but saw nothing. She and her parents moved to Nebraska about one year
ago, when Maria was seventeen. Her dad got a better paying job in a new location, so they were
relocated and the house they moved into was much bigger than their house in New Hampshire. The first
time Maria saw it, she thought it was perfect. It was a large brick colonial on a secluded nine-house
street. The house gave off a bit of a creepy vibe, but after a year, nothing horrible seemed to have
happened.
Maria walked downstairs to check outside to see what the screaming was about. She walked past her
dining room, where her parents were eating dinner. She opened her back door and stepped out onto her
deck. She slowly looked around trying to adjust her eyes to focus through the pitch black outdoors. She
turned to her neighbor's house, where the side door slammed shut just as she looked there. The garage
light was on, but she couldn't see who was in it. She turned and walked back into her house, curious as
to what had just happened next door.
Her next door neighbors weren't exactly what you may consider normal. They were an older couple, a
man and his wife. The man, Allen, had brown hair, wire-rimmed glasses, and always wore dress pants
with a polo shirt. He lived with his hearing impaired wife, Debbie, who seemed nice, but usually stayed
inside the house. Allen talked to himself every time Maria or her parents had seen him. He would take out
the garbage, and as he's walking down his driveway, he talked to himself, almost as if he was in a
conversation.
However, Maria had also met the rest of her neighbors since she had moved. Her other next door
neighbors were a younger couple with two small children that Maria would baby-sit occasionally. Next to
them was a man who lived by himself, more of a loner, who lived next to an older couple, who lived next
to the owners of the street. After meeting all of her neighbors last year, Maria was convinced she had
moved to a place she'd really like.
About a week after Maria heard the screaming, her dad Bruce was outside doing yard work. Allen came
from his yard and walked toward Maria's dad. He just asked how their family was doing, and before he
left, mentioned that his nephew, Lucas, moved in a few weeks before. Bruce thanked Allen for the chat,
and went back inside to get a glass of water.
Maria then received the news that her parents were leaving for a few days for her dad's business. Maria
couldn't go because she was going with her best friend Lizzy to see their favorite band, The Black List.
Not wanting to be alone for the rest of the week, Maria asked Lizzy to stay with her until her parents
returned. Lizzy and Maria were probably The Black List's biggest fans. Maria had posters all over her wall
of the lead singer, Dez, and had wanted to go to a concert of theirs for two years.
Maria and Lizzy went to The Black List concert, and started driving back home. They had bought one
of every piece of merchandise there. The laughed and sang their songs the entire way back. Once they
got home, Maria went to open her front door. She pushed the key in the keyhole, and started turning it
when she realized that the door was already unlocked. She could have sworn she locked the door, but
assumed she was so excited about the concert, that she must have forgotten.
She opened the door and walked into the dark great room. Lizzy followed closely behind her. Maria
turned on the light, and set her souvenirs on the kitchen table. She and Lizzy went upstairs and started
discussing the concert. They had tired themselves out, and didn't talk very long before they both had
fallen asleep. They woke up the next morning to the doorbell ringing. They couldn't figure out who in the
world would be ringing the doorbell, because everyone they associated with knew Maria was home alone.
Maria and Lizzy get to the front door, and Maria looks through the peephole. The first thing she saw
was two men wearing uniforms with the word "sheriff" on them. She told Lizzy to stand right behind her,
in case they weren't really police officers, and they needed to close the door on them quickly. She
opened the door and the officers asked, "Is Steve here?"
Not even knowing who they were talking about, Maria questioned what they were looking for. They said
they were looking for Steven Barnett, for multiple warrants for his arrest. Worried, Maria asked why they
were asking her about him. They answered that Steven needed to be found, and that his last known
address was here. "My house was vacant for three years before we moved here last year," Maria stated.
The officers just asked Maria to call them if she saw a tall, red haired man walking around. Maria gave
them her word, and they left.
Lizzy and Maria closed the door and walked into the kitchen. They started creating scenarios for why
Steven Barnett was wanted so badly. "Maybe he was a bank robber," Maria suggested. "He could be a
drug dealer,'' Lizzie mentioned. Maria then realized another option, and scared herself as she said, "Or he
could be a convicted killer."
Lizzy and Maria sat on the couch watching TV later that night. They were starting to get tired, so they
turned off the TV and started walking upstairs. Lizzy was behind Maria, and before she reached the first
stair, asked, "Did you hear that?" "Hear what?'' Maria asked as she stopped walking upstairs. They both
fell silent, as they listened to the yelling going on outside. They walked to the back door, and didn't see
anything. Maria then opened the door quietly and looked to the direction that the noise was coming
from. There, in Allen's backyard, she saw the outline of a man with a shovel in the flowerbed.
He seemed to be the only one around, which would mean he was yelling at himself. The biggest question
was, however, was what was he doing in the flowerbed in the middle of the night. She initially knew the
man had to be her neighbor, Allen, knowing how Allen always talks to himself. She ran inside breathing
heavily and pushed Lizzy as they ran upstairs. She didn't turn any lights on in her house that night,
worrying that whoever was in the flowerbed would see them and come after them.
The next morning, Maria and Lizzy contemplated calling the police. They wanted to in case something
really did happen the night before, however didn't want to in case nothing had happened, and Allen was
doing some late-night gardening. Maria and Lizzy wanted to take their minds off of everything like that,
so they went to the mall that day. They wanted some time to get away, and think about if they should
call the police or not.
As they returned home, Maria went to unlock the door and realized that the door was once again
unlocked. Thins time she was really scared. She knew for a fact she locked the door. She was afraid to
walk inside, so she called the police. When they arrived, Maria told them all about Allen talking and yelling
at himself, hearing screaming at night, and seeing the man digging in the flowerbed. The police searched
Maria's house immediately, and found no one. They suggested Maria leaving the door unlocked, but Maria
told them this was the second time she's found the door unlocked, and was positive she locked it that
day.
The police ran over to Allen's house and knocked on the door. No one answered. They walked around
the back of the house, and on the patio, lied a dead man. They recognized him immediately as Steven
Barnett, the former resident of Maria's house. They went to the flowerbed and started digging. There
they found three more bodies. Steven Barnett had killed them. However, the next question wasn't about
who Steven killed, it was who killed Steven?
Allen then walked out of the back door and immediately turned himself in. He had killed Steve out of self
defense. He claimed Steve came after him with a folding chair and Allen had no other choice but to kill
him. He said he knew Steven had committed all of those murders, but was afraid to confront him about
it. Maria then asked, "So there was no nephew, Steven lived here?" "Yes, my nephew Lucas lived here for
about a week before Steven came and killed him," Allen replied.
"So why were my doors unlocked?" Maria asked. Allen then told her that he would sometimes see Steven
in her house when she wasn't home. He didn't know what he did in there, but assumed he just walked
around it and observed it. "He wasn't right in the head," Allen then stated.
Allen was arrested for murder to Steven, but had a trial to plead his case of self defense. The police dug
the backyard bodies up and has a funeral service for each of them. Maria and Lizzy moved to Las Vegas
together, and Maria had to get counseling for all of the things she'd witnessed. When Maria's parents
returned home, they immediately moved out of the house, not wanting to ever remember any of it again.
Maria hoped she never had to deal with another murder in her lifetime.
The Backyard Killer
by Melana Janda
by Melana Janda
