Montco DA: Conscience, Reward May Lead to New Britain Teen's Killer

Conscience—that is what Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman, county detectives and Lansdale Police Chief Robert McDyre and his team are relying on to thaw out a 20-year cold case of the 1993 slaying of New Britain Township 18-year-old Julie Barnyock.

Ferman made a revelation Friday morning at the county detectives' bureau in Norristown: New evidence has been uncovered and was sent for laboratory testing, and there are persons of interest in the case.
 
Ferman announced a $10,000 reward offered by the district attorney's office for information leading to an arrest and conviction of those responsible for the Barnyock's killing.

Barnyock, a Central Bucks West graduate, was last seen Nov. 8, 1993 when she left her home to visit friends in South Philadelphia. She last spoke to her parents late that evening from the Lansdale Train Station.

"Exactly 20 years ago today, (Barnyock) went missing. She took the R5 from Philadelphia to Lansdale and arrived at 11:40 in the evening. She was seen at the train station talking to an individual between 20 and 30 years old," Ferman said.

At 12:20 a.m., Barnyock called her father Joseph to pick her up. Her parents remember a nervous tone to her voice and the sudden slamming down of the phone.

Shortly thereafter, Ferman said, Joseph came from Bucks County to pick up his daughter, but he could not find her.

She was reported missing and a search was undertaken for her, Ferman said.

"It wasn't until nearly a month later, when her body was found hidden in the back area of Lansdale train station," she said.

She was found by a homeless man in overgrown weeds in the Lansdale train yard on Dec. 2, 1993. Her head was bashed in beyond recognition and she was naked from the waist down.

"For 20 years, Lansdale detectives and the county detectives have been working this case. There have been many leads, there have been hundreds of hours, there have been investigative tools used and, at this point in time, we still have not been able to solve this case," she said. 

Ferman said that all involved have taken a new look at the case.

"We decided to take a new look and give new investigators full access to the files to see if anyone can bring a fresh perspective and a fresh set of eyes," she said.

Based on that new review, there has been new information uncovered, she said.

"We've sent items to the lab and there are individuals we want to talk to," she said. "We simply hope there is someone out there that has information on the case."

Ferman and investigators are hopeful that someone has been confided in by someone close to them.

"After 20 years, it's time for them to release that information," she said. "We're hopeful that this reward, and perhaps some conscience, will compel someone to share this information with law enforcement." 

In 1993 and 1998, there were three persons of interest in the case; at least two of those persons of interest were either in prison on assault charges against women or a defendant in murder cases.

"There are persons of interest that make us think they have information about this case, and a number of them are on the street and not in prison," Ferman said. "We will follow up and speak with them and individuals in their lives that may have information on this his case they will share with us."

One reporter at the press conference Friday asked if the case reopens old wounds for Gloria and Joseph Barnyock. Ferman's answer focused on a parent's heartbreak that aches forever.

"I can't presume to speak for the family, but from what I've read in past reports and what they've shared with us, this is a very frustrating thing for them," Ferman said. "Over the years, any time an old case comes up, it does reopen old wounds. But I don't think they ever heal. Twenty years later, they are still raw and fresh as it was when it first happened."

Tips? Want to claim your reward?: 610-226-5553 or 215-368-1801 (Montgomery County Detectives and Lansdale Police, respectively)