(Footage of 48 HOURS logo; firefighters; Worcester Cold Storage ablaze;
demolition of Worcester Cold Storage; fence)
DAN RATHER, host:
(Voiceover) It's been almost a year since the devastating blaze that killed six
firefighters in Worcester, Massachusetts. In the weeks that followed, the
building that had taken such a terrible toll on this city surrendered to the
wrecking ball. Remnants of the old Cold Storage Warehouse were torn down and
cleared away.
Today, the site is eerily vacant and still. Only a thin layer of gravel to
mark the perimeter of where the imposing six-story warehouse used to be. This
fence now surrounds the site, and there's a make-shift memorial, tributes from
people touched by the tragedy Worcester will never forget.
(Footage of Ellsworth, Maine; Julie Barnes; Worcester Cold Storage ablaze)
RATHER: Three hundred miles away in Ellsworth, Maine, Debb and Tim King are on
a mission to get Julie Barnes out of prison on bail and get all of the charges
dropped. She's one of two homeless people charged with six counts of
manslaughter for the firefighters' deaths. Correspondent Bill Lagattuta
continues now with Julie's story.
(Footage of Julie Barnes)
BILL LAGATTUTA reporting:
(Voiceover) Julie Barnes has been in prison for more than eight months. She's
given birth to a baby boy who's been placed with a family for possible
adoption.
Unidentified Man: May I please the court, Your Honor...
(Footage of courtroom proceedings)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) But Julie may soon get out if her lawyers can persuade a
judge to reduce her bail.
Unidentified Man: Julie may be released in the next day or so.
Mrs. DEBB KING: Oh, God. My heart is, like, pounding. I'm, like, so excited.
(Footage of Debb)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) Finally, the King's hard work has paid off.
Unidentified Judge: Thank you, folks.
(Footage of people exiting courtroom)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) The judge has ruled. Julie's companion, Tom Levesque,
will stay in prison on high bail, but because of the efforts of Debb and Tim
King, Julie's bail is reduced...
Mrs. KING: I can't believe it. I can't believe it.
(Footage of Debb)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) ...to $25,000...
Mrs. KING: I've got the money. I'm on my way to the prison. We're going to
meet...
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) ...which is just about all the Kings have been able to
raise.
Mrs. KING: (Voiceover) I had to take $25,000 in cash in my trunk--doesn't this
look like something in the old days as a cowboy--and drive all the way to
Massachusetts.
(Footage of MCI Framingham; Julie Barnes being released from custody)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) The charges still stand, but Julie is released from
prison in the custody of the Kings.
(Footage of Julie Barnes leaving prison)
Mrs. KING: (Voiceover) Today is a miracle, because you live in your small town
and you work with your community, but you just never realize that you can make
a change like this. This is a big change.
You know we've made a big change.
(Footage of Kings' vehicle with Julie Barnes in it)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) It's a five-hour car ride home to Ellsworth, Maine.
Mrs. KING: My sense tells me she really wants this family. She really wants
the structure.
I've got one of these. You like these?
Ms. JULIE BARNES: Yes.
(Footage of Barnes)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) The following morning, Julie Barnes is getting to know
her new family.
Mrs. KING: (Voiceover) Let's pretend they're not there.
(Footage of Julie Barnes)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) Julie is painfully shy.
Mrs. KING: Let me put it in for you.
Ms. BARNES: Oh, God.
(Footage of Julie Barnes; Kings)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) But by the time the Kings hit the shopping mall, she's
beginning to feel a little more comfortable.
Mrs. KING: There you go. There's your shoes.
(Footage of Tim King driving vehicle on highway)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) The Kings can't wait to see Julie reunited with her
younger sister, Jennifer.
Mr. TIM KING: Julie?
Mrs. KING: Julie?
(Footage of meeting at camp)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) That happens a week later when they pick up Jennifer
from summer camp.
Mrs. KING: Guess who's here? Can you guess who's here?
Mr. KING: Give her a hug?
Mrs. KING: Guys?
(Footage of reunion)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) At first the meeting is a bit awkward.
Mrs. KING: No hug?
Mr. KING: No hug. Give her a hug.
(Footage of Jennifer and Julie)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) Pizza helps break the ice. These two sisters, sisters
with similar faces and similar limitations, sisters separated for 13 years, are
starting to find each other.
LAGATTUTA: How old is Julie? She's--she's... *** Mrs. KING: Twenty.
LAGATTUTA: She's 20. How would you how would you describe her intellectual age
and her emotional age?
Mrs. KING: She goes anywhere from a 12-year-old to maybe a 14-year-old. You
know, she's at the boy-crazy age.
You like 'N Sync.
Ms. BARNES: Yup. Justin. He's fine looking.
LAGATTUTA: Come on. Can you look at me for a second? I want to see your
pretty face. Come on. I've been looking at pictures of you and I look at
pictures of you. What do...
Mrs. KING: He's never met you before?
LAGATTUTA: I've never met you before. Come on. I'm not that bad to look at.
I'm not--I don't look like Justin. I'm not as cool as he is.
Does she understand the charge against her...
Mrs. KING: No.
LAGATTUTA: ...why she's in court?
Mrs. KING: No.
LAGATTUTA: Do you understand all of what's going on?
Ms. BARNES: Yeah.
LAGATTUTA: You do?
Ms. BARNES: Blaming me for six manslaughters.
(Footage of Barnes and Lagattuta)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) Julie's muffled answer was, `They blame me for six
manslaughters.'
But will she be tried? If so, this will be a difficult case to prove. Is
there a duty to report a fire? Does her disability excuse her failure to
report? Should her companion be held more responsible? Or was this simply a
horrible tragedy that produced six true heroes but no true villains?
What do you think the authorities should do? Drop the charges?
Mrs. KING: Absolutely. Absolutely.
Ms. JENNIFER KING: (On videotape) Smile for the camera, girl.
(Home video of Barnes)
Mr. KING: I think that most people understand that even finding someone
responsible, even finding someone at fault will not bring closure to the pain
and the--and the terrible wound that Worcester--the Worcester area suffered.
Unidentified Firefighter: Doing anything to these people would be the
equivalency of kicking a puppy. It may feel good, but it's not going change
anything and it's not going to teach them anything.
(Footage of courtroom proceedings)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) Now Julie's lawyers must go back to court and ask the
judge to drop all of the charges.
Ms. KING: (From videotape) Hi, Julie.
(Home video of Barnes; footage of prison)
LAGATTUTA: (Voiceover) She still faces the possibility of 120 years behind
bars. Julie's fate later on 48 HOURS.
RATHER: Even as difficult questions of justice hang over this city and this
case, the families of the six firefighters who were lost are facing another
fight to try and rebuild their lives. That part of the story when we return.
