David James Barker appears March 16 in Clark County Superior Court in connection with the death of 66-year-old Sharon Allison of Vancouver. Barker was arraigned Wednesday on a charge of first-degree murder. (Natalie Behring/ The Columbian)
A transient man who allegedly killed a 66-year-old Vancouver woman in May was arraigned Wednesday morning on a charge of first-degree murder.
David James Barker, 44, pleaded not guilty in Clark County Superior Court on the amended charge. He had appeared in court earlier this month on an allegation of second-degree murder in the slaying of Sharon Allison in her apartment at Columbia House, 130 W. 24th St. Allison had physical and mental disabilities, court records said.
During arraignment, Barker was markedly quieter than he was at his last court appearance, where he repeatedly told the court, “It was compassion. She asked me to do it.”
His trial is scheduled to begin May 23.
Barker was arrested March 11 in Portland by the U.S. Marshals Violent Offender Task Force after detectives linked him to Allison’s death based on DNA found on a cigarette butt and lamp stand inside her apartment, court records show.
Police found Allison dead inside her one-bedroom, one-bathroom apartment May 9. Her body had been placed inside an 80-gallon, blue recycling bin in her living room, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in Superior Court. She was last seen alive the day before talking to an unidentified man in the hallway of her apartment building.
An autopsy concluded Allison died of blunt-force head trauma. The pattern of injuries at the base of her head and corresponding skull fractures led police to believe a lamp stand, found near her body, was likely the weapon used, according to court documents.
DNA evidence found on a cigarette butt in Allison’s bathroom came back as a match to Barker after it was run through the Washington State Patrol’s DNA database. The DNA found on the lamp stand also was a possible match to Barker’s DNA, the affidavit said.
A maintenance man, who was the last known person to see Allison alive, later identified Barker in a photo lineup as the man Allison was seen talking to, court records said.
Allison and Barker reportedly knew each other, and she had let him into the building. Their paths crossed during one of Allison’s walks in downtown Vancouver, an area Barker frequented, according to Vancouver police.
Family members told detectives that Allison was “naively trusting and easily taken advantage of,” court records show.
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