In the News

A DEVIL'S ACT 
SUNDAY, FEB. 11, 1996 
HURRICANE, W.VA. 

"Daddy, what are we doing?" 

Five-year-old Katie Lavigne’s world revolved around the silly, random things that kids latch onto. For her, it was spaghetti, cats (she dressed as a black one every Halloween) and the pink Power Ranger. 

On August 8, 2002, the body of 20-year-old Deanna Crawford was discovered in the remote region of Cabell County, West Virginia. Crawford had been strangled, beaten and likely raped. Five years passed without police developing any leads. Brothers Nathan and Philip Barnett and their friend Justin Black were indicted in May 2007 based on three conflicting, drug-addled and shifting “confessions” provided by a man named Brian Dement over the course of an 8-hour overnight interrogation after an unrelated arrest. Although Dement’s confession did not comport with the facts of the crime scene, all four men were convicted.

“It’s heartbreaking to know that your only two children have spent eight-plus years in prison for a crime they didn’t commit,” said Tammy Barnett, Nathan and Philip’s mother.

Leaving Huttonsville Correctional Center Wednesday was a milestone in Joseph Lavigne Jr.’s life and, as he returned to the Kanawha Valley, Lavigne was certain it wouldn’t be the last one.

At 59 years old, Lavigne walked out of the prison in Randolph County, where he was greeted by family, friends and representatives of the Innocence Project at the West Virginia University College of Law.