DELAWARE COUNTY, Ind. — A judge has granted probation for a convicted murderer in Delaware County. The Delaware County prosecutor objected to the decision.
In 1991, 31-year-old Daniel Barker's body was found in the Mississinewa River. He had been beaten and stabbed 47 times before his body was dumped.
On Feb. 23, 1991, 17-year-old Matt Stidham and friends went to Barker's home in Eaton, Indiana, to drink whiskey and play guitar. Stidham and Barker started trading punches as "horseplay," according to police, but eventually began to really fight.
That's when Stidham's friends joined in, also kicking and punching Barker. Then, someone grabbed a wooden club and started beating Barker with that.
The group then took Barker's electronic equipment and loaded it in his van. They gagged Barker and put him in the back of the van, before driving off.
Eventually, they drove to a secluded place near the Mississinewa River, where they beat Barker again before Stidham took a knife and stabbed Barker 47 times.
Witnesses say Stidham chanted "Satan is with us" and "we kill for Satan" while he stabbed Barker over and over.
Stidham and his friends drove to Illinois, where they were arrested.
Stidham was convicted of murder, robbery, criminal confinement, battery and auto theft. He was sentenced to 141 years in prison.
In 2023, his sentenced was reduced to 88 years because he wasn't an adult when the crime was committed.
Now, a judge has ordered the remainder of his sentence will be served on probation.
Barker's family has opposed the reduction in sentence, as has Delaware County Prosecutor Eric Hoffman.
Stidham is currently working as a fire chief and had two directors of the Indiana Department of Corrections testify on his behalf. Stidham suffered from severe abuse from his stepmother as a child.
A psychologist testified that he believed Stidham was an "excellent candidate for safe release and return to the community."
