Colorado man arrested, accused of killing his wife while children slept

The First Judicial District Attorney's Office has charged Patrick "Ted" Barnett with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Lindsey Barnett. Investigators said Ted Barnett, 40, was arrested on Aug. 13, the same day Lindsey Barnett's body was found inside their home while their two children, ages 1 and 3, were also home. 

According to the arrest affidavit, Lakewood police agents responded to the home in the 1700 block of South Welch Circle just after 6 a.m. on Aug. 13 after Ted Barnett called 911. He told dispatchers that his wife had cut herself on her throat and was not breathing. He also told dispatchers that a knife was in the shower.

When agents arrived, they found Lindsey Barnett, 37, in the shower with a large laceration along the front side of her neck. She was later moved by West Metro Fire Rescue crews attempting to conduct life-saving measures, but she was pronounced dead on scene. 

In the arrest affidavit, agents said they saw a large amount of blood on the bed, sheets, and pillows in the master bedroom, along with a knocked-over plant and blood on the windowsill. They also said there was a trail of blood from the right side of the bed to the bathroom, but not a lot of blood in the bathroom. 

Lakewood police agents also found a "small knife" with an "approximately 5-inch-long blade with a serrated edge" lying directly next to Lindsey Barnett's body. 

When agents arrived, according to the affidavit, Ted Barnett told police that he and his wife had some relationship issues over the past few months and that he had been sleeping in the basement separate from her. He told agents that the night before he went downstairs to his room and she went to the master bedroom, and that when he woke up that morning he went to check on Lindsey and the kids and "saw a lot of blood everywhere." Ted Barnett told investigators he "noticed the shower in the master bedroom running and saw Lindsey in the shower with a cut to her throat," and that's when he called 911. 

Agents later interviewed Ted Barnett at the Lakewood Police Station, about two-and-a-half hours after calling 911, where he said he and Lindsey had been married about five years. He denied any infidelity and said they were "working on their marriage and he was excited about the prospect of moving back upstairs." They had recently taken a trip to Scotland to "rekindle their relationship."

As detailed in the arrest affidavit, agents asked Ted Barnett about an injury to his thumb, which he explained he got while playing in an Ultimate Frisbee championship. He also said that Lindsey suffered from prepartum and postpartum depression and didn't know what kind of medication she took, if any. 

During that first interview, Ted Barnett was photographed by a crime scene investigator where, according to the arrest affidavit, several injuries were discovered, including the "fresh cut to his right thumb" and "new or fresh scratches" on several areas of his body, "consistent with fingernail scratches that are consistent with being defensive wounds."

Agents also noticed that Ted Barnett was "sobbing loudly" during the interview, but there were no tears, as described in the arrest affidavit. 

That same day, around 2:46 p.m., a woman calling herself Patrick's girlfriend called dispatch to request a welfare check on him. In the arrest affidavit, she told dispatch that "she was worried he hurt himself because she hadn't heard from him since 11 p.m. the night before," and it was unusual since they text all the time. She said that she believed Lindsey was living outside the home and "had attempted suicide by overdosing on melatonin... the weekend prior."

Lakewood police arrested Ted Barnett just after 7 p.m. that same day on a traffic stop and conducted a second interview at the police station. In the arrest affidavit, agents said Ted Barnett admitted to the relationship with the woman who called dispatch and "claimed Lindsey knew about it and was fine with it." 

When asked about the bruising on Lindsey's body, including several along her arms, legs, back, hips and hands, he said that he could not explain them and "did not notice them before." In the arrest affidavit, Ted Barnett told investigators that the scratches on his body were from an Ultimate Frisbee tournament that happened the previous weekend. 

Ted Barnett was taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, tampering with a deceased human body, and tampering with physical evidence. Ted Barnett remained in custody without bond and has a status hearing scheduled on Friday at 9:30 a.m. in Jefferson County Court. 

Lindsey Barnett was an art teacher who worked at both the Hutchinson and Westgate Elementary schools. Her parents told police that she was looking forward to school starting and that she had stopped taking her medication for depression because she felt better, according to the arrest affidavit.