Homeless Man Kills Good Samaritans Who Took Him In

A family wanted to do something nice for a complete stranger, so they took a homeless man into their home. The family tried to help the vagrant get on his feet. He killed the mother, teen son, and left the father in critical condition.

The Wilkinson family offered to take in Aaron Barley, a 23-year-old homeless man. Tracey Wilkinson, a 50-year-old mother, found Barley outside of a supermarket, begging and shivering in the cold, in March of 2016.

"I just need somebody to give me a chance, I need somebody to give me a lucky break," Barley had said back then, and Tracey gave it to him.

Tracey, her husband Peter, their 13-year-old son Pierce and daughter Lydia tried to help Barley get back on his feet. Over the next few months, they helped him secure a place in a hostel. They had him over regularly for meals and Peter even got Barley a job with his manufacturing firm. They opened their home to the stranger and he spent the holidays with them last year.

The family had their hearts in the right place, but what they didn't know was that Barley had started taking drugs.

In March, a year after the family so selflessly helped Barley get off the street, the man showed up at their home one last time. He stabbed Tracey to death, then Pierce.

Peter, who had been walking the dog, came home and Barley attacked him as well, stabbing him in the face, neck, abdomen and back.

He survived the attacks and described them for the court. “He said, ‘Die, you bastard’ as he stuck the knife into me. I said to him after he’d stabbed me, ‘Aaron we tried to help you’, and he stuck the knife into my stomach and said ‘Die, you bastard’.”

Daughter Lydia was away at university when the attack happened and was unharmed. She heard of an attack in her hometown and googled it, and was horrified when photos of her own house came up.

Barley was caught and arrested, and he stood emotionlessly as he was charged with two counts of murder in court. He had pleaded guilty to attempted murder of Peter.

The prosecutor described the killer as a 'Jekyll and Hyde' character. He was painted as a compulsive liar, had a long history of violence and an obsession with knives.

In the past, Barley had boasted that he aspired to be a notorious murderer. He dreamed of spending the rest of his life behind bars. On Facebook about a month before the attack, he posted a plan to 'take down his family'. He wondered 'how many he could get' before he got caught.

“There’s no motive, there is no explanation...I wish my wife had never set eyes on him,” said a regretful Peter in court.

Peter says Tracey always did volunteer work to help the elderly and was always trying to help people.

Source: Telegraph, Birmingham Mail
Photo: SWNS, PA