Barnhill

Defendant-appellant was accused in a grand jury indictment of the crime of murder of his wife, Carrie Barnhill, and he was convicted by a jury of that offense. The degree was fixed at first degree murder. His motion for a new trial was denied. While represented by his counsel, he entered a plea of not guilty and not guilty by reason of insanity. Subsequently the latter plea was withdrawn.

Raymond Fleetwood, a taxicab driver in the city of San Diego, received a call about 9 p.m. on August 10, 1959, to pick up a passenger at a certain hotel. He entered the hotel and observed defendant carrying a filled shopping bag with handles on it. Defendant asked the cab driver to take him to the Hayloft Barbecue in Chula Vista and said he was going to this place to see his wife who worked there and that he wanted to talk his wife into dropping a divorce action and coming back to him. They arrived at the Hayloft about 9:30 p.m. and defendant asked the driver to wait until traffic thinned down and people left before going in. He sent the driver into the café to buy a Coca-Cola and on his return defendant asked him for a description of the waitress. Fleet-wood described the waitress and defendant…