By Janice Morse
The Cincinnati Enquirer

LEBANON - It's undisputed: Kimberli Jo Barton is dead; her husband, Rocky Lee Barton, fatally shot her and then turned the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt.

But did Mr. Barton plan to kill his wife?

That's the central question a Warren County jury is being asked to decide in Barton's trial, which is expected to continue at least until Friday in Common Pleas Court. A jury of four men and eight women was seated Tuesday and heard attorneys' brief opening statements.

Before going to trial, the case stirred controversy because the county spent around $300,000 to post 24-hour guards at a Cincinnati nursing home where Barton recovered from reconstructive surgery.

Mr. Barton, 47, is accused of aggravated murder and a weapons charge in the Jan. 16 shooting death of his 44-year-old wife. If the jury convicts him of aggravated murder, it also will be asked to consider whether he should be executed.

With a photograph of Mrs. Barton's lifeless body projected on a screen behind him, assistant prosecutor Andy Sievers described the events that allegedly culminated in Mrs. Barton's death on the snow-covered ground outside the Wayne Township farmhouse where the couple lived.

Sievers said the defendant took steps to lure his wife to the residence. Then Mr. Barton directed another relative to lock the gate at the driveway's end, blocking Mrs. Barton's exit, Sievers said. Then Mr. Barton shot her, first in the shoulder, then in the back.

Attorney Don Oda, who represents Mr. Barton, said there's no disagreement over who fired those two shots.

"This is not a whodunnit," Oda said. But he argued that his client did not plot to kill his wife. Even though the couple had been "fussing at each other" the day of the shooting, they were planning to renew their marriage vows in a few months, Oda said, arguing that his client was not scheming to kill his wife.

"Rocky Barton is guilty of murder," Oda said. "... but the evidence will not lead you to a verdict that he is guilty of aggravated murder."

If Mr. Barton is convicted of the lesser charge he would not be eligible for the death penalty.

E-mail jmorse@enquirer.com