An Alabama woman was charged last week in the killing and dismembering of a young man who went missing in 1995.
Birmingham police didn't even know the victim was murdered until a witness came forward six months ago, saying that his conscience was eating him up.
Tricia Abney, 40, was arrested on July 22 and charged in the killing of Justin Barnett on June 3, 1995, according to AL.com.
The investigation began in January, when an unidentified witness came forward, WIAT reports. It's unclear what exactly the witness knew, but evidence from that interview led police to reclassify Barnett's case as a homicide, and they turned their sights toward Abney and her then-boyfriend.
Police say Abney, who was working as a stripper at the time, lured the young victim to her Birmingham apartment with the intention of robbing him. Something went wrong, and Abney and her boyfriend killed Barnett and dismembered him.
“They dismembered his body in the apartment and drove the remains to Centreville in Bibb County,” Cold Case Detective Jonathan Ross told AL.com. “They buried the remains, and then came back to the apartment and tried to clean it up.”
Twenty years passed before investigators were led to Abney and her boyfriend. Earlier this month, they went to interview the boyfriend, but he was uncooperative. He killed himself six days later, according to the New York Daily News. He was the only one who knew the exact location of Barnett's remains, police say.
Abney was arrested on July 22, the day her ex committed suicide. She allegedly admitted to the killing, and was charged with capital murder.
Two days before her arrest, Abney posted a photo on Facebook that said, "Never let your past determine your future."