Cops Seek New Links To Old Case

Oneida County District Attorney Investigators have uncovered a promising new lead in finding out what happened the night of Kim Simon's murder -- Sept. 18, 1985.

Independent witness accounts indicated that Kim was at a location referred to as "Three Bears," which is in the village of New York Mills. 

Police are looking to the public for information concerning a female by the name of Allison Scranton.

Allison attended New Hartford high school up until 1983 and may have lived in the west side of Utica, N.Y. thereafter. 

At this time it's believed that Allison may be deceased. Law enforcement officials are looking for assistance from another police agency to verify whether or not an incident they had investigated some time ago is related to Allison Scranton.   

Cops need to speak to anyone who may have known or spoken with Allison around September 1985.

It's also believed that Allison may have had a relationship with one of the members of the group of interest and may have possibly been with one of the group on the night that Kim died.

Wrongly Pinned For Teen Girl's Death

It wasn't a typical festive dinner in the Barnes family home on Thanksgiving 2008, and Steven Barnes found it all very strange: Phones that rang came from people's pockets. Television cameras surrounded the dinner table, and he was using a fork and knife for the first time in two decades.

That's because Steven spent 20 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit.

Since that time, Steven has been busy. After his release in November 2008, he took a job helping released prisoners adjust to life after incarceration.

And in his spare time, he's been doing his part to solve a murder by using his television appearances and speaking engagements to send a message: The real killer is still among us.

Kimberly Simon, 16, walked 2 miles on Sept. 19, 1985, to meet a friend at the local middle school in the small town of Whitestown, N.Y. When Kimberly didn't arrive, the friend called Kim's parents. Her father, Bill, organized an all-night search party but found no sign of Kim.

The next afternoon, police discovered the beaten, sexually assaulted body of Kim Simon less than a mile from her home.

Police talked to witnesses in the area, who reported a figure fitting Kim's description talking with an unknown male in a pickup truck. After a prosecution based on what some call "junk science," Steven Barnes was convicted and sentenced to 25 to life.

But Steven's mother, Sylvia, never doubted her son's innocence. And with the support of a community who raised funds for Steven's defense, Sylvia continually let everyone know that Steven wasn't the killer -- including The Innocence Project. After contacting them in 1996, Innocence Project lawyers tested Steven’s DNA against the samples collected at the crime scene, but tests were inconclusive.

Years later, Steven's brother went to the IP Conference and approached everyone he could about his brother's case. They agreed to take it on again due to advances in DNA testing and in 2008, Steven Barnes was a free man.

Police: Woman Witnessed Gruesome Crime

Meanwhile, the new district attorney for Oneida County has dispatched a task force to re-open the crime and comb over more than 900 leads. New specifics have been learned about the crime — like the fact that Kim’s body had been moved and that her death may have been the result of a satanic ritual.

But most importantly, there were two female witnesses to the crime. Cops found one who was reluctant to participate — but a heart-wrenching letter from Kim’s mother made a reluctant woman, who was once threatened by the group of interest, cooperate with police.

Steven and the police now battle the fact that most people don’t know the crime is unsolved and need help to put all the pieces together and get justice for not just Kim, but Steven as well.