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Man found guilty of killing woman he was accused of stalking

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OLATHE, Kan. (AP) — A Missouri man has been convicted of killing a woman he was accused of stalking and faces life in prison when he’s sentenced in October.

On Tuesday, a Johnson County jury found Clyde James Barnes Jr., 44, of Kansas City, guilty of first-degree murder and other counts in the 2020 killing of 42-year-old Jessica Smith in her Olathe home, the Kansas City Star reported. Barnes was also found guilty of aggravated burglary, unlawful tampering with electronic monitoring, criminal threat and violation of a protection order.

Olathe police who were responding to a burglary call at Smith’s home on July 5, 2020, found her body inside and arrested Barnes hours later. At the time, authorities said Barnes was out on bond for a stalking charge involving Smith, but the charge was later dismissed.