APOLLO, Pa. -- A man accused of killing his girlfriend's sister, brother-in-law and
19-month-old niece died Friday morning in an explosion after a police chase, authorities
said.
Donald Robinson Barnhart, 31, likely set off an incendiary device and blew up his car
after state police started pursuing him in Westmoreland County, about 30 miles northeast
of Pittsburgh, prosecutor Scott Andreassi said.
Barnhart had been wanted on three counts of criminal homicide in the shooting deaths of
Rhonda Walters, 35; her husband, David Lee Walters, 27; and their daughter, Destini. The
child also was stabbed, police said.
The family was found dead Tuesday in their Armstrong County mobile home, near the border
of Westmoreland County.
Barnhart's girlfriend, 23-year-old Heather Angel Goedicke, was jailed early Friday on
$750,000 bail after state police charged her with three counts of conspiracy to commit
criminal homicide. Her preliminary hearing was scheduled for Jan. 23.
According to a criminal complaint, Goedicke confessed to state police Thursday that she
plotted the killings with Barnhart, who was released from prison in April after serving
five years for stabbing an ex-girlfriend.
Goedicke told police that Barnhart decided to kill the family after she falsely told him
that David Walters had raped her several years ago.
Barnhart planned to shoot the victims, then blow up their trailer using a timed device,
according to the complaint. A blown circuit breaker prevented the device from working,
police said.
The Walters' other child, 9-month-old Jesse Lee, was found unharmed in the trailer when
the bodies were discovered Tuesday.
