Family Says Sheriff’s Office Failures Denied Justice in Barton Killing

By JOSHUA YOUNGQUIST
OTSEGO COUNTY

The family of Lynn Barton says the county’s justice system failed him long before the man who shot him ever entered a courtroom. Their frustration, now echoed by many in the community, stems from what both Acting District Attorney Christopher DiDonna and Barton’s relatives describe as severe investigative failures inside the Otsego County Sheriff’s Office, failures that ultimately reduced a murder case to a manslaughter conviction.

Barton, 63, was killed in Morris in November 2025. The man who shot him, David Hand, was initially charged with murder, concealment of a human corpse and tampering with evidence. But by the time Hand stood before County Court Judge John Lambert for sentencing in September, the case had narrowed to a single count of second degree manslaughter—a plea Barton’s family opposed.

In court, DiDonna told the judge that although he believed Barton was intentionally killed, he no longer had the evidence to prove murder. He said, “What’s in one’s heart is not evidence of a crime,” a statement that stunned Barton’s relatives, who had not known the full extent of the investigative breakdown until days before the hearing.

Barton’s niece, Eliza Weeks, said the family was blindsided.

“The reaction for the family is just complete disbelief,” she said. “It feels like he’s [Lynn] not getting justice. Something went badly wrong here, and he did not get the justice that he deserved.”

Weeks said the DA met with the family privately before the sentencing and explained why he considered the investigation “incompetent.” She said that was the first time she understood the full scope of the failures.

“I didn’t realize the extent of the investigative failures until recently,” she said. “I wasn’t involved in the investigation at all, so hearing it laid out like that—it was just hard news to accept.”

According to the DA’s press release and statements made in court, the Sheriff’s Office failed to secure Barton’s home as a crime scene for weeks, declined assistance from the New York State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation—which had offered roughly 20 investigators—and failed to preserve Barton’s phone, wallet, cigarettes, and other items that should have been bagged immediately. The DA also cited missed opportunities to analyze Hand’s vehicle data recorder and conduct a crime scene reenactment.

Weeks said those decisions shattered her trust in local law enforcement.

“I had faith in our justice system. I had faith in our law enforcement,” she said. “To hear that they made decisions not to involve other agencies is absolutely a travesty. They chose politics and political infighting over leading an investigation that had credibility.”

She said the failures were so severe that they raised deeper concerns about the Sheriff’s Office.

“Knowing the history of the department—the officer arrested for cocaine, another accused of concealing evidence, the overtime allegations—it really makes me question their credibility,” she said. “The holes in this investigation are so egregious.”

Weeks said the family was told the plea deal was unavoidable because the DA could not prove murder with the evidence available.

“We didn’t have any choice,” she said. “He told us, ‘In my heart of hearts, I believe this was murder,’ but he didn’t have the evidence to prove it.”

Judge Lambert, in sentencing Hand, said the defendant’s account “felt different” than an accident—a remark Weeks said offered some validation but also deepened the family’s frustration.

“It’s hard to hear that and know the case still couldn’t move forward as murder,” she said.

Weeks said her family hopes the case leads to reforms, including requirements that local agencies accept outside assistance in major investigations.

“This should transcend politics,” she said. “How do we prevent this from happening to other victims? How is it okay that law enforcement can refuse help from an agency clearly more equipped to investigate a murder?”

She said she hopes Barton’s death prompts broader scrutiny.

“The entire state should be asking how we got here,” she said. “This was badly screwed up. There needs to be reflection, accountability and change.”
Weeks said she knows nothing can bring her uncle back, but she hopes his memory drives improvements.

“You can’t take my memories of him,” she said. “They will always live with me. But we deserve answers. And the county deserves better.”

Though contacted, neither Sheriff Richard Devlin nor Acting District Attorney Christopher DiDonna commented by press time.