Aston Martin Barth, 40, of Central Islip, NY, told his family to stay away from his bedroom closet. They obliged. However, on Christmas Eve in 2012, their curiosity got the best of them. To their dismay and surprise, they discovered a corpse. It was their neighbor, Jason Campbell, 35, whose neck had been hacked with an ax a week prior. His body wrapped in a blanket and stuffed in a trash bag, Campbell was murdered by Barth on December 18, 2012 and was partially decapitated.
A paroled Barth made headlines in 2007 when he robbed a local Citibank wearing his mother’s brown skirt suit, a blonde wig, sandals and makeup. His dad unknowingly was driving the getaway car. He thought he was taking his “mentally ill” son to take a survey. The wig-wearing con made off with $11,000 but was later captured. He’d forgotten to shave his mustache so authorities were able to identify him.
Barth’s mother apologizes via the media about her son’s incomprehensible act, “I’m so sorry. My son needed medication but he wouldn’t take it. He would say, ‘I can do this’ without medication.”
Suffolk Assistant District Attorney Glenn Kurtzrock is recommending the minimum sentence of 15 years to life in prison in return for Barth’s plea to second-degree murder. Sentencing will take place on Feb. 26, 2014.
Campbell left behind a two children: one now aged three and the other five months. Campbell and Barth had been friends for more than 20 years.
