User blog:UnderAPineapple/Hurricane Pineapple 1: The Ugly Truth

Hello there. I’m ditching my original series “Pineapple Talk” to instead give you “Hurricane Pineapple”. As a lot of you know, I have an OBSESSION with crime stories and the justice system, despite the fact that I think it’s incredibly corrupt. So, each blog, I plan to tell you a true crime story that occurred. Today I’m going to be discussing the tragic story of Christopher Michael Barrios Jr., a 6-year old boy who was violently kidnapped, raped, and murdered, by three disgusting human beings, to put it lighty. This blog might be considered disturbing to some viewers.

About Christopher
Christopher was described by his grandmother, Sue Rodriguez, as a “shy boy with a big smile” and he was infatuated with Batman. Friends and family of the boy’s parents claim that it would be hard to get him to stop talking about Batman. Christopher was very close to his eight siblings, and one of his favorite places to go was the local playground. An intelligent and happy young boy, he resided with his family in Brunswick, Georgia.

About the Perpetrator(s)
Living across the home of the Barrios family was a 59-year old man named David Edenfield, his 57-year old wife, Peggy, and 34-year old son George, who all lived together in a trailer home. Whilst it seems that these two familys (the Barrios’ and the Edenfield’s) would have no real connection to each other, there was one huge problem. Both David & George are previously convicted sex offenders, and by Georgia law, it is illegal to be a registered sex offender and reside anywhere near a playground, where Christopher lived by. David was arrested in 1994 for having an incestual relationship with one of his own children, and was sentenced to 10 years probation. At this time, David was 46. George was arrested in 1997 for sexually molesting two young boys, which counts as a Grade A case of child molestation. He was given probation, but it is unknown how long his sentence was.

Murder
On March 8, 2007, Christopher was happily playing near the local playground after another day of kindergarten, a place where he frequently visited. It is proven that he was playing with a Star Wars lightsaber toy, and it was found after this horrible event took place. During the afternoon of March 8, Christopher was lured into the home of the Edenfield’s, either by kidnapping or convincing of some sort, I personally believe he was kidnapped. Sue Rodriguez, the grandmother of Christopher, had warned him to not visit or have any contact with the Edenfields, since she was aware and knowledgeable of George’s prior child molestation conviction, which is yet another reason why I find it hard to believe Christopher would go on his own free will.

It was revealed by David in a confession to police, that George initially brought Christopher into his own room, apparently in promise of “video games”, but instead something much more sinister occurred. George began undressing Christopher and forcing him to participate in oral sex with him. Both David and his wife watched as George forced the poor boy to have sex with him, and even worse, David even contributed later on. David eventually got undressed and started touching the boy inappropriately, and Peggy, watched and ended up masturbating to the little boy’s suffering. During this agonizing experience, Christopher was begging and crying, for his captors to let him go, but to no avail. Both of the men continued to rape Christopher, and decided to take turns raping him afterwards. After they molested Christopher, and after Peggy was finished with herself, they all decided to strangle Christopher to death, choking him, and killing him within minutes. Peggy then grabbed a wash cloth and some soap, and decided to wash off the bite marks on Christopher’s neck to attempt to conceal evidence, and asked their friend, Donald Dale, to dispose of the boy in a nearby creek.

The Aftermath
After Christopher died, there began a town-wide search for the boy, and a $27,000 reward for his safe return, but his body was found where Dale disposed of it, strangled, raped, and killed. The news of his death, was certainly the worst news his parents ever had to hear, and soon enough, we had a suspect. George Edenfield, decided to provide police with a few “hints” as to where Christopher was, and the police believed they caught a lucky break. However, all of the “hints” George told them, were entirely false and fabricated, and soon enough George began making a web of lies that would eventually lead the Edenfield’s to their fortunate downfall. Soon enough, David Edenfield, Peggy Edenfield, and George Edenfield were questioned by police to the murder of Christopher Barrios Jr. The only known interview with police was David’s, since it was videotaped. In this confession, David described in vivid detail as to what he and his son did to Christopher and what Peggy’s role was in the death of the young boy. Afterwards, the Edenfields were arrested and charged with the abduction, molestation, and murder of Christopher Barrios.

The first trial to take place was David’s, in September 2009, and the most important trial, considering the judge allowed the confession to be used as evidence, which pretty much sealed his fate. Despite the videotaped confession, ALL of the Edenfields, plus Donald Dale, decided to plead Not Guilty. David said that the prosecutor in the case used foul words such as calling him an “animal” and a “disgusting human being”, and demanded to have a new prosecutor, but his plea fell on deaf ears. With an immense amount of evidence, David Edenfield was found “guilty of all counts” for the death of Christopher Barrios, and on October 6, 2007, a unanimous decision was upheld, and David was sentenced to death by lethal injection, he sits today on Death Row, awaiting execution, at the age of 69.

On August 23, 2010, George Edenfield was found mentally incompetent to stand trial, and ordered to spend the rest of his natural life in a mental institution, a decision which outraged many people (including myself). Peggy Edenfield plead guilty eventually to all counts, aside from murder, which she technically didn’t physically take part in, and since she testified against her own husband, she was given 60 years in prison. Since she was 60 at the time of the sentencing, it is more than likely, that Peggy will never be released.

Hurricane Pineapple (My Thoughts)
This is the worst case of criminal activity that I have ever seen, without a doubt. If there’s one thing that disgusts me more than anything, it’s somebody willing to put a hand on a defenseless child for their own gratification. The worst part about this, is that it could’ve been prevented. David & George Edenfield committed sexual crimes prior to this, and I believe if these guys were locked up for life for their crimes, Christopher would’ve still been alive today, which angers me that our justice system deals with child molesters like that.

The Edenfields are a bunch of disgusting, incestual, trailer park pieces of shit, and that’s only putting it mildly. If I had it my way, all three of them would be simultaneously hung for their actions, or sent to the gas chamber. David will be executed soon, but it’s by lethal injection, a way of death too peaceful for a monster and a sickening human being like him. I don’t care who you think you are, or what you’ve been through, you DON’T harm a child! That’s the motherfucking line, and anyone who even considers harming a child, will not receive any sympathy from me when they’re getting their ass beat in jail, which is what I’m hoping is happening to David Edenfield & Peggy Edenfield right now. This case was a prime example of predator vs. pray, and our society chooses to ignore crimes like these, in exchange for some people to want to get rid of the death penalty and life without parole by saying, “We all deserve a second chance”. Well you know what? Christopher deserved a first chance at life, and he didn’t get it because of three heartless bastards, and I take too much pride to be silent about this case.

Thank you for listening and I hope you agreed with me on this.