JACKSONVILLE, FL – Notorious serial killer, Billy Mansfield Jr., 65, has confessed to the murder of 18-year-old Carol Ann Barrett, a case that remained unsolved for over four decades, according to local law enforcement.
Barrett’s lifeless body was discovered in a ditch near Interstate 95 in Jacksonville, Florida, on March 24, 1980. The previous day, the young woman from Ohio had been reveling in her spring break in Daytona Beach when she was abducted from her motel.
For years, investigators had little to go on besides Barrett’s remains and a suspect sketch, compiled from interviews with her acquaintances. The case remained unsolved until around 2017.
Mansfield, who is linked to the murders of at least five women and girls across the country, confirmed that he was the individual depicted in the sketch, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office announced on Thursday.
After two years of questioning, Mansfield confessed to Barrett’s murder and abduction in September 2022, police reported.
In a statement released on Thursday, the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office said, “Billy Mansfield acknowledged that he was indeed the suspect in the police sketch created after the abduction. He then confessed to the abduction from the Daytona Beach Shores hotel and her subsequent murder.”
At the time of Barrett’s murder, Mansfield was 24 years old.
Following Mansfield’s confession, police have been collaborating with the State Attorney’s Office, which will not pursue prosecution, according to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.
Currently, Mansfield is serving a life sentence in California and four concurrent life sentences in Florida for the murders of five women and girls that took place between 1975 and 1980.
Mansfield’s victims were buried under his house in Spring Hill, located on Florida’s west coast, approximately a 2.5-hour drive from Daytona Beach, where Barrett was killed.
Mansfield has been incarcerated since 1982, having pled guilty to a murder in California to avoid the death penalty in Florida.
With Mansfield’s confession, Barrett’s cold case is now closed. However, the full extent of Mansfield’s murderous spree is still being uncovered.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office stated, “Billy Mansfield continues to cooperate with detectives in other jurisdictions regarding additional cold cases.”