Death in a Vegas Motel - The Unexplained Death of Jim Barrier

[drew790]

Finally got a chance to dig into this one tonight after a long work week. What are everyone's thoughts?

If it was a murder I'm not sure I believe Lisa was involved in it. Can't think she'd be dumb enough to call asking if he was alright if she was aware she was involved in a murder.

But there's also definitely elements that point to murder as well. The key card entry, the different phone. The side characters, the dispute with the gentlemen's club and the fact that all of this is taking place in Vegas. All contenders for murder.

The folded dollar bill thing I dismiss as urban legend, it could have just as easily been the way someone gave him back change for something. Same with the "was it really coke on his face" theory, if someone did him in from that lifestyle they'd have easy access to coke they're not going to run the risk of someone testing it and finding out it's baking soda or something.

Likely murdered by the mob.

[Jediknight1823]

Originally Posted by drew790

But there's also definitely elements that point to murder as well. The key card entry, the different phone. The side characters, the dispute with the gentlemen's club and the fact that all of this is taking place in Vegas. All contenders for murder.

Along with the disappearing and reappearing Rolls Royce that was completely clean of everything. The Harley seller who nobody knows, and the threatening phone calls. The FBI Agent saying that Buffalo Jim was giving the FBI evidence on the Crazy Horse for 2 years.

There's definitely a lot that points to murder.

[drew790]

Yeah the car's interesting too.

I wonder if the card swipe in the system would read the way it does if it was an accidental swipe, say from someone trying to go into the wrong room, or if it 100% means they gained entry at that point. Seems baffling that alone wouldn't have triggered some kind of investigation unless it maybe didn't mean it was a successful entry. Or how he could "check in" if there were already active cards assigned to someone, that would seem like it would make the room unavailable in the computer system unless the desk clerk was also involved.

[TheCars1986]

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the family and friends of Jim were being massively understated about his cocaine use. How do you kill someone who died by heart disease with cocaine as a contributing factor? How do you force someone to snort cocaine? And there was a tidbit left out of the show about how often Jim would call the Las Vegas police to report "all kinds of situations", but did not report any death threats to them. Also, he allegedly told his close friend that they were "gonna try to do it through a woman or they’re gonna try to drug me", so wouldn't he have been more vigilante about who he was meeting up with that night and partaking in drugs?

His daughter said that he left shortly after 7 p.m. and had a "large wad of cash" in his pocket. He called an unsaved phone number, Lisa's, and then roughly 30 minutes after this phone call is when he checked into the Motel 6. Another tidbit left out of the show is that the coroner placed his time of death between 7 and 9 p.m. He checked into the Motel 6 at 8:20 p.m. Lisa called Jim's cell phone at 9 p.m. and left the "are you alright" voicemail. If this was a targeted hit that Lisa was involved in, why would she willingly (and suspiciously) tell the police that she simply left the room after he started what she perceived to be suffering from a seizure? The 9 o'clock "are you alright" phone call would make sense in this context. But if she was involved in a hit on Jim, why wouldn't she be the one who called the police from the room to say that they were partying and he started having a seizure? Nothing about the case changes.

Another relevant portion of the article linked above:

He would experiment with more drugs in the ’80s, dabble into them with his professional wrestling friends up until 2000, and, according to his close friends, renege with a night of heavy partying even as recently as three years ago. For this reason, it was not entirely inconceivable when the woman with whom Buffalo spent his last moment of life, according to the police, insinuated that the two were socializing at the Motel 6 on Boulder Highway with drugs.

The motel clerk told the police that Jim purchased the room that night "for two". Jim stayed in room 105 but if you go around the building you can see how big the parking lot is. His car was found parked "behind the office", but his close friend told his daughters that the car was visible from the highway, but that's not necessarily true. Yes, it's a red flag that his #1 enemy was released from prison the day before his death, but he didn't seem too concerned because he went to go party with Lisa.

My gut tells me that he met up with Lisa, a stripper or prostitute, they went to the motel room to party and have sex, and they were using cocaine. He started to die from ingesting the cocaine, so she freaked out, stole his money and took the drugs and left. Then she felt remorse and tried calling him 3 times that night. I do think his death was most likely an unfortunate accident, and would love to read a transcript of Lisa's interview with the police.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the family and friends of Jim were being *massively* understated about his cocaine use. How do you kill someone who died by heart disease with cocaine as a contributing factor? How do you *force* someone to snort cocaine? And there was a .

I'd agree with this point. You don't just drop from massive heart disease from "clean living". I'd even suggest the fact that he was talking so much about that, while visibly not, was probably a method of over compensation about his addiction. If he was heavily into drugs it would also answer why he had the silver phone. He was trying to keep that life away from his daughters.

[Fletch]

If it was a mob hit, it would have been a lot more of a message sent than that. I think his daughters and others close to him didn’t realize his cocaine habit had returned. I have known plenty of people over the years who have had cocaine issues and it wasn’t even detectable. He had someone in the room with him, they panicked and left. Just my opinion anyway.

[Zorzman]

I think it was an overdose. Why did he lie to his kids that night if he wasn't doing anything shady and just buying a bike? He said he was going to dinner with a friend and doesn't mention the friend's name and instead goes to a motel where you clearly see he is under no duress. I think it might have been a night of prostitution and drugs and he had too much. The woman he was with panicked when he overdosed, and maybe took his cash and ran out the door because she was afraid of getting arrested for possession of narcotics. I mean how would you explain being in a motel with a guy you barely knew, and drugs are there? I also think there are easier ways for the mob to do a hit on someone and make it look natural. There were no signs of a struggle, so we know they didn't force the drugs into him. He took them on his own. Also, I think his statement to his daughter saying: "if the mob gets me, it will look like an overdose" was a way of him covering up his addiction. He was probably ashamed of his relapse and didn't want his family to think less of him if he ever overdosed.

[blacksymbiote]

Originally Posted by drew790

Yeah the car's interesting too.

I wonder if the card swipe in the system would read the way it does if it was an accidental swipe, say from someone trying to go into the wrong room, or if it 100% means they gained entry at that point. Seems baffling that alone wouldn't have triggered some kind of investigation unless it maybe didn't mean it was a successful entry. Or how he could "check in" if there were already active cards assigned to someone, that would seem like it would make the room unavailable in the computer system unless the desk clerk was also involved.

I think it more likely that the swipe was Jim's and the surveillance system is just somewhat out of sync. Looking at the log, there's a swipe at 2:30, the swipe at 8:15, and then no other swipe until the next day.

[drew790]

Originally Posted by blacksymbiote

I think it more likely that the swipe was Jim's and the surveillance system is just somewhat out of sync. Looking at the log, there's a swipe at 2:30, the swipe at 8:15, and then no other swipe until the next day.

Could very well be.

In any event, after a rethink, I'm more inclined to think this was a medical event plain and simple.

[Hambone2421]

Simply put, I feel like this was some sort of accidental death that happened almost exactly as Lisa said. What was interesting to me was that Jim's daughter said he was very leery of everything with his rival being out of prison and even made the comment that if he died, "they" would make it look like drugs and women were the cause. If that's the case, why in the world are you going to a motel with drugs and a woman? I just do not think he was murdered.

[LooksLikeCRicci]

This was an interesting one.

I can absolutely see why there is discussion of a potential hit. There's just enough strange stuff in the mix to make his death a little questionable.

That being said, however, addiction is a beast, and although this case has a lot of Ted Binion-esqe qualities... it's not the Ted Binion case. I GENUINELY feel for his family. His daughters clearly loved him so much and he was such a character... but he likely met someone at a Motel 6 for drugs/sex and overdosed....

[Hot Jock]

Originally Posted by TheCars1986

My gut tells me that he met up with Lisa, a stripper or prostitute, they went to the motel room to party and have sex, and they were using cocaine. He started to die from ingesting the cocaine, so she freaked out, stole his money and took the drugs and left. Then she felt remorse and tried calling him 3 times that night. I do think his death was most likely an unfortunate accident, and would love to read a transcript of Lisa's interview with the police.

My sentiments exactly. Another sad case, for sure… but not a mysterious one IMO.

[rhzunam]

I know for a fact that clients who partake in the escort/prostitution business normally use a burner phone and not their regular phone. It's one of the top "tips" and if you add the drugs, even more so. I was really into the mystery up until the daughter said that and then I was like "oh, she doesn't know that". For all the stuff about the mob guy getting out and the threats, it all runs into the problem that the guy went willingly and rented the room and went with the sex worker. Maybe she had already paid her and that's why he didn't have cash. I just think that it was a "Chris Farley death" situation but I don't know if she would still be accountable for that.

[DALLASTEXAN!!]

I'm with the majority here who think that he died of an overdose. He went to the motel willingly and it is hard to imagine that he could have been forced to take more drugs than he wanted to, but people do get drugged against their will a lot more than people realize. With his daughters taking the approach of him not taking drugs, I think there is some naivety there especially with his past. it was tough to watch how heartbroken they were and it appears that Jim was a good dude regardless of how things turned out.

[Robert Stack's Voice]

It sounds like he hid his drug use from his kids (as any parent would do) and they can't believe he would do that so they're reaching for anything they can find.