Background: News footage of the scene where Brooke Stratton’s body was discovered in October 2024 (WKOW). Inset (left): James Barnes-Morris (Wisconsin Department of Corrections). Inset (right): Brooke Stratton (Madison Police Department).
Months after a Wisconsin man allegedly told his friend he “had to get rid of” his girlfriend, he has been charged with her murder.
The Dane County District Attorney formally charged James Barnes-Morris, aged 25, with first-degree intentional homicide and a domestic violence modifier on March 25, after his girlfriend, 24-year-old Brooke Stratton, was found deceased in a Madison pond six months prior. As per a search warrant acquired by local ABC affiliate WKOW, Barnes-Morris purportedly confided in a friend that he felt the need to eliminate her on the evening of September 30, 2024, which was the final day she was observed alive.
According to WKOW, the search warrant revealed that Stratton and Barnes-Morris engaged in a heated dispute at a friend’s residence a couple of days before her disappearance. The unidentified friend was questioned by the authorities and disclosed that he had hosted a gathering at his place where both Stratton and Barnes-Morris were present. Following the altercation, the friend informed law enforcement that Stratton opted to stay the night at another friend’s house.
A friend and witness at that location told detectives that Stratton thought James “was truly going to kill her.” She reportedly left the second location at around 7 a.m. on the morning of Sept. 30. An incident report by the Madison Police Department stated that Stratton was last seen walking with a man, identified in the warrant as Barnes-Morris, the same morning.
According to the search warrant, Barnes-Morris spent time with another friend hours later. Detectives said that he allegedly told the friend, “I had to get rid of her,” he “needed more bricks and rope,” and that “the weeds made it hard.” The friend also reportedly said that Barnes-Morris was wet and had bloody scratches on his legs.
When Barnes-Morris was asked about those statements during an interview with detectives, he reportedly laughed before asking for a lawyer, according to WKOW’s reporting on the warrant.
Stratton’s body was found in a pond on Oct. 3, 2024; police took Barnes-Morris into custody the same day. Police said he was hiding in the basement of a friend’s house and was allegedly in possession of Stratton’s credit cards and cellphone.
In January, police referred charges to the district attorney’s office, who formally charged Barnes-Morris with first-degree intentional homicide with a domestic violence modifier after reviewing case files and the autopsy results on Stratton. He remains in custody at the Dodge Correctional Institution and is scheduled to appear in court on March 28.
Love true crime? Sign up for our newsletter, The Law&Crime Docket, to get the latest real-life crime stories delivered right to your inbox.
