As a young man being interrogated by Louisiana police, Barry falsely confessed to an unsolved Poplar, Montana, murder and was convicted and sentenced to 100 years, no parole. Barry has persistently maintained his innocence but has struggled to prove it in court.
In 2011, after a district judge heard two days of detailed testimony from several witnesses who had received repeated confessions from the real killers, and a credible eyewitness to the murder, he ordered a new trial and released Barry into the care of local supporters active in prison ministry.
On May 14, a split Montana Supreme Court overruled the new trial order, and the next day Barry returned to prison after 18 months of thriving as a free man. The dissenting justices lamented this is a mistake that may cement an injustice.