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Friday, September 15, 2006
Hearn family statement: ‘Nightmare that we will never escape’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Barton Corbin pleaded guilty Friday in the slaying of Dorothy “Dolly” Hearn in Augusta in 1990. Her family released this statement:
Dorothy Carlisle Hearn, our beloved Dolly, was taken from us over 16 years ago when she was a senior in dental school, one year shy of becoming Dr. Dolly Hearn. Since then we have been living two nightmares.
We now live without Dolly’s contagious smile, her positive outlook on life, and the joy that she brought to every room she entered. The pain of her loss is awakened each time we tell our children and grandchildren that Aunt Dolly was more than just a photo, we have thoughts of the dental practice that never was, and we think of all of the lives that remain untouched by her inspiring acts of kindness, her free-flowing words of encouragement, and the spontaneous manifestations of her unique sense of humor. This is the nightmare that we will never escape.
In our second nightmare, we’ve lived knowing that Dolly was the victim of a pointless, cowardly act of murder and believing that every path for justice was seemingly exhausted. We’ve felt helpless, hopeless, and robbed of any remedy to set the record straight and to see justice served. We have always known the truth. Today we rejoice that this truth has been publicly revealed and that Dolly’s name is now officially cleared. This nightmare is over.
We remain forever indebted to the Richmond County, Gwinnett County, and Troy, Alabama teams who made every possible effort to see these cases through to the happiest ending they could have. We thank our families, our friends, our communities, and those whom we’ve never met who have prayed for and supported us through these trying times.
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Corbin family: Glad dentist took responsibility
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Statement released by the family of Barton Corbin after he pleaded guilty Friday in two slayings. No one in his family was in attendance Friday.
“The Corbin family is saddened by today’s guilty plea by Bart but hope that the Barber and Hearn familes can now begin to heal. They are relieved that the truth has come out and that Bart took responsibility for his actions. They hope that Dalton and Dillon will grow up feeling love and will not suffer further.”
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Neighbor said he was not surprised by plea
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Neighbors of Barton and Jennifer Corbin today said they were relieved the case was over.
The Corbins lived in a Buford development. A neighbor who lives across from the home said he was not surprised Barton Corbin pleaded guilty today to killing his wife.
“I knew Bart well,” said Robert Holston. ” [The plea] just confirms what I thought all along. I thought he did it, though I hadn’t known of any trouble beforehand.”
“Bart was my friend. But Jennifer was my friend, too,” Holston said.
In the last few months the Bogan Gates neighborhood assocation built a park in Jennifer’s memory.
A granite marker in the small park, located between two homes, reads, “Dedicated in loving memory of our friend and neighbor Jennifer Barber Corbin.”
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DA describes killing of ‘Dolly’ Hearn
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Richmond County District Attorney Danny Craig detailed the murder of Dorothy “Dolly” Hearn in Augusta in 1990.
He described how Barton Corbin went to her apartment, took the license plate off of his car, and then went into her apartment and hid behind a bathroom door waiting for her. A co-worker came there and happened to see Corbin in the apartment through a crack in the bathroom door.
As Craig described how Corbin then shot Hearn and staged it to look as through she had committed suicide, Jennifer Corbin’s mother, Narda Barber, reached behind her and began to hold Hearn’s mother’s hand.
Hearn’s parents, Barbara and Carlton Hearn, looked straight ahead at Corbin’s back.
Corbin was wearing a dark suit. Asked if he agreed to the plea of malice murder of Jennifer Corbin, he said, “yes” with little audible emotion, looking straight at Gwinnet Superior Court Judge Michael C. Clark. He was flanked by his attorneys, Bruce Harvey and David Wolfe. On at least two occasions he was offered an opportunity to speak on his behalf and he declined.
After the plea and sentencing, the families reacted.
Jennifer Corbin’s youngest sister, Heather Tierney, said: “I just can’t believe it’s all over. I feel like an elephant just was lifted from my chest.”
Of Corbin, Tierney said, ” I don’t feel anything at all for him anymore. We did get a small bit of vengeance today. But we’re going to heal now.”
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Corbin ‘disgraced his profession’
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Carlton Hearn, Dorothy “Dolly” Hearn’s brother, said: “Bart Corbin stole from me and he stole from my family and he stole from the world….”He said that his sister would have exemplified the traits of humanitarianism necessary to be a dentist.”
“Bart Corbin has disgraced his profession [dentistry] and has stolen from mankind.”
“16 years of silence, 16 years of pain.”
“My family is in complete agreement with the sentence.”
The sentence was two life terms, to be served concurrently with credit for time already served.
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