District Attorney Walt Merrell confirmed Monday to The Star-News that the county’s cold case task force has been actively working the 1994 murder of James “Nibby” Barton.

Merrell said the almost 20-year-old murder case of the Heath community businessman was one of the first priorities of the 15-member task force established in March. The investigators, who were not identified, were divided into teams and assigned to different cold cases. Since then, arrests have been made in two cold cases.

One of those team leaders, who spoke at Merrell’s request Monday, told The Star-News that the Barton case is one “that has waited the longest for justice.”

Star-News archives show that Barton’s murder occurred on May 2, 1994. Barton’s wife discovered his body that evening when he didn’t return home after closing time at the store. Archives show that law enforcement officers believed the murder to be robbery-related as

Barton was known to carry a large sum of cash to cash customer’s checks.

“(The task force) worked very hard to put together a substantial case,” the leader said. “We utilized every asset that we could bring to bear.”

That was apparent over the summer as teams of law enforcement officers were seen at a multitude of sites around the area, including a former home site on Pt. A Road; the scene of the shooting, Barton’s store; and at Adellum Cemetery, where the body of Walter Eugene Dean was exhumed.

In June, and at the exhumation site, Merrell confirmed that had Dean been alive, he would have been considered a suspect.

“I appreciate the members of the team that helped to make this happen for the Barton family and for the community,” the leader said of discoveries in the case; however, neither he nor Merrell would confirm any specifics about the evidence uncovered or the person(s) responsible in the shooting.

“The cold case task force appreciates the very courageous witnesses and people close to this case that have come forward to do the right thing after they learned of the new attention placed on the 1994 murder of James Quitman Barton,” he said. “The loss of a loved one is never easy, but 20 years of unanswered questions is too long. We will bring resolution to this case, and we will hold those involved accountable for their actions.”

Merrell said, “I’m very pleased with how hard the task force has worked, and I expect that after the next investigation, we will re-open two additional cold cases at the start of the new year.”