GERMANTOWN- SCHNITZELBERG COUPLE SAYS THEY LOST HALF OF THEIR
LIVES SAVINGS WHEN THEY HIRED THE
CONTRACTOR TO PAINT THEIR
BEDROOM.
THEY SAY THEY WERE LEFT WITH A
DEMOLISHED ROOM AND READY TO
MOVE OUT OF
THEIR HOME.
KRISTIN GOODWILLIE HAS BEEN
INVESTIGATING THE CONTRACTOR FOR
A
A
A MONTH.
A MONTH. SHE SHOWS US THE DAMAGE AND WHAT
THIS CHARGE MEANS.
47:51-47:55 MARY JO WILLIAMS:
"IT STARTED BASICALLY I HAD A CRACK HERE ON THE WALL."4
A CRACK AND SOME DISCOLORATION
AROUND THE PAINT. IT'S WHAT
PROMPTED MARY
JO WILLIAMS TO CALL HER
INSURANCE AND
START LOOKING FOR A CONTRACTOR.
SHE WAS QUOTED AND CHARGED 3500
DOLLARS . 48:37-48:40 MARY JO:
"THE CRACK FIXED AND THEN TO PAINT THE ROOM."3
MARY
MARY JO
MARY JO FOUND A CONTRACTOR THROUGH FACEBOOK. A MAN WE LATER
IDENTIFIED THROUGH COURT
DOCUMENTS AS ALAN BARKER WITH BARKER OUTDOOR IMPROVEMENTS.
SHE HIRED BARKER ON JANUARY
28TH.
48:19-48:26 MARY JO: "HE SAID HE
WAS GOING TO HAVE TO OPEN A WALL
UP, HE STARTED OVER THERE AND
THAT'S WHEN EVERYTHING STARTED TO GO WRONG."6
THE
THE 5-TIME CANCER SURVIVOR AND HER VETERAN HUSBAND SAY THEY WERE CHARGED AN ADDITIONAL 10-
THOUSAND DOLLARS CASHWHICH THEY
SAY THEY PAID ON FEBRUARY 5TH UP
FRONT. THIS COPY OF MARY JO'S
BANK STATEMENT SHOWS SHE WITHDREW 9,999 DOLLARS FROM HER
ACCOUNT IN EARLY FEBRUARY. SHE
DID NOT GET A RECEIPT FROM BARKER. SHE
BARKER. SHE
ALSO
ALSO DIDN'T SIGN A CONTRACT. SHE SAYS WITHIN DAYS, BARKER'S
REQUESTS FOR MONEY KEPT COMING.
48:58-49:05 MARY JO:"AND THEN HE
QUOTED ME SOMEWHERE BETWEEN 50
AND 75 THOUSAND FOR THIS ROOM."
THEY HAD ALREADY SPENT HALF OF
THEIR LIVES SAVINGS AND COULDN'T
AFFORD TO PAY ANY MORE.
57:06-57:09 MARY JO: "I FEEL LIKE THROWING UP EVERY TIME I'M
IN HERE."2 MARY JO SHOWED ME THE
ROOM SHE SAYS BARKER LEFT IN
THIS DEMOLISHED STATE, INCLUDING
MESSAGES LIKE THIS ONE
. 54:19-54:22 MARY JO: "WHAT
TRUTH? LOOK AT MY HOME."2
1:02:44-1:02:50 K: "DID YOU
EXPECT THE CEILING TO BE OPENED
UP?" M: "NO, AND I WAS TOLD IT
DIDN'T NEED TO BE."5 BARKER NOW
FACES A CLASS C FELONY
CHARGETHEFT BY FAILURE TO MAKE REQUIRED DISPOSITION OF
PROPERTY. THE CHARGE IS HANDED
DOWN BY THE KENTUCKY ATTORNEY
GENERAL'S
GENERAL'S OFFICE OF CONSUMER PROTECTION WHO BEGAN INVESTIGATING BARKER IN LATE
FEBRUARY.
KENTUCKY DOES NOT REQUIRE
CONTRACTORS TO BE LICENSED BY
THE STATE. BUT A CONSUMER
INVESTIGATOR WITH THE AG'S OFFICE SAYS IT'S IMPORTANT TO LOOK AT THE BUSINESSES BETTER
BUSINESS BUREAU RATING. BARKER
OUTDOOR IMPROVEMENTS HAS A D+.
NAT DOOR KNOCK.
BEFORE THIS CHARGE WAS FILED, I
TRIED TO REACH OUT TO BARKER.
I ALSO CALLED: "THIS IS KRISTIN
GOODWILLIE WITH WHAS11 NEWS.
HANG UP. DIAL TONE" AND TALKED WITH HIS LAWYER WHO SAID THEY
WERE NOT GOING TO COMMENT.
23:55:09-23:55:12 DIANE
D'ANGELO: "HE'S GOING TO DO THIS
AGAIN, HE'S DONE IT IN THE PAST
TO OTHER PEOPLE. THIS IS NOT THE
FIRST TIME HE'S DONE THIS."4
WHILE THIS CHARGE ONLY RELATES TO THE
TO THE
WILLIAMS,
WILLIAMS, TWO MORE PEOPLE HAVE COME FORWARD SAYING THEY HAD SIMILAR EXPERIENCES WITH BARKER.
ONE PERSON, WHO HAS ASKED NOT TO
BE IDENTIFIED, SAID THEY HIRED
BARKER IN 2019 WHO DEMANDED ADDITIONAL CHARGES HALF-WAY
THROUGH THE PROJECT . THIS
PERSON DID SIGN A CONTRACT.
51-1:03 2ND PERSON: NEED TO
ALTER VOICE: "HE STARTED KIND OF
STARTED CHARGING US ALL OF THESE
EXORBITANT CHARGES FOR DELAYS
AND OVERAGES. THEN IT TURNS INTO
HIM THREATENING YOU IF YOU DON'T
PAY THE OVERAGES."11 THEY
INVOLVED AN ATTORNEY, BUT SAYS THEY STILL LOST MONEY BECAUSE
THE DOWN-PAYMENT WAS MORE THAN
THE WORK DONE BY BARKER.
FEARING THAT THEY WOULD HAVE TO
SELL THE HOME THEY'D LIVED IN
FOR 23 YEARS. MARY JO STARTED PACKING UP, EVEN GIVING AWAY HER
BEDROOM FURNITURE.
BEDROOM FURNITURE. 23:52:15-23:52:20 DIANE D'ANGELO/SPEARHEA DING VOLUNTEER
EFFORT: "IT JUST MADE ME SO
ANGRY THAT I KNEW I HAD TO DO SOMETHING TO HELP HER."4
DIANE D'ANGELO, WHO FOUND OUT
WHAT HAPPENED TO MARY JO ON
SOCIAL MEDIA, MADE A CALL-OUT IN
THE GERMANTOWN- SCHNIZTELBERG
COMMUNITYASKING FOR HELP. 23:47:26-23:47:30 DIANE:
"ACTUALLY I HAVE A LIST HERE OF
ABOUT 13 OR 14 VOLUNTEERS."4
PEOPLE WITHIN THE COMMUNITY STARTED CREATING A GROUPPOSTING
ON SOCIAL MEDIA. THAT'S HOW
SHAWN SMITH BECAME INVOLVED. 24:01-24:08 SHAWN SMITH: "HE
LEFT IT IN A STATE THAT WAS VERY
UNSAFE AND THESE PEOPLE ARE
TRYING TO LIVE IN THEIR HOME."6
03:28-03:38 RUSSELL: "THE ONLY
WORK THAT WAS DONE WAS DEMOING AND THEN HE HAD ACTUALLY COME IN
AND PUT UP FAKE WALLS FOR
STRUCTURAL SUPPORT THAT WAS NOT
NECESSARY."10 RUSSELL JONES OWNS
HIS OWN REMODELING BUSINESS AND
AN OFFSHOOT OF THAT'HELPING
HANDS' WORKS EVERY SATURDAYDONATING TIME AND WHAT
MATERIALS THEY CAN TO IMPROVE A
HOME FOR SOMEONE IN NEED.
01:08:13-01:08:15 NAT "THIS IS THE INSIDE OF THE HOME RIGHT
HERE."2 08:43-08:50 RUSSELL: I
DON'T REALLY KNOW WHAT HIS GAME
PLAN WAS, I'VE NEVER SEEN