Who Is Brian Cohee and What Did He Do?

The YouTube channel EXPLORE WITH US recently released a documentary titled Parents Discover Teen Son’s Horrifying Secret, which delved into the gruesome crimes of a 21-year-old man named Brian Cohee.

Reports suggest that in February 2021, Brian Cohee murdered a 69-year-old homeless man named Warren Barnes, who was asleep near Crosby Avenue. Furthermore, the 21-year-old decapitated, dismembered and mutilated Barnes’s body. After doing that, he took some of the body parts home. Soon, Cohee’s mother discovered Barnes’s rotting head and hands in his closet and called the police.

Interestingly, the aforementioned documentary even features dashcam footage of the moment authorities arrived at the Cohee residence. In addition, it has dashcam video of a business owner who reported Barnes’s disappearance to the police. For his crimes, the court sentenced Cohee to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole. According to Westen Slope Now, Brian’s mother, Terri Cohee, painfully recalled the moment she discovered Barnes’s severed head in his son’s closet. The evidence was so disturbing that even jurors got teary-eyed.

Upon walking out of the courtroom, Terri Cohee expressed sympathies to the victim’s family. She stated, “I would just like to express our family’s deep and sincere sympathies to the community and family of Mr. Barnes.” Furthermore, Judge Richard Gurley, who presided over this case called it one of the most horrific he had seen in his 37 years with the criminal justice system.

Gurley also stated that it was evident that Brian Cohee suffered from mental problems and viewed things differently. However, he did agree that murder was on the 21-year-old’s mind for quite some time. According to The Daily Sentinel, Cohee confessed that he wanted to target homeless individuals because he thought that nobody would miss them.

Did Brian Cohee plead not guilty?

Even though Brian Cohee pleaded not guilty because of insanity, the court did not show him mercy.

According to Mesa County, Assistant District Attorney Trish Mahre expressed her sadness over Warren Barnes’s brutal murder. She stated, “Warren Barnes lost his life in the most violent of ways. His friends, family, and community suffer his loss. This outcome demonstrates the checks and balances that exist within the criminal justice system. Justice prevailed when the jury rendered guilty verdicts holding the defendant legally accountable for his horrendous crimes”.

Brian Cohee’s assumption that Barnes’s death would go unnoticed was incorrect because the latter had many friends who adored and respected him. Furthermore, they installed a memorial sculpture in his memory, in the location he used to spend most of his time. Barnes’s sister Geraldine Shipp stated, “He was a man who was loved by the community and family. Nothing can replace Warren, but hopefully, Brian Cohee can never, ever have a chance to hurt someone else.”

Furthermore, Barnes’ niece, Michelle Munfrada expressed her grief and hoped that nobody got to suffer the way her uncle did, at the end of his life. She said, “We hope that this, today, can bring some closure for all the family and friends.”

People who loved Warren Barnes lovingly called him “The Reading Man” because he was an avid reader. Furthermore, they described him as a kind and hard-working person.