The Murder of Sarah Wisnosky

For this case, I watched an episode of Your Worst Nightmare. It’s season 3 episode 4, titled ‘Secret Rage.’

A young college student is found dead near a creek.

Background

Sarah Jane Wisnosky was only 17 years old at the time of her death. In the fall of 1993, Sarah started college at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia.

Sarah was described as a good student, and as a fun, welcoming person.

A New Romance

Sarah became really close to some other girls that lived in her dorm, especially her roommate Nicki Vanbelkum. Sarah and Nicki made a pact to contact each other if they were staying overnight somewhere outside the dorm.

Sarah met a man named Derek ‘Serf’ Barnabei. He invited Sarah and her friends to a party, which they attended. At the party, Serf told Sarah that he had graduated from Rutgers University, and was now a member of the fraternity on campus.

Sarah was naive when it came to relationships, but she fell quickly for Serf. Nicki had negative feelings about him, but there wasn’t much she could do about it.

Sarah had no idea that Serf had a violent past. Well, actually, she didn't much about him at all.

The Discovery

On September 22, 1993, Sarah went to Serf’s apartment. He had to go to a meeting for the fraternity around 1pm, but told Sarah to wait in his bedroom.

While Sarah was waiting in Serf’s room, she contacted Nicki. Nicki had a weird feeling about the call because Sarah was whispering. In the show, it made it seem like Sarah had discovered something about Serf. The phone call abruptly ended when Serf returned home.

The next day, Sarah didn’t show up for class, which Nicki said was unusual. Sarah also hadn’t returned to their dorm room.

The Norfolk PD was contacted. A body of a young female had been found in the Lafayette River, just a few miles away from Serf’s apartment, and from campus.

The Investigation

At the river, the police found Sarah’s brown size 8 shoe. The young female was also wearing a ring from Heritage High School, with the initials ‘SJW’ on it.

The police contacted the Old Dominion police, who confirmed that Sarah was a freshman, who had come from Heritage High School.

The police went to Sarah’s dorm room. They spoke to Nicki, who told them that Sarah had been with Serf the previous night. She also told them about the strange phone call. Nicki was asked to go to the police station, and asked to identify Sarah’s body. Nicki said she was shown Sarah’s face, and that she knew immediately that Serf had killed her.

With that information, the police went to Serf’s apartment, where they discovered Sarah’s other shoe that matched the one from the crime scene. It had blood on it, and it appeared as if someone had tried to discard the shoe in the garbage.

A National Manhunt

Inside the apartment, the police found Serf’s room abandoned. There was blood found on some drawings, and on the walls. They also found a notebook of Serf’s.

Serf’s roommates told the police about some bizarre things that they had observed on the day Sarah was killed. One said they had heard loud music coming from Serf’s room, and another noticed that Serf didn’t have any sheets or blankets on his bed.

The police learned a little bit of information from Serf’s roommates, and contacted the New Jersey police. Serf’s real name was Derek Barnabei, but he often went by Serf or Serafino, which was his dad’s name.

Barnabei had a history of violence, and of scamming young college girls, and fraternities. He traveled to different campuses, and conned naive college students into giving him money. He also had several assaults on his record.

Months went by, and Serf was still on the run. He was located on December 19, 1993, in Ohio. A police officer had seen his vehicle in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

The Trial and Conviction

At Serf’s trial, everything came to light about what had happened to Sarah.

Serf’s DNA was found underneath Sarah’s fingernails. It’s believed that he had strangled her, but when she fought back, he grabbed a hammer instead. She had been hit in the head about 10 times. The object was described as heavy, and believed to have been a ball-peen hammer.

Sarah’s blood and DNA was found all over Serf’s bedroom. There was blood on the bed frame, a surfboard that Serf’s roommates remembered seeing him with, on her shoe, and on the walls. Serf had also sexually assaulted Sarah.

On June 13, 1995, Derek Barnabei was found guilty, and sentenced to death.

He was executed 5 years later, on September 14, 2000, despite many appeals. The evidence, including Sarah’s fingernail clippings were retested, but the retesting couldn't rule Barnabei out.

He had always claimed he was innocent, and in his final statement, he said:

“I am truly innocent of this crime. Eventually, the truth will come out.”

FINAL THOUGHTS

I don’t believe Derek is innocent. The evidence clearly points to him, and no one else. He was obviously a violent person, liar, and scammer. Maybe Sarah discovered something about his past. There hasn’t really been a clear motive presented. Sarah was young, and was taken too soon, all because she crossed paths with him.

The episode of Your Worst Nightmare barely went into details about this case, so there are other sources that go into more detail about the roommates and what they saw.

Sources

https://thecinemaholic.com/who-killed-sarah-wisnosky-is-derek-barnabei-dead-or-alive/

https://prodeathpenalty.com/case/sarah-wisnosky-murder

http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/barnabei666.htm

https://www.irishtimes.com/news/barnabei-executed-protesting-innocence-1.1103511

https://caselaw.findlaw.com/us-4th-circuit/1013841.html