According to police reports, Barnes' victim Helen Bass had been beaten with a lamp and rifle, stabbed in the neck, and then shot in the head. A large quantity of Bass' blood was found at the crime scene. Police examiners discovered two drops of blood on Barnes' sleeve. When the blood on Barnes' clothes was later tested by an independent laboratory, it was found to contain levels of citric acid forty times higher than that found in human blood. Crime lab containers that held samples of the victim's blood were coated in citric acid. This evidence was presented to then governor Bush's office.