Signs of a Psychopath have traveled to Forth Worth, Texas, to investigate the barbaric murders of Lisa Underwood and her 7-year-old son Jayden at their home in 2005.
Their killer was Lisa’s boyfriend, Stephen Barbee, who killed them over an argument about leaving his wife. Barbee would later admit that he feared he was the father of Lisa’s unborn child and that he was determined not to pay her any child maintenance.
Jayden and the 7-month pregnant Lisa were first reported missing on February 19, 2005, when the single-mom failed to show up to a baby shower. The authorities became increasingly alarmed when a search of their home revealed bloodstains.
The previous night, Barbee and Lisa argued over leaving his wife, and the argument began to grow violent. Barbee punched his girlfriend in the nose and then held her head to the floor, suffocating her to death.
Stephen Barbee suffocated both his victims
At this point, Jayden came into the room and began screaming; Barbee grabbed him and put his hand over his nose and mouth, also suffocating him to death.
Barbee loaded the bodies into Lisa’s SUV, and the next day he drove to a secluded area of Denton County, where he buried them in a shallow grave.
As Barbee was driving to dispose of the bodies, he ran out of gas and called his friend Ron Dodd to help him out. When Dodd arrived at the scene, he spotted the dead bodies in the SUV. He was reportedly shaken but left the scene rather than confront his friend.
Watch the Latest on our YouTube ChannelBarbee later admitted to Dodds that he killed the pair, and when the killer was eventually arrested, Dodds subsequently agreed to testify against his friend.
Barbee was arrested a couple of days later in Tyler, approximately 130 miles east of Fort Worth. He initially confessed to the murder and even took officers to the scene of the burial. However, he later retracted his confession by claiming it was extracted under duress.
In 2006, he was found guilty of capital murder and was sentenced to death. He was scheduled to die in October 2019, but his execution was halted when his attorneys changed his plea to guilty in what is thought to be an attempt to reduce his sentence.
More from Signs of a Psychopath
Follow the links to read about more murders profiled on Signs of a Psychopath.
Melissa Miller and LeAnn ‘Annie’ Meyer had been one time lovers but were now just roommates when an argument over yard work caused Miller to snap and murder Meyer while the pair were walking in the woods. Miller pushed her former friend’s body down a hill so she wouldn’t be found out.
Thayne Ormsby came across as an affable young man from Maine; however, in 2010, he went on a killing spree that left a father and son and a third man dead. When detectives asked why, he said he’d been told one of the men was a drug dealer, which turned out to be false.
Signs of a Psychopath airs at 11/10c on Investigation Discovery.