A courtroom maneuver promises to bring to an end the 12-year effort to execute Charles E. Barker for killing his child's grandparents.

In court, prosecutors told Superior Court Judge Patricia J. Gifford they have cut a deal with Barker, 47, and his attorneys to drop the death penalty in exchange for Barker spending the rest of his life in prison.

The son of Barker's victims, Francis and Helen Benefiel, who were killed in 1993 when Barker stormed their Westside home, said he was relieved the case could soon be over.

As part of the deal, Barker would waive any right to appeal his life sentence.

"I always felt in my heart he wouldn't be put to death -- even though I thought he deserved death," said Bud Benefiel, 59, Indianapolis.

Benefiel's father was 66 and his mother was 65 when they were shot to death. The Benefiels were trying to protect their daughter, Candice, who was Barker's ex-girlfriend, and the 1-year-old daughter of Barker and Benefiel.

Police captured Barker in Tennessee. At trial, prosecutors described him as "the face of evil." Barker was found guilty in 1996 of two counts of murder and one count each of kidnapping, confinement, burglary and carrying a handgun without a license.

But the Indiana Supreme Court tossed out Barker's death sentence in 1998 because jurors hadn't been informed life in prison was an option.

Call Star reporter Kevin Corcoran at (317) 444-2750.