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Suspected of Christmas Day murder, he was caught by police at a veterans hospital

The Fresno Bee - 12/30/2017

Dec. 30--The man accused of killing a father in Madera on Christmas Day was arrested on Friday, according to Madera police.

Anthony Barnett, 50, was found at the Veterans Affairs Central California Health Care System hospital in central Fresno. It's unclear when he showed up at that location, but police there held Barnett while Madera police were notified and arrived to arrest him, according to information provided on Facebook by the department.

Barnett is accused of shooting and killing Estevanico Goldsmith, 45, who lives in Vallejo and worked in Eureka. Police said he had taken two days off work to visit his daughter in Madera for her 11th birthday, which was to be celebrated on Christmas Day. The day before, police said, Goldsmith dropped his two adult sons off at a family member's home before going to a friend's house on Clinton Street in Madera. Police found him dead with gunshot wounds about 4:30 a.m. Christmas morning.

Police said the shooting happened during a domino game. They said a fight broke out in the backyard of a home and several people intervened to break it up. Barnett then went to his car to get a gun and returned to allegedly shoot at Goldsmith multiple times, killing him.

According to police, Barnett has two previous convictions of carrying a loaded gun in public from 1996 and 2001 and was banned from carrying a gun. After the Christmas Day killing, Madera police issued a statewide alert asking law enforcement agencies to be on the lookout for Barnett. Earlier in the week, Madera Police Cmdr. Giachino Chiaramonte said Barnett was wanted on a $1 million warrant related to Goldsmith's murder.

Barnett is an Army veteran and he previously has worked for the U.S. Postal Service in Madera. Police had also searched his apartment and vehicle, where they found guns and ammunition. It was unclear if the weapon used in the shooting was found by police Friday.

Cresencio Rodriguez-Delgado: 559-441-6304, @cres_guez

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