A cold-blooded killer who brutally murdered a teenage mother back in 1966 has finally been brought to justice after almost 58 years.
It was a cold winter’s night on November 12, 1966 when Karen Snider was found dead on the floor of the bedroom inside her own home in Chicago, Illinois.
The 18-year-old mother had been savagely beaten and stabbed 125 times, with her husband Paul, 23, finding her body just after 11pm when he arrived home from work.
He had been extremely worried, as he tried to call his wife earlier that evening but she did not answer.
His parents, Frank and Elizabeth Snider, who lived just a few houses away, had also knocked on the couple’s front door at about 8pm but to no avail.
Paul’s fears only grew when he pulled into the driveway and noticed the porch light had been turned off and the blinds drawn, which struck him as very unusual.
Entering the house, he called his wife’s name but there was no answer. That is when he was met with the horrific sight of Karen’s bloodied corpse in the upstairs bedroom.
The couple’s two-month-old daughter, Paula, was found unharmed in her cot in the living room.
While the bedroom was in disarray, Karen still had her clothes on and she had not been sexually assaulted, according to newspaper reports. However, authorities did not rule out the possibility of the crime being sexually motivated.
Initial investigation
Police had originally been suspicious of her husband, but blood from the crime scene ruled him out as a suspect as it did not match his blood type.
In the years following the murder, authorities moved on to other suspects and even arrested one man.
The suspect had sought help at a local hospital on the night of Karen’s murder for a severe cut on his hand that required several stitches.
According to medical records, his blood type was the same as the killer and investigators learned he was an acquaintance of Paul and Karen, even having been in their home multiple times in the past.
The man’s wife confirmed that her husband had come home very late and was heavily intoxicated, with his hand stitched up along with a nasty cut on his forehead. This was not out of the ordinary, however, as he was allegedly a severe alcoholic.
The suspect was questioned about the crime but denied having any involvement or knowledge of the murder.
He claimed he sustained the injuries after tripping on a tree stump, which caused him to hit his head and slice his finger on jagged wood as he made his way home from the pub. He claimed he decided to seek help from the local hospital before continuing home later that night.
Due to lack of evidence, the man was later released and police were never able to bring anyone to justice for Karen’s murder.
Detectives could not obtain any clear fingerprints at the scene and blood samples taken from smears on a broken basement window could not be concretely matched to any suspects due to limited technology at the time.
While investigators continued to hunt for her killer, leads began to dwindle and the case eventually went cold.
Break in the case
Back in December 2022, Chicago police received a call inquiring about the case, prompting them to reopen it for further investigation.
A 29-year-old local, Kevin Seeley, was the one to contact detectives, prompted by pure curiosity after hearing his grandmother talk about the case all his life, according to WGN9.
Calumet City police spent the next 16 months working the case, with detectives locating and reinterviewing witnesses, as well as analysing evidence.
Detectives sent clothing and a bed sheet to the Illinois State Crime Lab for analysis.
This led to investigators obtaining a search warrant in St Louis, Missouri and obtaining a DNA sample from a suspect.
Thanks to new technology, police finally found the killer after 58 years of mystery.
James Barbier, 79, was officially charged with first degree murder last month for the slaying of Karen Snider.
He was the man police had initially arrested back in 1966, but was later released due to lack of evidence.
Barbier had worked with Karen’s husband Paul at the local rail yard and was a close family friend.
Unbelievably, he had also been a pallbearer at the young mother’s funeral, where it was noted he had cuts on his hands.
“My father’s side had always said, ‘This is the man’,” the couple’s daughter, Paula Larson, said after the court hearing.
“I carried it with me when my father explained what happened. I was about 11.
“But at the age of five, I heard children at school talking about it because their parents spoke of it.
“I never thought that we’d ever get here. I never thought that we would have a DNA match because they didn’t have DNA matches back in the day.
“I’m very thankful that the articles of clothing were preserved well.”
Karen’s brother, Bill Neaves, said it was time to make sure his sister’s killer pays for his crime.
“I can’t imagine seeing him sitting there and for over 57 years he was free, and my sister has been in the ground,” he said.
“It is time to make sure that he pays for what he’s done.”
Barbier was arrested in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and brought back to Calumet City to face charges.
Sadly, Karen’s husband Paul died in 1989 at the age of 45 from a heart attack, without ever having seen his wife’s killer brought to justice.
It is still not clear why the murder took place and police have not yet released a motive.
How the crime unfolded
It is believed that the horrific attack on Karen began in the living room of the home, as a trail of blood was found leading from the living room, up the stairs and down the hallway.
Evidence suggested that the mother struggled with her attacker before succumbing to her grievous injuries. The wooden footboard of the bed had splintered, while the telephone had been ripped from the wall.
Strangely, a light bulb that had been unscrewed from a fixture above the stairs was also found on the bedroom floor, covered in blood.
Detectives found a pile of bloodied clothes in the downstairs bathroom’s tub, including two pairs of slacks, a washcloth and a sheet. Authorities have suggested this was an attempt by Barbier to clean up blood from his hands and clothing.
There was a broken window in the basement of the home, along with a trail of blood from the window to the home’s front door. There were also several “jimmy marks” near the lock on the back door of the home.
Karen’s blue leather wallet that contained $50 in cash was missing from the home.
Additionally, a lamp that was part of a matching set was also taken from the couple’s bedroom. During their initial investigations, police had questioned Karen’s family, friends and neighbours. Karen’s mother-in-law, Elizabeth, reportedly told detectives that shortly before her death, the young mother had confided in her that she was scared living in the home, but did not specify why. She had told Elizabeth that she wished to return home to Cedar Lake, Indiana, where her parents lived.
After Karen’s murder, her husband and their daughter moved in with Paul’s parents, Elizabeth and Frank. He later married a woman named Corinne, who helped raise Paula.
Paul died in 1989 at the age of 45.
After police announced the arrest, Paula said she was at her mother’s gravesite, where she uttered the words “Mom and Dad, we got him.”
jasmine.kazlauskas@news.com.au