79-year-old man arrested in 1966 stabbing of 18-year-old
By Sara Smart, CNN
(CNN) — A 79-year-old Missouri man was charged with first degree murder on Monday for allegedly stabbing a woman more than 120 times nearly six decades ago, authorities said.
Karen Snider, 18, was found dead the evening of November 12, 1966 by her husband after he returned from work to their home in Calumet City, about 23 miles outside of Chicago. She had 125 stab wounds all over her body, according to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office in Illinois.
This week, more than 57 years later, James Barbier was arrested for the murder of Snider.
Barbier was initially arrested in 1966 but was not charged and the case went unresolved for years before being reopened in December 2022. A DNA sample identified Barbier as a suspect in the case and on Monday he was arrested in his Missouri home, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
In addition to stab wounds, Snider was covered in bruises, authorities said.
Barbier, who lived in Gary, Indiana, at the time, worked with Snider’s husband, the state’s attorney’s office says, and was friends with the couple.
The state attorney’s office said on the night of the murder, Barbier went back to his home where his wife observed cuts and blood on him.
He “appeared nervous” and he immediately took off his clothes and put them in the washing machine, prosecutors said.
At Snider’s funeral, Barbier was observed to still have cuts on him.
Barbier was released on Thursday with maximum pretrial conditions, according to the state attorney’s office.
Barbier was ordered to not leave Missouri or Illinois, surrender his passport and firearms, and is required to report in person and by phone twice a month, the state’s attorney’s office told CNN in an email.
“Although the charge is detention eligible, based on the age of the defendant, his physical infirmity, and recent caselaw on this pointed issue concerning the Pretrial Fairness Act and of posing ‘a real and present threat,’ the State is not filing a petition to detain,” the state attorney’s office explained.
CNN has yet to determine if Barbier has retained legal counsel.
Calumet City is located near the Illinois-Indiana border, about 13 miles from Gary.
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