At the end of March 1977, Mrs. Jennie E. Barr, an elderly widow, was found dead in her den in her home in Tremont, Schuylkill County, Pennsylvania. The cause of death was strangulation and she was also sexually assaulted. Investigators ruled the death a homicide.
This murder was the first of four that occurred in the Lykens Valley area in a less than three-year period between 1977 and 1979 – all of elderly widows.
The story of the discovery of the body through the revelation of the autopsy results, investigation and settlement of her estate is told through 12 brief stories that appeared in area newspapers.
Although a suspect was charged and brought to trial in 1981, he was quickly acquitted. As with the other three murders, this homicide remains unsolved.
Note: The 1981 trial will be featured in another series of posts.
From the Pottsville Republican, 5 April 1977:
Services set today for woman found strangled, assaulted
By DENNIS MELNICK, Staff Writer
TREMONT – Funeral services for a 78-year-old Tremont woman who was found strangled and sexually assaulted in her home last Thursday were to be held this afternoon while a detail of eight to 10 investigators continue to search for clues to the murder.
State police at Pottsville said details are working during the day and some at night talking to people in the borough to find some clues that could lead to the murderer of Jenne E. Barr, 20 N. Crescent St.
“We’re going to work on this one until we crack it,” a state police spokesman said.
Mrs. Barr, a widow, was found laying in her first floor den by neighbors Thursday night and an autopsy later revealed the cause of death to be manual strangulation. It is believed the act took place sometime Wednesday night or early Thursday morning.
State police said the motive was not burglary since nothing was found to be missing from the home and are now leaning toward the motive being purely sexual in nature.
It is believed that Mrs. Barr was totally taken by surprise while watching television in her den since there was no signs of struggle. Police said it was a warm night last Wednesday and several neighbors had their windows open during the night but no one heard any screams of saw anything suspicious.
The possibility of anyone hearing or seeing anything is lessened by the fact that Mrs. Barr’s house is surrounded by high shrubbery and that there are vacant houses on either side of her residence. The nearest home is located across the street and by a set of railroad tracks.
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For all other parts of this story, see: Who Killed Jennie E. Barr?
News clipping/article from Newspapers.com.
Corrections and additional information should be added as comments to this post.