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 Pine Grove Press Herald, 7 April 1977:
Maniacal Murderer Still at Large – Tremont in State of Shock
An entire community is cowering behind locked doors and drawn window blinds since the most heinous crime in Tremont’s history occurred between the house of approximately 11:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 30 and 6:00 a.m. Thursday March 31, when Mrs. Jennie Barr, 78-year old widow of Dr. Guy L. Barr was murdered in her home at 20 N. Crescent Street.
Beaten about the head and face beyond recognition, she was sexually assaulted, ribs were fractured, and he was battered and bruised externally and internally by some kind of instrument. Death, according to an autopsy performed at Pottsville Hospital, was caused by manual strangulation. The examination fixed the time of her death.
Her lifeless body was not found until approximately 10:15 p.m. on Thursday.
It was the custom of her close friends to call Mrs. Barr by telephone every evening. On Wednesday evening, the last known person to talk with her was Mrs. Kathleen Dimon of East Line Street who said they concluded their conversation about 10:40 p.m.
On Thursday evening, another close friend, Mrs. Mildred Fetterolf called and received no answer. Then she called Mrs. Olive Gunderson to ask if she knew if “Jennie” had gone away. Mrs. Gunderson said, “No, I was at her house Wednesday at 5:00 p.m. to pick up her Red Cross Blood Donor registration cards. Both Mrs. Barr and Mrs. Gunderson were soliciting donors for the Bloodmobile visit here on April 4. Mrs. Gunderson suggested that Mrs. Fetterholf call Mrs. Barr’s closest neighbor, Mrs. Charles Freeze – that she might be there watching television with Mary and Charles.
Mr. Fetterolf did just that – and Mary said, “No” – I’ll go over and see if Jennie is all right.” When Mr. and Mrs. Freeze went to the Barr home, they found the front door unlocked and their neighbor dead on the floor of the first floor den where her television was located. They called in other neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Junior Harner and Richard Minnig, whom they thought was still the deputy coroner. Dick and his brother, William R. Minnig, who is the deputy coroner, went there at once and notified District Attorney Richard Russell of 203 E. Main Street, Tremont.
Since then, State Police and local Police, along with county detectives, under the direction of the District Attorney, have been working around the clock, seeking to find the maniacal murderer – as of this time, without announcement of success.
In the District Attorney’s own words, “There will be no let up until the case is solved.
Mrs. Barr was a highly respected, lifelong resident of Tremont. Greatly admired for her community service through many agencies – a worker for many charity causes and civic enterprises. None could say an unkind word about her – nor was she known to ever speak unkindly of anyone else.
A baffling aspect of the case is the fact that robbery could not have been the motive – nothing has been discovered to be missing from the home. Nothing was disturbed – everything was in its proper place, with the exception of the chair on which she apparently was sitting when she was assaulted. That was in the center of the den, instead of being beside a snack table, on which she kept her reading material.
The police investigation includes the questioning of countless residents, all of her neighbors and friends in the hope of finding some definite clue that might lead to identifying the maniac who caused this fine woman’s brutal death. There was no evidence of forcible entry to the house.
Mrs. Barr, who lived alone, was an extremely cautious woman and always kept her doors locked and blinds drawn at night time. Yet, when she was found, both the front and side doors of her home were unlocked.
Since the news of this terrible crime broke, the question is asked repeatedly – “How could this happen in our small, peaceful town?” – saying that the entire community is in a state of shock hardly describes the feeling of its residents.
Contemplation of the dastardly deed is sickening – it will take a long time, probably never for today’s population – to recover from this tremendous shock and the resulting fear that has filled the hearts and minds of all.
____________________________________
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.