Elderly Missouri man charged in 1966 stabbing death of Chicago area woman

CHICAGO (CBS) — An elderly man from Missouri was arrested on Monday for the murder of an 18-year-old woman nearly 60 years ago in a south suburb of Chicago.

James Barbier, 79, is charged with first-degree murder in the 1966 stabbing death of 18-year-old Karen Snider in Calumet City.

Husband discovers wife’s body

Snider’s husband, Paul, found her dead from multiple stab wounds in their home in the 400 block of Wilson Avenue around 11:10 pm on Nov. 12, 1966. According to published reports, her husband told police he’d found his wife’s body when he got home from work. Their two-month-old daughter, Paula, was found safe in her bassinet in another room.

Police said an autopsy revealed Snider had been beaten and stabbed 125 times. Barbier was considered a suspect at the time but was never charged.

“My father’s side had always said, ‘This is the man,” the Sniders’ daughter, Paula Larson, said after the court hearing on Thursday.

According to published reports, detectives could not find any clear fingerprints at the time of the murder but hoped tests on blood smears on a broken basement window would help them identify the killer.

What evidence led to murder charges?

Police said they reopened the case in December 2022, and detectives spent more than a year examining evidence and tracking down witnesses for questioning.

Detectives sent clothing and a bed sheet to the Illinois State Crime Lab for analysis. In March of 2023, investigators obtained a search warrant in Missouri and got a DNA sample from the defendant. A DNA analysis led them to charge Barbier with murder.

Barbier was a family friend who had worked as a railroad employee with Karen Snider’s husband.

Barbier was a pallbearer at Karen Snider’s funeral and was observed with cuts on his hands, according to court documents.

Paul Snider died in 1989.

“I carried it with me when my father explained what happened,” Larson said. “I was about 11, but at the age of five, I heard children at school talking about it because their parents spoke of it.”

Barbier was arrested on Monday in Creve Coeur, Missouri, and brought back to Calumet City to face charges.

“I never thought that we’d ever get here,” Larson said. “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.”

He made his first court appearance in Markham on Thursday and was allowed to return to Missouri while he awaits trial.

He must surrender his passport, appear for all required court dates, and may only travel to Missouri and to and from court.

Defense attorneys said Barbier has diabetes and suffered a stroke last year. He is due back in court on May 21.

Bill Neaves, who is Karen Snider’s brother, said: “I can’t imagine seeing him sitting there and for 57 years he was free, and my sister’s been in the ground.”

He said it is time to “make sure that he pays for what he’s done.”