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Barbara Raber’s Sentence on Her Murder Conviction

For the aggravated murder of Barbara Weaver, Barbara Raber of Millersburg, Ohio, has been sentenced by Judge Robert J. Brown to twenty-three years to life in prison.  This happened several days ago in Wayne County (Ohio) court, and I’ve taken the time since then to think about this.

At the time the verdict was announced on September 22, 2009, Raber said time and again that she didn’t do it.  Her attorney presented the plausible alternative scenario that Weaver’s husband Eli actually killed his wife in the early morning hours of June 2, 2009, before leaving on a fishing trip with friends.  The coroner’s best estimate of the range for time of death does fit this theory, but the jury still convicted Raber, and the judge at sentencing said, “You were involved in the death of Barbara Weaver.  There is no evidence to contradict that.”  The judge also expressed the opinion that Raber’s sentence ought to have some “parity” with that of Eli Weaver (fifteen years to life), who earlier pleaded guilty to the charge of complicity to commit murder, before testifying for the prosecution.

Is that then a clean verdict and a reasonable sentence?  Maybe so, but also maybe not.  Holmes County residents have expressed the opinion to me that this case is more complicated than it appears.  That certainly is what the defense presented in court.  But Judge Brown said at the time of sentencing, “You and Mr. Weaver had a strong role in the death of his wife.  Without your cooperation, she would still be alive today.”

I think he was right. I think we have justice.  But is it flawless?  Probably not.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, October 14th, 2009 at 11:12 am and is filed under Amish Murder, Murder Trial, Ohio Amish Mysteries, Raber Murder Trial, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

2 Responses to “Barbara Raber’s Sentence on Her Murder Conviction”

  1. » Steve Turnbull says:
    October 24th, 2009 at 5:30 pm

    Paul,

    Thanks for this post. I had been waiting and hope to hear your evaluation of the sentence, and I am glad now for the chance to read it.

    You may or may not remember me as your student (COW ‘97), but I remain grateful for your mentoring of me as a student and a learner. After COW, I earned an M.Div. from Luther Seminary in St. Paul, MN and then Ph.D. in New Testament from Duke University. I do some adjunct teaching for several different schools, but my main vocation is as a pastor. I still enjoy the conversations with the chemists and other scientists in my congregation, even though that’s no longer my full time interest.

    Thanks for keeping up this blog.

    Steve Turnbull

  2. » Paul says:
    October 24th, 2009 at 6:28 pm

    Dear Steve,

    I remember you well, and I congratulate you on your degrees since graduating from The College of Wooster. You certainly were a great student.

    I gave it a few weeks before I posted my opinion on Raber’s sentence, because I wanted to be sure to be fair. I hope you think I have been. Thanks for your interest.

    Paul

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