by Gregg Olsen
Leonard was intent on proving that Eli had manipulated Barb, David Weaver, and many others, when planning the murder. And if he’d planned it, he could have executed it.
John Leonard and Edna Boyle laid out the case for and against Barb Raber. The star of the show, the man everyone wanted to hear from, would soon take the stand.
* * *
WHILE HIS LOVER’S trial was under way, Eli stuck to his story, playing the victim card like a Vegas dealer. He continued to tell people that Barb Raber was some kind of evil seductress, bewitching him to do the unthinkable. It was as though mousy, dowdy Barb were some kind of sexual siren.
He might have been the Amish Stud, but he was no match for cunning female wiles.
He wrote to a family member from jail:
I was feeling down one day and Barb texted me and wanted to have sex with me and I told her no (but I must say I did give in sometimes) that day and she was upset and told me she wished she could do away with my wife so she could have me whenever she wanted me.
Poor Eli was hoping to find someone sympathetic to him. There was no one left in Amish country who cared.
32
Best Friends
Should I think differently when he still acts as he did then—ignoring me in bed (and out) and making me feel so dumb. I know I’m not smart but I’m not stupid.
—BARBARA WEAVER, ON TRYING TO WALK THE LINE BETWEEN SUBMISSION AND INDEPENDENCE
As Ed Raber had feared, Barb had, in fact, made friends in jail. Unbeknownst to either of the Rabers until the betrayal had been set into motion, Jamie Wood had been pressed into service by the prosecution. While the cellmate’s credibility teetered like a busted pair of heels on a gravel road, she had a story to tell.
It was all about Barb. The murder. And the details shared during the long days and nights of their incarceration in the Wayne County jail. Jamie had done exactly what the prosecution had asked her to do since she first came to them—and maybe more. She’d kept notes. She’d asked questions. She prepped herself for her opportunity to do the right thing. It was her chance at a lighter sentence.
Edna Boyle led off the questioning, having Jamie explain how she and Barb had shared a jail cell for several weeks.
“And did there come a point in time when you started talking about why she was there?”
“Probably a week or two after she had been incarcerated.”
“And what did she say?”
“She had told me about the gun. She purchased a .412 I do believe is what it was from Miller Gun Supplies.”
Edna had Jamie correct herself. It was a .410 gauge shotgun Barb had discussed, not a .412.
“Did you take some notes as she’s telling you things about the case?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And did you have the opportunity to speak to detectives in this case?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And did you turn over those notes that you took to the detectives?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Boyle presented two sheets of paper to Jamie and she acknowledged it was her handwriting.
“And did she make any statements about her knowledge of guns?”
“She said she was pretty familiar with them. She had been hunting and so on.”
“And did she make any statement about fingerprints?”
John Leonard objected to the leading question, and Boyle began again.
“Did the defendant make any statements about Eli Weaver?”
“Yes.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said that he had asked her to catch the house on fire, blow the house up with his kids in it and he said they would go to heaven because they’re innocent.”
“Did she make any other statements about Eli Weaver?”
“Yeah, that he hid the gun in the shrubs around his house. And he asked her to find two to four people to put on a show, more or less go to the house and act like they were looking for him with an unloaded gun.” It was just one of several schemes Eli considered and rejected.
“Why did you write these notes down?”
“Because I felt that somebody should know about it.”
“And did you speak to a detective about this?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And who did you speak to?”
“The guy to the left of you.”
She nodded toward John Chuhi.
“And did he make any promises to you for you to come in here and testify today?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Has anyone made any promises to you?”
“No, ma’am.”
Detective Chuhi may not have made any promises, but he had said he would pass on her notes to Judge Rickett, and he did. Jamie had nothing to lose. Her cooperation just might make a difference in the length of her stay in jail.
“Why are you testifying?”
“Because I feel sorry for the family.”
Boyle had to bring up Jamie’s criminal record because Leonard was sure going to. Better to get it out now.
“You have prior criminal convictions?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And what are they for?”
“Corruption of a minor and petty theft.”
“And what are you currently incarcerated for?”
“Petty theft, probation violation.”
“And what is your release date?”
“January 2nd.”
“How long were you incarcerated with the defendant Barbara Raber?”
“I was in there June 2nd. She came in probably a week or two after me so until probably about a month ago [when] she got moved.”
“And how did this information become known to the police?”
“I contacted them.”
“And how did you contact law enforcement?”
“I wrote a letter to the judge, actually, and then they furthered it.”
“And you wrote a letter to which judge?”
“Judge Rickett.”
“Did you ask for anything in that letter?”
She said she asked if she would receive a shorter sentence if she testified against her friend Barb Raber.
“And the judge didn’t promise you that?”
“No.”
“And no one else has promised you anything?”
“Correct.”
“Were there any other conversations that you had with Barbara Raber?”
“We talked about our kids going and doing things after we both got out of jail and stuff like that.”
“And did she make any other statements about her case?”
“Not that I’m remembering at the moment.”
But there was more, and Boyle wanted to get it entered as evidence. There was another legal tussle with Leonard about the witness looking at her notes to prompt her memory. She was allowed to.
“She did ask me about fingerprints on a gun, how long they would stay on there. She told me that Eli had—”
Leonard interrupted, objecting that she was reading from her statement, something the judge had prohibited.
Judge Brown said that she could use it to refresh her memory, then give it back to Boyle. But Boyle was done questioning Jamie.
In his cross-examination, Leonard focused on Jamie’s motivation for sending the letter to Judge Rickett on July 29, 2009. Hadn’t she contacted him because he had sent her to jail for petty theft and probation violation?
“Yes.”
“Because you stole something?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So your motive in doing all this information was because you wanted to get out early?”
“Originally, yes.”
“But that’s not what you just testified to. You testified your motive was because you wanted to do the right thing and felt bad and that kind of stuff. But really that’s not your actual motive for coming in here today is it?”
“No, sir. Actually it was for the family.”
Leonard was determ
ined to show Jamie’s lack of credibility.
“Okay, but that’s not what you wrote in your letter to Judge Rickett, right? You’re writing a letter to the judge on your case that’s incarcerated you and can let you out early if he so desires, correct?”
“Correct.”
“He’s the one that can do it, Judge Rickett?”
“Correct.”
“And you wrote him a letter addressed to Judge Rickett saying for example I was incarcerated, sentenced to ninety days. I was wondering about getting an early release, correct?”
“Correct.”
“Not ‘I care about the children and the terrible tragedy,’ right?”
“Correct.”
Leonard read excerpts from the letter to the judge.
“And you said … ‘I have an eight-month-old daughter that has a brain malformation and has specialists in Cleveland. Her visits are critical. My mother is fifty-three years old and has a problem with getting her back and forth to appointments,’ right?”
“Correct.”
“Not to mention ‘I have a six-year-old who also has to be put in the first grade. They need me,’ right?”
“Correct.”
“Not, ‘Oh my gosh, this is a terrible tragedy,’ right?”
“Correct.”
Leonard hammered home the point that Jamie’s motivation was a selfish one.
“Right, you talked about the information you claimed to have about a murder case. Let’s just say—this is your words. Let’s just say ‘I’ve gotten really close to Barb Raber and I think I may know some information she hasn’t told.’ You got real close to her?”
“Correct.”
“Again, nothing in this letter about the tragedy and doing the right thing?”
“That’s correct.”
“‘If it will get me home with my children I’m more than willing to let you know what I know,’ right?”
“Correct.”
Leonard suggested Jamie had “made up” the stories about Barb Raber. And there was more that Boyle had not brought out—Jamie had also written what seemed to be heartfelt letters to the woman she considered a mother figure.
“You wrote a couple letters to Barb Raber, correct?”
“Two of them, yes.”
“One of them was done July 22nd, right?”
“Yep.”
“And this would have been before you wrote the letter on July 27th to the judge, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Okay, so while you’re gathering information about her case you call her my dearest Barb, right?”
“Yep.”
He asked Jamie to read the letter.
My dearest Barb. Hey, I just wanted to tell you that I appreciate everything you’ve done for me. I’m so glad to have met you. You are not only like a mom to me, you are like my best friend. Thank you. I hope we can hang out on the outside. I have faith that good things will come to you. Yours truly, Jamie.
Leonard pointed out that Jamie had written the letter to her BFF just five days before she wrote to Judge Rickett.
Jamie read a second letter she had written Barb.
Barb. Hey, you’re an awesome friend and I honestly love you. You helped me through my hard times and you’ll always have a shoulder for me to cry on. For that I thank you. As for me getting in trouble, if it happens I’ll deal with it. I just hope my answers don’t hurt you in the long run. Regardless I’m always going to be here if you need me. I’m sorry things happened the way they did. I wish they would just let you go.
“What about how did you sign that?”
“Love always, Jamie.”
Leonard pressed how Jamie could treat her good friend so badly.
“When you told her you would always have a shoulder for me to cry on and I thank you, you didn’t really mean that?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And ‘I honestly love you,’ you meant that too?”
“Yes, sir, and I still do.”
Barb continued to grimace and shake her head in disbelief as she listened to the testimony.
“And when you said ‘you’re like my best friend,’ you meant that too?”
“Yes, sir.”
“And this is how you treat your best friend. You then write letters to the judge saying ‘I can give you information to get myself out of jail early’?”
“Correct.”
“Right, that’s how you treat your friends. And you make up stories and you twist the words around and make them sound incriminating.”
“No, sir.”
The defense attorney finally used Jamie’s criminal record against her.
“Your conviction that you’re incarcerated for is what?”
“Petty theft.”
“And that’s stealing, right?”
“Yes.”
“And you also indicated your other conviction was?”
“Corruption of a minor.”
In redirect, Edna Boyle asked Jamie about her knowledge of the murder before she became friendly with Barb, hoping to show that what she knew could only have come from their one-on-one conversations.
“Did you have any independent knowledge of this case?”
“Beforehand, no.”
“And where did you get all the information from?”
“Barbara Raber.”
“Did you read anything about this in the newspaper?”
“No, ma’am. We’re not allowed to have them.”
“Did you hear anything about this on the news?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Did anyone promise you anything?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Did Judge Rickett promise you anything?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Did Detective Chuhi or anyone else from the Wayne County Sheriff’s Department promise you anything?”
“No, ma’am.”
“When I met with you did I promise you anything to get you to testify here today?”
“No, ma’am.”
John Leonard had one last question for her on re-cross-examination that probed her real intentions.
“And if they let you out early before your January out date you’re going to say ‘No, I’m going to stay in custody?’”
“No, sir.”
* * *
WHEN TABITHA MILTON sat in the witness stand and finally laid eyes on the defendant, her jaw dropped. Eli had scrolled though photos of his loves before, showing attractive girls that he wanted to date—or who wanted to date him. He was a nice-looking guy and the girls were pretty.
But Barb Raber?
That woman’s completely ugly, Tabitha thought. Why was Eli with her?
For her part, Barb never once looked up at Tabitha. She kept her eyes focused on what appeared to be a blank notepad on the table in front of her. Every once in a while she’d glance around the courtroom, but her eyes never landed in any particular place.
Tabitha didn’t hold back. She couldn’t. By then she felt hurt, betrayed, and angry. She thought of all the circumstances that had brought her face-to-face with Barb Raber in that courtroom.
Fuck you, Eli! You lied to me! she thought.
Edna Boyle needed to ask the obvious. How had Tabitha met Eli?
“In a chat room, on Lavalife,” she said.
“Did you have a sexual relationship with him?” Boyle asked.
“No.”
Boyle first questioned the witness about the cell phone that Eli and Barb had given her.
“So this family share plan, I’m not quite sure how that works. Can you explain that?”
“I think it was her original phone and then she added him and then he added me.”
“And so then who actually paid for the phone?”
“Eli.”
Actually, Barb Raber was paying for Tabitha’s cell phone service. It was among the many bills Barb paid for Eli that, according to Barb, amounted—to date—to some $5,000. In return, Tabitha had helped Eli with his busines
s.
“He told me he wanted to put his business on the website and didn’t really know how to go about it. Asked me if I knew anything and I said yes, sort of. I would definitely help him.”
“And so what were you going to do to help with the website?”
“Actually build it.”
“And so how were you going to build it?”
“Um—”
“Did he provide anything to you to build it?”
“Oh, a laptop. He gave me a laptop to use.”
“And do you recall when you were provided with the laptop computer?”
“Sometime in January.”
“January of what year?”
“09.”
“And about how many conversations have you had with the defendant Barb Raber?”
“Not many.”
“And you never met in person?”
“No.”
“Did there come a point in time after June 2nd that you learned of the death of Barbara Weaver?”
“Yeah, I seen it on the news.”
“And did you also get it from other—did you get a phone call from anyone after you learned of Barbara Weaver’s death?”
“Yes.”
“And who called you?”
“Barbara.”
“And when you say Barbara…?”
“Raber.”
“So when she called you did she say anything to you?”
“I texted her and asked her if all of this was true, if this was really Eli and she didn’t respond. I went tanning. I came out of the tanning bed, she had called me. I had to call her back because I missed it and that is when she spoke to me about everything.”
“And what did she say?”
“She said that she (Barbara Weaver) was found dead in her bedroom shot in the chest.”
“And do you recall what day you talked to her?”
“I don’t know what day, no. I don’t remember now.”
“And when the defendant Barbara Raber contacted you … how did you know it was her calling?”
“Eli gave me her number so if I ever needed to talk to her about help on the computer. There was some things I didn’t understand like Word Office, how to get to all that in there.”
“And so you actually got her phone number from Eli Weaver?”
“Yes.”
“And when she called you what would come up on your screen?”