by Ann Rule
All of them were intelligent and successful women, albeit lonely, and they had thought it safer and more discreet to exchange emails with perfect strangers when they would never have considered going alone to a bar or a singles dance.
They were prime prey for con artists. They were not the “Nigerian scammers” that Heather once warned Jenn about, but men who wrote increasingly seductive emails that promised everything from romantic meetings to marriage. Many of these men sent photographs purported to be of themselves. But they seldom were.
In the fall of 2006, three attractive women appeared on a well-known talk show, and were shocked to find that, although each of them had been writing to a different man, their correspondents had all included the same photograph—that of a handsome, well-dressed businessman. The real man existed, but he had no part in this scam. Nor did he know how the con-men had obtained his picture.
These duped women admitted that they had sent money, plane tickets, and personal information to their potential lovers. Yet none of them had ever met their correspondents in person. And still, these perfectly sane and bright women had agreed to a meeting. Instead, they all waited in vain at airports as passengers deplaned, watching for the man in the pictures, who had promised to bring roses.
Of course, the men weren’t on those flights, but later they all came up with seemingly plausible reasons about why they had missed the magical moment of first meeting. Several even had the nerve to ask for more money to take care of last-minute complications. One man explained that he had become suddenly ill and been rushed to a hospital. And the woman who waited for him actually sent him more money to pay his hospital bill!
The most astounding revelation on the talk show was not that the women had been duped; it was that they all said they were still in love with the men they had trusted. Even faced with solid evidence that they had been fooled, they stubbornly refused to accept that the romance they hoped for didn’t exist. Two of them said they intended to stay in their Internet relationships. Their disillusionment was so great that they had to cling to what they hoped for. They still believed in a future meeting with their “fiancés.” Jenn Corbin died only two weeks after she learned that there was no Christopher; she hadn’t had time to process the truth about Anita Hearn. For her, Christopher lived on—at least in her mind, caught somewhere in the tunnels of EverQuest. Jenn, sadly, never got the chance to emerge from the deception, and go on with her life.
Some of the mysteries that were connected, however tangentially, to Bart Corbin remain in shadow. Harriet Gray’s murder in September 1995 has never been solved. Like Jenn, Harriet Gray left a journal behind—although its contents remains secret because her case is still open. One jarring note, however, is the whispered information that the entries in those journals are not in Harriet’s handwriting.
There is little question that Bart Corbin and Harriet Gray worked in the same dental clinic; but there is some debate about whether they ever worked there at the same time. Her relatives believe that they knew one another other.
As this is written, Mary Denise Lands has been missing for almost three years. It is unlikely that Bart Corbin had anything to do with the disappearance of this fourth woman he knew who apparently met with violence. There is no new information on where she might be. Cold case detectives from the Michigan State Police are still investigating her disappearance.
—Ann Rule
JENN CORBIN’S SQUASH SOUP
3 large cans chicken broth (12 cups)
1 butternut squash (3 or 4 pounds)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 package of kielbasa sausage (1 pound)
2 cans of corn or 2 cups fresh corn
1 box of wild rice (approx. 1 cup)
1 medium carton of half-and-half or heavy cream (1½ cups)
2 large sweet onions (chopped)
Fresh ground pepper
Salt to taste
1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Poke holes in squash and bake for at least one hour until it is soft. While squash is baking, in a saucepan, bring four cups of stock and ½ cup of onions to a simmer. Stir in the rice and cook until rice is tender, stirring occasionally with a fork. Put in bowl to cool. In a large saucepan or pot, heat olive oil, and brown cut-up sausage, remaining chopped onions, and corn. Sauté for 3 minutes. Cut baked squash in half and remove seeds. Scoop out squash and puree in blender, adding a little chicken broth. Add to the sausage-corn mixture, and then add remaining chicken stock.
Season with salt and pepper. Bring pot to a boil, then turn down to simmer for 20 minutes. Skim off any excess fat. Stir in the rice and cook for 10 minutes. Remove from heat. Stir in heavy cream and top with parsley.
Note: Add leftover chicken, turkey, vegetables, if you like.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ANN RULE came to her writing career with a solid background in law enforcement and the criminal justice system. Both her grandfather and her uncle were Michigan sheriffs, and she was once a Seattle police officer herself. She has five children and five grandchildren, two dogs, and five cats. Ann has been a full-time true-crime author since 1969, publishing 28 books, and 1,400 articles in such publications as Cosmopolitan, Ladies’ Home Journal, Good Housekeeping, Readers’ Digest, Chicago Tribune, and True Detective. She serves as executive producer of the miniseries of her books. She is a certified instructor for police training seminars in the thirteen Western states, lecturing on serial murder, women who kill, and high-profile offenders. She has presented papers four times for the National Academy of Forensic Science, and has lectured at the FBI Academy and to the National Association of District Attorneys. She has testified twice before the Senate judicial subcommittees on victims’ rights and serial murder. She worked on the U.S. Justice Department Task Force to set up VI-CAP, the Violent Criminals Apprehension Program. Ann supports crime victims/survivors’ groups, domestic violence support organizations, pet rescue organizations, and organizations like Childhaven and Child Help that try to save abused children and work with their families on better parenting. Ann, who is almost always working on a new book, now lives near Seattle, Washington, on the shores of Puget Sound. Information on Ann’s books, and discussion groups on her guestbook, can be found on her website at www.annrules.com. Write to her at [email protected].
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERT
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Jennifer Barber, four, with the whole world ahead of her.
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The Barber sisters, Christmas 1975: Rajel, Heather, and Jennifer. They grew up in a safe and friendly neighborhood in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
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Heather (left) and Jennifer Barber, ages five and nine. Close as kids, they would grow even closer as adults, with a solemn pledge that if either should die prematurely, the survivor would raise her sister’s children.
4
The Barber family in the early 1980s. Thanksgiving was a favorite holiday—but their last Thanksgiving in 2004 was the precursor of tragedy. Left to right: Rajel, Heather, Max, Narda, and Jennifer.
5
Jenn Barber, thirteen. She was in junior high in Lawrenceville while her future husband, Bart Corbin, twenty, was attending the University of Georgia in Athens.
6
Bart Corbin, twenty, in his prized yellow and white Chevy pickup at UGA. He was in love for the first time—with Shelly Mansfield.
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Bart and Shelly Mansfield at Niagara Falls, New York, in 1984, as they boarded The Maid of Mist. They were visiting Shelly’s parents, who found Bart a good choice for her, although Shelly herself had doubts.
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Shelly Mansfield. She cared for Bart, her “sweet boy,” but she had dreams of a career in journalism, and didn’t want to be a dentist’s wife. Bart was devastated when they broke up.
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Dolly Hearn, five, in Washington, Georgia. She loved her family, pets, and holidays.
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Dolly and her little brother, Carlton Jr., in th
e early 1970s in their yard in Washington.
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Dolly and her father, Dr. Carlton Hearn Sr., at homecoming at Wilkes Academy. Later, she went to dental school so she could join her dad’s practice in Washington.
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Bart Corbin, twenty-five, in 1988, at the Medical College of Georgia Dental School in Augusta, where he and Dolly Hearn began to date.
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Dolly Hearn, twenty-six, was popular, beautiful, kind, and much beloved at the dental school. She and Bart Corbin had a tempestuous on-and-off romance for years.
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Dolly sits in the huge tree in the Hearns’ yard. She often came home from college to be with her family.
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Dolly leans against a pillar on her folks’ front porch, sometime in the late 1980s.
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Dolly’s room in the Hearns’ historic 150-year-old home.
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The pine trees outside Dolly’s apartment complex kept her front door in shadows even during the day. A stranger knocked on all four doors in this section in June 1990, perhaps checking to see who was home.
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Dolly’s beloved cat, Tabitha, age nineteen, who mysteriously disappeared from her apartment. Dolly was worried sick.
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Dolly Hearn, 1990. A beautiful, young woman, happy with her life, she was nonetheless often afraid of some unseen presence in the dark outside her apartment or beyond the lights on campus.
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Dolly returned to Washington for her brother Gil’s graduation from the Wilkes Academy, June 3, 1990. It was a happy occasion; Gil was valedictorian and their whole family planned a vacation at the ocean later that week. Left to Right: Carlton Jr., Dolly, Gil, Barbara, and Dr. Carlton Hearn Sr.
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Her roommate came back to their apartment on June 6 and saw Dolly sitting silently on this couch. She thought Dolly was pulling one of her practical jokes—but, sadly, she wasn’t. She was dead.
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A female visitor earlier that day glimpsed a man hiding in the guest bathroom beneath these stairs. Later, she wondered if Dolly knew he was there.
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A deputy moved this .38 revolver from where he first found it, making it impossible to reconstruct the crime scene exactly. It was Dolly’s gun, given to her by her dad for protection.
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Jenn Barber plays a bass guitar about the time she met Bart Corbin. She was tall, and lovely. He was handsome, witty, and fun to be with, and she fell in love with him.
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Jenn and Bart’s wedding on September 1, 1996, was everything she wished for. With her mother, sisters, grandmother, and niece.
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Jenn shortly after Dalton’s birth. She was ecstatic when she gave birth to Dalton. Two years later, she and Bart became parents of Dillon.
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Bart pats Jenn’s pregnant belly four months before she gave birth to Dillon.
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March 1999. Heather holds Dalton (left) and Jenn holds Dillon as they stand in Lake Arts, Narda’s gallery.
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Jenn with her two boys, whom she loved more than anything in the world. She didn’t like this picture because she had put on weight, but she soon lost it.
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Heather and Jenn just before Heather married Doug Tierney on December 30, 2000. They lived close to each other, and had coffee together most mornings.
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Max, Narda, Bart, and Jenn raise a glass to toast the Barbers’ anniversary.
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Jenn and Bart with their two boys, about 2002, on a trip to the Atlantic Ocean.
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Heather and Doug Tierney. Jenn’s sister had a very happy marriage. Jenn was always welcome in their home.
34
Jenn and Bart enjoyed their lovely home on Bogan Gates Drive in Buford, Georgia, but Bart’s practice wasn’t doing as well financially as he had hoped.
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Dr. Bart Corbin relaxes at home. Despite his calm demeanor, he could explode with anger in an instant. Jenn had grown used to it, but she worried for her boys.
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Jenn (at center in Mrs. Claus’s apron) oversees parents and children at the Sugar Hill Methodist Church preschool as they make Christmas angels.
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Dalton Corbin tried to call 911 from the phone in his mother’s bedroom, but the phone was dead—as was the phone in the dining room—so he ran across the street for help from his neighbors.
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On December 4, 2004, the Gwinnett County patrol officers walked past the dining room and a half-decorated Christmas tree in the Corbins’ foyer, and hoped that seven-year-old Dalton had only had a bad dream.
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They continued down the hall where Jenn had kept a pictorial record of Dalton and Dillon from the time they were born.
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Gwinnett County detectives stepped into the master bedroom, and observed the still form of Jenn Corbin, who lay across this four-poster bed. This room became the principal crime scene.
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Gwinnett County Police homicide detective Marcus Head was in charge of the investigation of an apparent suicide in the house on Bogan Gates Drive. He had many unanswered questions about what had happened.
42
Experienced homicide detectives wondered how the old .38-caliber Smith & Wesson revolver could have ended up tucked under the comforter on the Corbins’ bed. It did not jibe with the local newspapers’ reports of suicide.
43
Sergeant Scott Peebles, left, and CSI blood pattern expert DeWayne Piper reopened the investigation into Dolly Hearn’s death fourteen and a half years after her case was closed without answers. With modern forensic science and old-fashioned deductive reasoning, they finally solved Dolly’s case.
44
Chief Deputy Richmond County DA Parks White and DA Danny Craig. They drew up an arrest warrant for Bart Corbin on December 22, 2004, on Corbin’s forty-second birthday, charging him with the murder of Dolly Hearn.
45
DA Danny Porter (center) called for a grand jury investigation on the day of Jenn Corbin’s funeral. He and his brilliant staff of attorneys and investigators, using high-tech methods, were determined to find the killer. From left: Senior Deputy DA Chuck Ross, Porter, and Investigator Russ Halcome.
46
Jack Burnette, center, the supervisor of twenty-three Gwinnett County DA’s investigators, flanked by Jeff Lamphier and Mike Pearson. After almost two years of trying, they found a way to trace the deadly gun, which led to a shocking climax.
47
On December 23, 2004, Dr. Bart Corbin is led into the Richmond County Jail in shackles by Detective Don Bryant, charged with murder.
48
On December 16, 2005, Bruce Harvey, one of Bart Corbin’s two top criminal defense attorneys, argues to Judge Carl C. Brown in an Augusta courtroom that charges against Bart in the death of Dolly Hearn should be dropped since “nothing had changed” in the fourteen-year-old case.
49
After almost a year in jail awaiting trial, Bart Corbin and his attorney David Wolfe listen intently to Judge Carl C. Brown in an Augusta courtroom on December 16, 2005.
50
Richmond County court officers lead Bart Corbin from a courtroom during a preliminary hearing.
51
Although there had still not been a trial in the death of their mother, Jenn Corbin’s sons Dillon (left) and Dalton (right) hang a wreath in her honor in December 2005, in the atrium outside District Attorney Danny Porter’s office.
52
Jenn’s family on Wreath Day in December 2005. Doug and Heather were now raising Jenn’s sons. Left to right, back row: Doug and Heather Tierney, Max and Narda Barber, Rajel Caldwell. Front row, left to right: Max and Sylvia Tierney, Dalton and Dillon Corbin.
53
Bart Corbin, gaunt and angry, stands alone in Judge Michael C. Clark’s courtroom in September 20
06, as he waits for his trial to begin at last.
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Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Michael C. Clark and attorney Greg Lundy look over motions in the murder charges against Bart Corbin. They expected almost anything—except what happened on September 15.
55
Bart Corbin stands at the defense table in Judge Michael C. Clark’s Gwinnett County courtroom between his two defense attorneys: Bruce Harvey (left) and David Wolf. They were about to shock the gallery behind them.
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Left to right: Max Barber (out of focus), Rajel Caldwell, and Heather Tierney fight tears as they sit in Judge Michael C. Clark’s Gwinnett County courtroom. They had expected to attend Bart Corbin’s trial in the murder of Jenn Corbin, their daughter and sister, for more than a month. And then, everything changed.
57
Left to right: Rajel Caldwell, Heather Tierney, and Max Barber (with Doug Tierney in right rear) stride from the Gwinnett County Justice Center on September 15, 2006.
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Dolly’s spirit, and the wonderful way she embraced life, lives on. The scholarship in her name has helped dozens of students become dentists. Members of her dental class lobbied the Medical College of Georgia to award her a degree posthumously. In June 2007, Dolly will become Dr. Dolly.
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