Trial Begins in Decades-Old Cold Case Murder

Paula Turley last spoke with her friend Karen Snider on the morning of November 12, 1966. They discussed caring for their baby daughters and Turley’s upcoming birthday. Turley, now 79, shared during her testimony on Wednesday. “We talked every morning,” Turley stated.

That evening, 18-year-old Snider was found stabbed to death in her Calumet City residence. At that time, Turley was married to James Barbier. Barbier was arrested in 2024 in Missouri, charged with first-degree murder in Snider’s death after the case had gone cold for decades. His trial started on Tuesday.

Barbier worked alongside Snider’s husband at the Indiana Harbor Belt Railroad. The couples were close friends, Turley testified. Both women had daughters in August 1966. “She was my best friend,” Turley mentioned.

Later on the day of Snider’s death, Turley recounted how her family visited her at their Gary, Indiana home. Turley recalled hearing Barbier come home at dusk, although she didn’t see him enter. She realized he was home when she heard the washing machine in the basement, which was unusual as he never did laundry. She eventually saw him when he came upstairs. “He was in clean clothes then,” Turley said. “He had cuts on his face.”

Cook County Chief Medical Examiner Ponni Arunkumar testified that Snider was stabbed more than 120 times. She endured 18 neck wounds, with additional injuries to her chest and abdomen, as detailed in her autopsy. Arunkumar noted, “Many of them did go through ribs and entered the ribcage.”

Arunkumar detailed the severity of Snider’s neck wounds, which impacted her larynx, jugular vein, and carotid artery. Some injuries penetrated to her spine. Those to her abdomen affected her heart, aorta, and liver, and there were defensive wounds on her hands.

Turley recalled that Barbier served as a pallbearer at Snider’s funeral; his face was still bandaged at the time. Shortly after Snider’s death, Barbier moved to Missouri, and the couple divorced within a year. Turley stated she never received financial support from him.

Assistant Public Defender Tom Justic, representing Barbier, questioned Turley’s recollection of November 12, 1966, highlighting perceived inconsistencies in her testimony. “You don’t have much memory of Nov. 12, 1966, at all, do you?” Justic asked. He pointed out that Turley had previously claimed to see Barbier come home, whereas in Wednesday’s testimony, she asserted she hadn’t. Additionally, her descriptions of his facial injuries varied between interviews.

Former Chicago police Capt. John Collins, now 91, testified about processing the crime scene as an evidence technician in 1966. During that era, he explained, technicians didn’t wear gloves and were unfamiliar with DNA. The trial continues at the Markham Courthouse.