334. The Amish Murder of Barbara Weaver

Late night bites with friends? Already hard to beat. That first too hot bite of fries you couldn't wait for, followed by ice cold Pepsi. Now that hits different. Suddenly, the energy kicks back in. The night goes longer. And the laughs don't stop. Because Pepsi brings out more flavor, more fun, and more of the moment. Food deserves Pepsi. Grab a Pepsi Zero Sugar today. Hank joined BJ's Wholesale Club the day he became a father of 30. I coach football. Now, Coach Hank saves up to 25% off grocery store prices. 30 pounds of pasta, 3 cases of protein bars, 75 sports drinks. And that's just pregame. He knows teamwork, and BJ's knows savings. This is your home, Coach. Home of the Save. Join for just $20 at bjs.com slash mesquite and save 10 cents per gallon for 6 months. Open soon. Limited time offer. New members only. BJ's. Home of the Save. You're listening to an Ono Media podcast. It was pouring. It was pouring right outside. It was nice. Love it. For the trees, the grass, the earth. Daisy got a haircut. Daisy, show everybody your haircut. Daisy got a haircut. Honestly, I feel like I don't really have anything super interesting for my 10 seconds. Maybe. I don't know. Maybe I'll think of something controversial between now and before we start. We've been recording. We've been working in the bagel shop. And we've been. What else? That's it. Nesting. Nesting. We built a. Not a crib. A bassinet last night. There you go. I know all the lingo. Yeah. We put a bassinet last night. That's it. We're ready. Ready for baby to come. Oh, yeah. Get out of here. Let's go. How are you feeling? You know, just preg. Just pregnant. I'm just not trying to be the main character or anything. But, like, I don't know how everyone on earth came from a woman. I truly, I truly don't comprehend how women have been carrying this on their shoulders. I mean, that's why I said a million times. Like, if guys had to have babies, there would be, like, 10 babies in the world. There'd be no babies. I don't care what anyone says. There'd be no babies if guys had to have babies. Like. Say what you want. I disagree. I really don't care. You know, I know everyone's pregnancy is different. But I've just, since getting pregnant, have been like, whoa. Yeah. I thought I had heard, like, oh, you know, the warnings. But I am just so shocked that so many women have so many kids. Yeah. And don't hit me with the, it'll be worth it. Of course, it'll be worth it. But it just doesn't take away from the fact that, like, this is insane. Like, I would say probably, I don't know. I want to say probably maybe 50% of women have really good pregnancies and 50% don't. You think? I think so. I was talking to two women today that were in the bagel shop. One had six kids, five kids. The other had eight kids. And I was just like, oh, my. Eight kids? Eight kids. I'm like, there's just no way that you have horrible pregnancies and you have eight kids. Right. It's just, you don't do that to yourself that many times. Yeah, but. They're truly horrible. I was thinking, I think even, like, quote, unquote, easy. I don't like the easy versus hard pregnancy. Yes. But in reality, there is, like, your pregnancy was filled with less complications than your pregnancy, right? So the, quote, unquote, easy pregnancies still got to be freaking hard. Yeah. Like, your body's still going through changes. No, 100%, yeah. Yes, you have the, you know, there's others who have difficult pregnancies, complications. Yeah. The abnormalities. But you know what else I think about eight kids? What? Like, you have the baby and then it's just the rest of your, like, it's a full-time job rest of your life after that. Eight times? Yeah. Wow. That's. So we'll probably have, like, two kids. Good for us, you know? Two. Two each their own. I don't care. I think it's impressive that people can have that many kids because couldn't it be me? And, yeah, that's a lot of kids. Can you imagine having eight kids? Eight kids. I can't imagine. I couldn't see myself being a dad to eight kids. Like, that isn't. You know what? It's not my. Eight sets of braces. It's not my thing. Eight times of a first heartbreak. Eight first cars. Oh, my. Well, I mean, you don't have to get your kid a car. Yes, I know, but, like. It's expensive. Like, like. I know what you're saying, yes. Every time I think about, like, a big thing for, like, eight kids that you have to go to. You have to go through their first heartbreak with them. Eight kids that you have to worry about the pain they're in and their life and their journey. Anyone out there have eight kids? I feel like by the time you get close to the youngest one, you're just over it. You're like, ah, they have their first heartbreak, whatever. Aw. I know it sounds sad, but I bet you that's what happens. Maybe not. I don't know. You tell me. I don't have eight kids. I hope not. I hope not, too. I'm just saying. I hope Miss Caboose still gets emotional support. Yeah. Anyways. Enough of being parents. We're just entering that stage of life, I guess. And here we are. About to be parents. Also, you know what? I'm not going to address it with you guys right now. What? I'll pick the bone another day. What? No, we'll all have to just wait and see. Okay. All right. You guys ready? Let's hop in, too. That was my ten seconds, by the way. It was our ten seconds this week. Woo-hoo. Let's hop in, too. This week's episode. Our sources for this episode are aetv.com, thesun.com, newyorkpost.com, people.com, thedailyrecord.com, cleveland19.com, oxygen.com, allitsinteresting.com, and supremecourt.ohio.gov. Imagine a world without technology. No cell phones, no social media, no television, no cars, no refrigerators. It's hard to conceive. But there are people out there. There are people out there right now, right here in America, that live without this stuff because of their religious beliefs. And I am talking about certain Amish communities. They usually avoid these things because they want to preserve their values of simplicity, self-reliance, modesty, and because they want to prevent their lives from sinful traits like pride, vanity, and worldly attachments. But at the end of the day, they are still human, just like the rest of us. Temptation exists for everyone. Discipline is hard to maintain. And the world gets more and more difficult to resist. I think for some, it's easy to follow the path that your ancestors have laid out before you. But for others, it's just as easy to stray. So while many of these communities have upheld their values and morals for centuries, which, I mean, that is extremely hard. Not everyone who is born in these communities grow up. And want to continue in these communities. Sometimes, I think when someone is suppressed long enough, those consequences can become deadly. So today, we are going somewhere we haven't really gone before, to an area called Wayne County, Ohio. This is about 60 miles south of Cleveland. This is home to the largest Amish community in the United States of America. You know, I don't know. I don't know too much about the Amish culture. I mean, all of what I know is what I've seen on TikTok, to be honest. On TLC? No, it's like on TikTok. Like, there's always them, like, making food or just. There's always videos of them, like, online. Like, always. Yeah, but they're not supposed to have technology. I think that's a misconception in some areas. You think some subgroups allow it? I don't know how it works. I just think it's. It could be a misconception. Are you getting that confused with, like, trad wives? No, no, no. Definitely Amish. Okay. I've seen some Amish people on my free page that have cell phones. Maybe they're not supposed to. Didn't we go to, like, this Amish store once? Yes, we went to the. And they made donuts? In Wyoming. Yes. And they were good. Uh-huh. Okay. So, among the residents here, there are four different subgroups of Amish. The older order is one. The new order. The beachy Amish. Okay, this is named after a man. Not the love for the ocean. And the Amish Mennonite. So, there in Wayne County, in the little town of Apple Creek, is where we meet Barbara Miller. Okay, she is a part of the old order Amish. More specifically, a group of the old order known as Andy Weaver Amish. So, just. There's a lot of branches, okay? It's like a tree. And there's a lot of different ways and groups. You can follow. She's a part of the old order known as Andy Weaver. Amish. Barbara spent her entire life here living amongst this religious group. This is very normal for people born into this religion, meaning she'd also spent her entire life without a cell phone or internet. And she traveled mostly using horse and buggy in her specific sect. She had never had a photo taken of herself. But the other interesting thing about this community is they are very pacifist, which means there's little to no conflict or violence in this community. To some people, it's kind of like this little slice of life might seem like utopia. At least that's what Barbara thought growing up. She seemed to have a happy childhood reading Amish romance novels, going to sleepovers with her friends. People who knew her said she was pretty, she was demure, and everyone seemed to love her. She had pretty simple goals for herself later in life. All she really wanted was to grow up, get married, and then have a family, which started to come to fruition when she eventually met Eli Weaver. Now, Eli was the same age as Barbara and had grown up in the same area in the same Amish community. The two started dating in the mid to late 90s when they were both still teenagers. And, I mean, I guess they balanced each other out well. Unlike Barbara, Eli was very outgoing. He was sociable. He was charming. Though there was a point during their relationship when apparently Barbara wasn't sure Eli was the right person for her. It was when they were around 16 years old and Eli went on something called a rumspringa. It's a tradition in some Amish cultures that before they get baptized, they go out on the weekend outside of their parents' and church's authority. So it's like a little traditional sneak away. They sneak out. It's kind of like a bachelor party because they go out and they see what the real world is like. But it's also a tradition that they like all know about. And on this little outing, they can wear non-traditional clothing. They can drive a car. They can use technology. They can get to wherever their heart desires as long as they can get there. And while this isn't for a fixed amount of time, it's basically just like, oh, go see what the real world is like before you get baptized. For some people, they're almost like, go out and decide if you really want to make this decision. Like, do you really want to live practicing under the Amish faith? Or do you want to leave the community? Do you want to escape and go out and see the outside world? Now, while Barbara seemed to know without going on this little exploration that she wanted to stay put, Eli, her boyfriend, was like, I kind of want to go out and do this. But by the time they turned 20, I guess Eli had made his decision to stay. He wanted to marry and spend his life with Barbara in the community that they grew up in. So the two tied the knot on May 27th, 1999, and they immediately get to work building their family, which is kind of ironic considering what we talked about. Over the next seven years, they have five kids in seven years, two girls and three boys. Eli managed a small sporting goods store right by their house, which sold things like firearms for hunting and fishing supplies. And then Barbara stayed home and fulfilled her dream of being a mother while she also took on a bigger role in their church. She also ended up being a pastor in a church in New York. And so, she also ended up being the one responsible for most of the things around the house, the cooking, the gardening, making clothes, because again, they don't have any technology. They don't really go shopping. They make their clothes. She mows the lawn. But in June of 2009, the Weaver's quiet, simple little life in what seemed to be this perfect utopia suddenly imploded. Around 3 a.m. on June 2nd, 2009, 30-year-old Eli wakes up to go meet his friends for a fishing trip on Lake Erie. He says goodbye to Barbara. She's still half asleep. And he sneaks quietly out the door, not wanting to wake their kids. But a few hours later, one of Barbara's children wakes up for the day and comes into her bedroom. And the next thing you know, this child is running to the next door neighbor's house completely distraught. They tell the neighbor that they want to go to the next door neighbor's house to check on their mom this morning. And they had found her in her bed covered in blood and she wasn't breathing. So the neighbor runs over to the Weaver house and sure enough, Barbara is in bed and not responding. So this is when she goes over to like a community building in the area that has a phone and she dials 911. They send first responders to the house in the Amish community and the neighbor who is in the house is the neighbor who is in the house. And the neighbor is waiting outside points them in the direction of Barbara's bedroom. It's pretty clear to them right away when they go in that Barbara was not alive. After checking her pulse, she is declared dead at the crime scene in her own bed. Interesting. But it doesn't take long for them to figure out what killed her. Underneath her nightgown is a gunshot wound to her chest. They quickly rule out suicide. They realize Barbara doesn't even have any gunshot residue on her hands and there's no gun at the crime scene. But this also doesn't seem like a break into them either. There's no signs of forced entry and there's cash sitting out in several parts of the house that like no one's taken. They also realized that whoever shot Barbara actually appeared to do so from pretty close range. There was powder burn on the blankets that were over Barbara, which said the weapon was in close proximity when fired. So to the detectives, this looks like a very deliberate attack. It doesn't look like someone fired a gun in here by accident, which is why police decide we are definitely dealing with a homicide. There is a murder case in this little Amish community. Interesting. I mean, obviously, right, your first thoughts are husband. But apparently he left fishing. So I guess we'll see. All right, you guys, we are getting into an ad and Amazon Music is your one app for music, podcasts and audiobooks. You can get access to audiobooks included with your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription. So in simple terms, your Amazon Music Unlimited subscription does more for you now. Again, music, podcasts, audiobooks, all in one app. And if there is one thing about me, it is that I love to put an audiobook on at night right before I'm about to fall asleep. I will literally just kind of play games on my phone, listen to an audiobook as it puts me to sleep. And they have everything. Okay, if you're a court of thorns and roses, girly, you know, and you can listen to all of their books on Amazon Music, and it really brings them to life. It is such a fun way to go about reading. And I know, Garrett, you just watched Project Hail Mary. Yeah, it was crazy because I watched the movie, but I also listened to the audiobook. So when Amazon Music wanted to sponsor us, I was pretty excited because I don't read many books, but I will listen to audiobooks. And I think the thing that's so fun about audiobooks is that they can really bring a story to life in a way that like maybe isn't happening when you're reading. So it is one of my favorite ways. Well, it's almost like a podcast where you can do it wherever you are. So if you're driving somewhere, if you're cleaning, like kind of like how a lot of people are listening now, they're doing a bunch of different things. Also, you need to listen to Project Hail Mary. If you haven't listened to it yet. It's amazing. Via Amazon Music. Yep. Yeah, like Garrett said, a lot of us now are multitasking. And that is what's so amazing about Amazon Music is audiobook, podcast, music, whatever it may be, you can do both at once. Music, podcast, audiobooks, all in one. All in one app, go check it out. Didn't you listen to A Court of Thorns and Roses on Amazon Music or the audiobook? I read it first and then listen because if you know, you know, you have like reading it was one experience and then listening to A Court of Thorns and Roses was an entirely different experience. They also have like Verity. Verity by Colleen Hoover is really popular. You can listen to that one as well. They have so many, whether you're looking for like self-help. Romance. Also, the voices are good. Like they're not, they're not, they're not like cheesy. Like they're good. They intrigue you. It gets you interested. It keeps you intrigued in the book and what's going on. And I don't know, for me, I feel like that's something that's pretty important because like if a voice is boring or like monotone, I'm like, nah, I'm done. Get me out of here. Not doing it anymore. One of my dreams is actually to voice an audiobook one day. I think that would be so fun. So hey, Amazon Music, maybe one day it won't be just a podcast. You're listening to my voice on Amazon Music on it will also be. that's true one of payton's dreams she actually does want to do a um an audiobook she wants to do an audiobook not even one i wrote i just genuinely want to be the voice like a voice actor you've talked about this before you're like i want to just read a book yeah that'd be cool like bedtime stories or something yeah it'd be so cool all right you guys music podcast audiobooks all in one app we love amazon music and you will too go check it out right now well just like garrett said the police immediately are like there's something missing from this scene and it is barbara's husband eli when police speak with the neighbors they learn oh we don't really know where he is but he owns the sporting goods shop across the street but the store is closed that day and with no sign of eli they begin to wonder okay did he do this and then go on the run because remember no one knows he's fishing or is he possibly a victim himself like do we have a little kid who's going to be a victim of the police and he's going to be a victim of the kid who's going to be a victim of the police and he's going to be a victim of the police and he's going to be a victim of the police and he's going to be a victim of the police Apparently, Eli continued his ways. He had not one but two affairs. both times he apparently left the marriage and the Amish faith to like go do this but then obviously it's temporary he comes crawling back after both flings are over and this is something that's not very easy to do by the way when someone wants to return to the faith like this they have to ask for permission from church elders to be let back in when they have like voluntarily left this is a very shameful situation to be in like the going and coming back and going and coming back and the community doesn't always welcome you back with open arms takes a while to win over everyone's trust again but it wasn't just the affairs that made Barbara's sister suspicious of Eli apparently she tells police Eli had also physically shoved and grabbed Barbara in front of their kids but for Barbara walking away wasn't an option divorce strongly went against their religion she loved her children she quietly suffered instead I will say in the investigation though they do find a letter she wrote to her church counselor at one point asking quote where did my friend love trustworthy husband go to he hates me to his core gosh okay and apparently in the weeks leading up to her death Barbara had confided in her sister that she thought Eli was once again starting to stray from the community going out maybe even seeing other women she sensed him repeating the same old patterns and behaviors she knew he had been growing distant and was leaving the house a lot more than usual but Barbara also said something strange to a different friend at this time she tells this friend yes I know like he's been physically financially he's cheating he's been cheating he's been cheating he's been cheating but I'm not afraid of him she said instead I'm actually more worried about the women that he sees on the side that maybe one of them would want to be with Eli so badly okay but know that he has this like family and wife back home that maybe they would try to do something to remove Barbara from Eli's life so this is like you know a friend comes forward and said well she said this so police are trying to get her out of the house and they're trying to get her out of the house and they're digesting all of this taking it all in learning it and then the morning after Barbara's death police get a new lead it's one that kind of throws them for a bit of a loop Barbara's next door neighbor had called the police to say she went to check the messages on the community phone that morning and she had heard something terrifying it was a man's voice saying something along the line but you can't hide okay jeez a wheeze what is going on we got the wrong person last night wait what as in like inferring maybe that it was supposed to be him instead who was killed in bed and not Barbara and this was the day after the murder she calls police and says this message was left on our community phone that's insane so now detectives have to wonder okay was this a hit and it was actually supposed to be Eli was there more going on outside of his marriage than just infidelity did this have nothing to even do with Barbara so the police bring Eli back in for questioning later that day they tell them you know what they know and they ask him and this time he admits okay yes I have a history of cheating but that is all in the past like yes I've come and gone everything you've heard is true but the police keep pressing to see if there's anything else Eli isn't telling there's got to be something else and eventually he throws his hands up and says I don't want to talk anymore I'm going to get an attorney but the police don't need Eli's help in putting together the pieces they had been receiving a lot of tips from people in the Amish community over the last 24 hours and there was one name that just kept coming up over and over again and all of these tips someone that Eli was supposedly spending a lot of his free time with recently a woman referred to mostly as quote the taxi lady and again you have to remember it's because in the community yeah I got it so they've they've created a nickname for this girl that they've seen I will say her real name was also Barbara okay so he's married to Barbara no way but the taxi lady is also named Barbara oh my god her name is Barbara Raber okay and I will just use both names when talking about her as not to confuse anyone okay a little bit about 39 year old Barbara Raber she was born and raised in a stricter part of the Amish community but after she met her husband Ed they left for a looser subdivision of the faith called the Mennonite Amish basically Mennonites are kind of what Garrett was describing oh they can use they can use cell phones cars computers it's just like a way more relaxed version and modern version of so that's what I've been seeing the religion yeah you're probably seeing the Mennonites I'm seeing all the Mennonites and I know what's up guys also the I know at least the Amish communities primarily like uh in the areas we've been are Mennonite Amish communities yeah I'd probably I'd probably say so as well and Barbara Raber had found a way to use this to her advantage financially her and her husband run away they leave the stricter part of the Amish community and they leave the stricter part of the Amish community one and they go to the looser one and she begins a taxi service that offered rides to others in the Amish community smart though not gonna lie because while other subgroups weren't allowed to own or operate a vehicle they are allowed to be a passenger in one so she was like oh my gosh I can kind of take advantage of one of the ways they live I feel like it's good business okay she's like I'm an entrepreneur yeah she's an entrepreneur Barbara Raber is like I'm an entrepreneur and I'm gonna give all my friends in the stricter parts of the Amish community rides and now they got a taxi lady now they got a taxi lady so whenever someone needed a ride outside of your typical horse and buggy jurisdiction they would call their taxi lady Barbara Raber she was pretty well known around those parts and Eli apparently had been using her services a lot okay she'd take him and she'd take him and she'd take him and she'd take him all around town on fishing trips out of state and whenever the locals saw them together they sensed there was something more between the taxi lady and Eli so the police look Barbara Raber up and they find she'd been living 20 miles away from Apple Creek in a town called Millersburg Ohio with her husband and three children they give her a call to say hey would you be willing to come down to the station and she says no I'm not going to go to the station I'm going to go to the station answer a few questions about Barbara Weaver's murder and she immediately goes am I a suspect and so the police are like well maybe with that response we really want to talk to you now look I would say the same thing you'd immediately think you were a suspect the police called me for something random I'd be like why are you calling me like are you blaming me for something yeah I get that I'm saying so they get her in a room and she admits okay you guys caught me me and Eli Weaver having an affair the taxi lady and Eli have been messing around and she tells them though but this affair ended six months ago we didn't want to jeopardize our marriages anymore our faith she said we are still in touch but we've kept it platonic we only see each other when he needs a ride so the police are like sounds great where were you the at the time of the murder can you account for the 24 hours around Barbara Weaver's death she says well I actually I drove Eli and his friends to and from his fishing trip the day before the murder I was the one who dropped Eli off at home at around 11 p.m. which lines up with his story but she said after that I just went straight home and I was actually in bed with my husband Ed for the rest of the night and he could vouch for that too the officers are about to make arrangements to speak with Ed when something else comes across their desk another woman this time named Dandy Heasley she walks into the station with information about Barbara's murder okay let's hear this information she's like I too had an affair with Eli Weaver and I have some dirt on him what's wrong so they're like hey Barbara Raver world Barbara Raver taxi lady and her husband Ed were putting it on pause because now we have a woman Dandy walking in saying she's also had an affair so 25 year old Dandy says she actually met Eli on a dating site a few years ago okay apparently he had a secret laptop and cell phone and he'd been using it she said his profile advertised him as quote an Amish stud with the tagline of quote who wants to do an Amish guy you're lying nope that's his bio that's crazy you know I don't know not kind of smart but absolutely horrible i'm all i'm saying is because the amish side of eli's feeling a little performative at this point very but also i mean it must have worked there's got to be people out there who want to hook up with amish people good for you guys maybe bad for eli it feels like not in eli's case but like maybe in other cases where people are wanting to do that that feels like a little um predatory because yeah you know anyways i don't think that it was predatory in eli's case though clearly all right we're jumping into an ad and it's hunger root we love hunger root we've honestly been using this for a while now yeah one of the things i love most is how like cute and fun their packaging is they have so many different types of like snacks um recipes there's literally something for everyone anytime anywhere any place it's so cute if you don't know i hate grocery shopping i'm constantly overwhelmed by the thought of attempting to eat healthy make sure all of the ingredient list is good and that is where hungry root saves me if you don't know what hungry root is essentially they have 50 000 chef crafted recipes and over 1 000 grocery items the variety never gets old you can get on you can add it to your cart those grocery items get delivered you can shop by recipe or like garrett's said just healthy snacks and when i say healthy i mean clean ingredients like you can trust whatever is coming in hungry root is right you're going to love hungry root as much as we do for a limited time get 40 off your first order plus get a free item in every box for life go to hungryroot.com slash husband and use code husband that's hungryroot.com slash husband code husband to get 40 off your first box and a free item of your choice for life you can trust whatever's coming in hungry root is right you're going to love hungry root as much as we do for a limited time get 40% off your first box and a free item of your choice for life this message is sponsored by green light you don't know green light is a debit card and app for families but it's more than a money tool it is a safety net for teaching kids about money while also helping protect them before bad habits bad actors or real world risks take hold teaching your kids about money isn't just smart parenting it's protection cash gives you no visibility and a traditional bank account usually gives you no visibility and a traditional bank account usually tells you what happened after the fact but green light lets you stay involved with real-time transaction notifications spending controls by category and an easy way to send money quickly while teaching better financial habits honestly green light's amazing my family's used it for my little siblings i have tons of friends who've used it teaching your children the importance of in the world that we live in these days being financially responsible is very important and again teach your kids the importance of money green light is perfect for that and it's amazing every day they're handling money without guidance is a missed opportunity start your risk-free green light trial today at greenlight.com husband don't wait to teach your kids real world money skills that's greenlight.com husband to get started greenlight.com husband so the two started chatting she learned how to use green light and she learned how to use green light and she learned how to use green light she learned he ran the little sporting goods store so she would go there to hang out and have coffee with him dandy said he was different from the other amish men she knew he was outgoing he was opinionated he was charming she said the sexual part of their relationship was brief they'd never actually spent a night together and eventually she said they just decided to be friends but even she knew there were issues in his marriage and that's why she had come in when she found out his wife was murdered i see okay she said eli would complain about his wife a lot but at one point the conversation between him and dandy took a dark turn he apparently asked her if she knew of any clever ways to kill someone no way she says he would pretend to joke like to joke about it saying if if you drove by and saw barbara walking outside what would you just hit her with your car and he said it as a joke but obviously that's a weird thing to say no that's nuts there was another time when he asked dandy if she knew which mushrooms were poisonous i mean this was someone who was really talking a lot about or joking a lot about murder and poison and ways to kill but then also inserting his wife into these conversations because i try to think like like i guess if one of my friends said something jokingly about their significant other like i guess if one of my friends said something jokingly about their significant other maybe i wouldn't notice it until it got like really weird well and here's the thing this is exactly what dandy tells police she's like no listen this wasn't like a one-off i'm mad at my wife yeah situation she's annoying i'm gonna kill her okay this was pretty consistent conversations happening consistently at different times throughout our relationship okay him also asking there's a difference between being like oh my gosh my wife is pissing me off i'm gonna kill her and oh my gosh my wife is pissing me off and i'm gonna kill her and i'm gonna kill her and i'm gonna kill me off do you know of any ways to kill someone and then the next day being like do you know if mushrooms are poisonous and then the next time being like if you see her do you want to just run her over with your car yeah that is very different 100 again i'm not condoning one or the other i'm just saying dandy explains this to police she's like this isn't your just typical i'm so annoyed with my spouse type conversation which is why she'd gone to police after she heard about barbara weaver's death to her this was no coincidence she's like something happened here so the police are like would you be willing to help us maybe you can talk to eli and dandy comes up with an idea she says listen i haven't spoken to eli for some time i've actually since deactivated my dating profile but she thinks if i create a new one eli will respond so kind of working with the police this is what she does she gets back on the site she messages eli on her new profile saying what's going on i'm worried call me and she leaves her number sure enough minutes later she gets a phone call and it's eli he tells her yep my life's crazy right now yep she's dead i've been staying at my parents house ever since his home became a crime scene not i've been staying at my parents house because my wife was murdered yeah true but the way he tells the story to her is just weird again just little to no emotion in his voice every single thing is phrased as like an inconvenience to his life and not that like his wife has been murdered yeah the conversation is brief eli's like i can't really talk about it much like it's an ongoing investigation and after they hang up dandy doesn't hear from eli again however this gives police one very big thread to follow because they now have the number to his secret cell phone because that's what he called dandy okay so they file a subpoena to get though that cell phone's records because remember when they go to him he's like i don't have a cell phone i'm amish so now they have proof of it meanwhile the police are hearing from more women eli met through this dating app okay and a lot of these women that come forward are telling very similar stories about eli turns out he was kind of talking like this with a bunch of the women about ideas on how to kill his wife doing the like run over like if you see her with her car will you run over a lot of the time he said he was joking they hoped he was joking but there's now been multiple women who have come forward and said like this was a pretty common theme in our conversation so the police know it's not true but when the data on his cell phone comes back it shows something interesting eli might have actually gotten one person to really help him with his plan because that cell phone was not paid for by eli weaver it was on a family plan and the family plan belonged to taxi lady barbara raber turns out she was the one who had gotten him his secret cell phone and computer and when they start looking through his text messaging records they see that most of them are to barbara raber and a lot of them are complaining about his wife talking about ways to get rid of his wife on both ends like he's actively saying this to barbara raber our taxi lady and she's not like oh my gosh stop kidding around she's engaging in the conversation about ways to also kill barbara the why okay they spoke about crushing up sleeping pills oh my gosh flipping it in her drink putting rat poison in a cupcake maybe carbon monoxide maybe he could just blow up his house when he wasn't you know it's kind of scary there's a lot of ways you can kill someone well like without like a gun or stabbing someone there's like a lot of ways you can kill someone also i just need to tell you kind of creepy such an insane part of this conversation okay when he's like maybe i'll blow up my home when i'm not home so it's like looks like every like she said what about the kids she says okay well what about what about your kids yeah he says quote again text message quote, well, the kids will go to heaven because they're innocent. Honestly, to be honest, this guy just sounds like a very stellar guy. Can I just say again, the Amish thing being performative, in my opinion, that was just him taking the responsibility off himself and being like, well, come on, we're Amish. We know the kids will go to heaven. When in reality, he should have basically said, I don't care about my kids. I don't care about my wife. I mean, I think it's pretty obvious at this point. He doesn't really care. Now, from reading those messages, police found that the two landed on like the end of the plan was a shooting. They're like, let's just shoot her. And they did start to devise a plan together on the secret cell phone. And then the night before the murder, Eli gave Barbara Raber directions on where to park. And he told her, take a flashlight, leave your car behind. How do you convince somebody? How do you, how, how does that happen? Love triangles. That's how. Just crazy to me. He says. Like, I, I. I don't think I can be convinced to do anything. But here's the thing. And this is like kind of the wild part. And I think it's what you're insinuating. It's not like he said, come over and we'll do this together. He said, I need an alibi. So you have to do this for me. Yes, I'm saying it's crazy. So he said, park your car, leave it somewhere. It won't be seen. I will leave the door unlocked when I leave at 3 a.m. for my fishing trip. And then you can come in. The final text between them was sent 24 hours later. When Barbara Rayburn texted him and said, do not give this cell phone to the police. I will get you a new one. What's crazy is he probably wouldn't have been caught. If what's your name didn't come forward and his number got leaked. Cause I think she just told you to destroy the phone. Yeah. He's obviously didn't know. I'm glad he didn't. Yeah, no, of course. Now these messages are obviously more than enough to get an arrest. This warrant for Eli and Barbara Rayburn, because they, they literally have proof of them planning this entire murder out. And on June 10th, eight days after the murder, both are taken into custody. So this whole entire case from time of murder to them, arresting these two was only eight days long. Detectives also sees Barbara's devices, including her computer, which shows even more evidence of her guilt, basically her being the accomplice. You know, this can go to trial and she can be like, he was abusing me. He was manipulating me. I was groomed. You know what I mean? But they find on her computer over 840 different searches on how to poison someone. So they're like, eh, that's you doing your research on your own. So after Eli's arrest, he still refuses to speak without a lawyer, but he insists he's innocent. Meanwhile, Barbara Rayburn is a little more willing to defend herself. She tells him, I'm not going to do this. She tells police, I fell in love with Eli. He said the only way for us to be together was as if his wife was out of the picture completely. She's like, I agreed to help him. I helped him figure out an alibi, setting him up on that fishing trip for the day of the attack. And on the morning of June 2nd, she said she left her house with her husband's shotgun. She went over to the Weaver's and through the unlocked door that Eli had left open for her. She goes inside, but then she tells police, I fell in love with Eli. She tells police, once I got inside, I got cold feet. She said, I suddenly did not want to kill Barbara Weaver. So she's like, I decided instead of killing her, I'm just going to scare her. Then she said, I was standing in the doorway of Barbara's bedroom, getting ready to scare her. And the gun went off accidentally. The phrase she cried to the police was, it was an accident. It was all a horrible accident. 800 searches on how to poison someone, by the way. That's insane. She's nuts. This person's nuts. They're like, okay, if you were just kind of like, again, groomed into this, you were scared, you showed up with the shotgun and you got too scared to do it and the gun accidentally went off. Why were you planning this whole thing? Why were you searching on other ways to kill her? She's like, oh, it was just a joke. Like we were just joking around. It had always just been a joke. Police obviously are not buying any of this. Forensics and the pathologist said the blast was fired at close range. Remember, she doesn't know that they know this, but they know this. There was no accidental shot that happened from the doorway of the bedroom. This gun was pointed directly into the bedding. The tricky part was, unless like, okay, she's admitted she was there, but there's no evidence tying her to the scene. There's no eyewitnesses. There's no fingerprints. There's no DNA. I mean, it's not that hard because of her story, but maybe if she goes to trial and her story changes, they're just like, we wish we had some physical evidence as well, but we do have the text messages. We do have her. Somewhat confession. Later that month, both Eli and Barbara Raber were indicted for aggravated murder. Barbara was also charged for using a firearm. So the two are to be tried separately. But as Eli gets ready for his day in court, the big question being asked is, as always, why not just divorce your wife and leave? Get out of the Amish community. Just leave. Run away and be done. But the answer is rooted in his faith. Eli had stepped out on his marriage publicly at least twice. He had to beg and claw his way back in. Divorce was frowned upon and his ego and pride was just a little too big to get hurt. That ego will get you every single time. So instead of having to leave the Amish faith he really doesn't even want to be a part of, he's like, maybe I can just get widowed. Well, that would come with hugs and tears and condolences. His kids would likely be. Sent to live with other family members so they would be out of his hair and Eli would then get to go off and live his life without judgment or responsibilities because people would be like, he's just a grieving widow. Now, apparently, Eli saw this as his way out. Obviously, this doesn't explain why he was so dumb, like about this whole thing, how he thought he would get off so easily. He clearly underestimated the system, which was something his lawyer advised. He not do again. So in August 2009, just a few weeks before his trial kicks off, he takes the advice of his attorneys and he accepts a plea deal. His attorney is like, dude, you're screwed. What's the plea deal? His charges were conspiracy to commit murder. The plea deal gave him 15 years behind bars. I mean, he deserves that a hundred percent deserves more, but sometimes I feel like when you're on, you're an author. You're not the one that does it. It's like five years or something. See, I'm kind of like, we've seen cases that the husband gets someone else to kill and he still gets life in prison. Yeah, true. So for me, 15 years, I granted it was a plea deal. 15 years just seems incredibly light. She obviously got life. Well, and it's right. Yes. Like a hundred percent. There's no way she, she doesn't get life in prison without the possibility of parole, but she does. Get years to life. And, and my thing is, is like, I understand she's the one who killed her, but it was so very clearly he was involved and was the motive. I don't know. Anyways, he also in his plea deal has to testify against taxi lady. So he has to get up and say, yep, she did this. Meanwhile, Barbara is also offered a plea deal, but she turns it down. Ooh, not a good idea. So on September 16th, 2009. Her trial begins. Prosecutors tell the story of a desperate lovesick woman who was willing to do anything to be with Eli Weaver. Which is not a bad idea. They also call a witness to the stand who says on the morning after the murder, Barbara Raber came to him asking for a favor. He wanted her to call a number and say, Eli, you can run, but you can't hide. We got the wrong person last night. She's hoping that this would like deflect blame off of her. And then Eli takes the stand. He tries to downplay the entire thing while also still like testifying for the state. He's like, yeah, we talked about it. I never thought she was actually going to do it, though. I thought we were kind of just like casually chatting about murdering my wife. Obviously, the defense tries to pin the entire thing on Eli. They speak about how there's actually no evidence at all that Barbara Raber was alone in the house or that she was even in the house. There's no shoe prints, fingerprints or weapon. Left behind. The only thing that puts her there was her own words, which she confessed to trying to protect the love of her life. I mean, from a defense standpoint, like they're not a bad. They're like, how can you guys even say for sure it was not her taking the blame for him because she was so lovestruck and under his spell. Like I always say, disagree, but they're doing a good job. Now I will say they say this, but the defense had. A little a little bit of something. They say the shotgun pellets found at the scene were consistent with the weapon that the Rabers owns. They're like in her in her confession. She said she brought her husband's gun. The bullets at the scene were consistent with those. And so that is more likely means she probably was there. So despite the fact you guys are saying you're putting doubt, maybe she wasn't even there. Maybe it was him and she took the fall. They're like, well, the bullets were consistent. So after three days of testing, testimony the jury finds i think they're saying that like well he could have had the gun yeah oh and i'm sure that you know that they pointed that as well yeah the jury finds barbara guilty of aggravated murder she's sentenced to 23 years sheesh to life in prison i mean deserved barbara raber is still serving her time in prison at ohio reformatory for women okay she'll be eligible for parole in june of 2032 as for eli he's been moved around a few times over the years he was up for parole in 2024 but was denied wow so his next hearing is set for 2032 okay so they could be getting out at the same time yeah now since his incarceration at least two of his children have publicly said they've gone to visit him in prison this is the hard thing that i think of is the children it's like you yeah like it's the mom's dead because of your actions and now they don't have a dad as well because of your actions you just let one of your kids find their mom dead like what are you doing like what are like the trauma are you doing um i'm not i i will never go into detail unless like they've publicly said it but they they have gone to see him in prison the amish community however would not be as forgiving chances are eli will definitely not be welcomed back after he's released but his late wife barbara weaver seemed to forgive him before the damage was even done in one of the last letters she wrote to her church counselor just before her murder she wrote this of eli quote i often think of christ's words in reference to eli forgive him or he knows not what he does how sad is that that is so incredibly devastating that she had such a forgiving and empathetic heart her husband has treated her absolutely he's been cruel to her their entire marriage cheating on her doing horrible things and she's seeking guidance in her church counselor saying i miss my husband i'm so sad and in the last letter she wrote she says i will take christ's stance and just forget and then she dies because of a girl that he convinced he planned out to kill her that's disgusting honestly they don't deserve they both should rot in prison the rest of their lives there's no way you let them out that's horrible i mean he got his parole denied which low-key good if i had heard this voice and was on that parole i would be like you got off easy yep we're absolutely not letting you out on parole but that's just me that's crazy all right you guys thank you for listening to or watching today's episode and we will see you next time with another one i love it i hate it goodbye you're listening to this podcast so i know you've got a curious mind here's a helpful fact you may not know yet drivers who switch and save with progressive save over nine hundred dollars on average pop over to progressive.com answer some questions and you'll get a quick quote with discounts that are easy to come by in fact 99 of their auto customers earn at least one discount visit progressive.com and see if you can enjoy a little progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates national average 12-month savings of 946 by new customers surveyed who saved with progressive between june 2024 and may 2025 potential savings will vary