Book Description
At just 30 years old, with dark-blonde hair and freckles, Barbara Weaver was as pretty as the women depicted on the covers of her favorite “bonnet” stories – romance novels set in Amish America. Barbara had everything she’d ever wanted: five beautiful children, a home, her faith, and a husband named Eli. But while Barbara was happy to live as the Amish have for centuries – without modern conveniences, Eli was tempted by technology: cell phones, the Internet, and sexting. Online he called himself “Amish Stud” and found no shortage of “English” women looking for love and sex. Twice he left Barbara and their children, was shunned, begged for forgiveness, and had been welcomed back to the church.
Barb Raber was raised Amish, but is now a Conservative Mennonite. She drove Eli to appointments in her car, and she gave him what he wanted when he wanted: a cell phone, a laptop, rides to his favorite fishing and hunting places, and, most importantly, sex. When Eli starts asking people to kill his wife for him, Barb offers to help. One night, just after Eli had hitched a ride with a group of men to go fishing in the hours before dawn, Barb Raber entered the Weaver house and shot Barbara Weaver in the chest at close range.
It was only the third murder in hundreds of years of Amish life in America, and it fell to Edna Boyle, a young assistant prosecutor to seek justice for Barbara Weaver.
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My Book Review
RATING: 4 out of 5 Stars
A KILLING IN AMISH COUNTRY: Sex Betrayal, and a Cold-Blooded Murder by Gregg Olsen and Rebecca Morris is a surprising true crime saga from a community we associate with innocence and peacefulness, but just as in all societies, there are individuals who break the rules, both moral and criminal. This story is told through the eyes of the investigators and the prosecutor with snippets at the start of each chapter taken from the murdered woman’s personal writings.
Barbara Weaver has always been content with her Amish way of life. Growing up she was a fan of Amish romance books and dreamed of finding her own “Happily Ever After”. Now at 30 years old, she has five beautiful children and a husband named Eli.
Eli Weaver has never been satisfied with his Amish way of life. He has abandoned his wife and children to live among the “English” several times over the marriage, but always repents and returns. With the cell phone he is not supposed to own and the computer at his business, he goes on-line to dating sites and finds women as “Amish Stud”. Eli wants freedom from his family but is not willing to give up his business or home.
Barb Raber is a Mennonite driver who is used by Eli, not just for transportation, but also for sex. Eli asks several of his girlfriends to kill his wife which they take as a joke, but Barb takes him seriously and agrees to do it. Just before dawn as Eli is on his way to Lake Erie to fish, Barb enters the Weaver home and shoots Barbara Weaver in the chest while in her bed sleeping.
I was shocked when I heard about this criminal case. I live in Ohio and have visited Amish country many times. While I knew “Who did it”, the forensics of this case are not the only focus of this case, the psychological analysis is what pulled me in. Eli Weaver was a manipulative sociopath who was immature and only interested in his own pleasure. He was abusive to his wife, dismissive of his children, and a liar. He was able to pick just the right type of women to manipulate and Barb Raber was his ultimate conquest. Eli was not sophisticated enough to know how to cover up his crime, but he was smart enough to push as much of the blame as possible on to Barb Raber. My only problem with this book was it is repetitive in places which at times slows the pace, but the story is still overall so interesting. It is a sad story that happens in our society often, but you just do not expect it in the Amish community.
I recommend this true crime murder investigation for an intriguing read.
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About the Author – Gregg Olsen
I live in rural Washington State (about a mile as the crow flies from Dr. Linda Burfield Hazzard’s infamous Starvation Heights sanatarium). My thriller, THE LAST THING SHE EVER DID was an Amazon Charts bestseller. LYING NEXT TO ME was a reader favorite, charting at No. 1 in the Kindle store and the bestseller’s list at the Washington Post. My true crime book, IF YOU TELL, found a home on Amazon Charts for more than 140 weeks. In fact, it was the bestselling Kindle ebook of 2020 (and the second-bestselling of 2021). I’ve been a guest on Dateline NBC, NPR, Good Morning America, The Early Show, FOX News, CNN, Anderson Cooper, Entertainment Tonight, Inside Edition, Extra, Access Hollywood, 20/20, Snapped, Deadly Women, William Shatner’s Aftermath, and A&E’s Biography. You can find out more about me at www.NotoriousUSA.com.
About the Author – Rebecca Morris
REBECCA MORRIS IS THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR of Boy Missing: The Search for Kyron Horman; If I Can’t Have You: Susan Powell, Her Mysterious Disappearance, and the Murder of Her Children; A Killing in Amish Country: Sex, Betrayal and a Cold Blooded Murder; Ted and Ann: The Mystery of a Missing Child and Her Neighbor Ted Bundy; a true-crime memoir, A Murder in My Hometown; and other books. A native Oregonian, she worked as a journalist in New York City, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon. She appears frequently on network and cable TV as a crime expert, and works with other authors as a book coach and consulting editor. She lives in Seattle where she teaches Journalism, Researching and Writing True Crime, and Playwriting.
Please read about her books and contact her at RebeccaTMorris.com.
