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Barbara Stager's 1989 trial for her second husband Russ Stager's murder made headlines as authorities believed it was the second time she tried to get away with murdering a spouse. Russ was found shot in their North Carolina home and died at a hospital a few hours later in February 1988. During the investigation into his death, Barbara claimed that he slept with a loaded gun under his pillow which went off when she tried to retrieve it.
After being convicted in the murder case, Barbara Stager was given the death penalty, which was later changed to life imprisonment during her 1993 retrial due to technical errors. The evidence discovered during the investigation revealed that she was likely responsible for her first husband Larry Ford's murder as well, although there was never sufficient evidence to connect her to his death.
Five key details about convicted murderer Barbara Stager and her crimes
1) Barbara Stager married Russ a few months after first husband's death
Barbara Stager's first husband Larry Ford's gun unintentionally went off as he was cleaning it, causing his tragic death in March 1978. A few months later, Russ and Barbara Stager got married and together with the latter's two kids, they embarked on a new life. Their neighbors called Barbara Stager a "perfect homemaker, loving mother of two, valued employee, and staunch Baptist."
2) She ran a mini-ponzi scheme to fund a lavish lifetsyle
Barbara was a frivolous spender who led an extravagant lifestyle with her husband Russ and children. However, considering that she worked as a secretary at Duke University, an ad salesperson for a radio station, people did not really understand the source of their limitless finances.
Russ soon discovered that they were knee-deep in debt. Barbara was running a mini-ponzi scheme in which she would take out a loan from a bank and then repay it with a loan from another bank. She also forged Russ' name and signature on bank documents and lied to him about a $100,000 book contract.
3) Russ Stager's ex-wife played a significant role in solving his murder case
Police almost dropped the investigation after hearing Barbara's account of the gun accident since it sounded convincing enough.
However, Jo Lynn later provided some startling information. She informed the authorities about Barbara's first husband, Larry Ford, whose demise was eerily identical to Russ' case but had taken place over a decade ago. Larry was allegedly cleaning his rifle when it went off, according to Barbara.
Jo Lynn revealed to police that Russ even confided in her about Barbara's infidelities and financial fraud. Moreover, he told her that he feared for his life.
4) Solid evidence was discovered that backed Lynn's claims
An audio cassette was discovered, which was recorded by Russ Stager about three days before he was shot, in which he revealed that Barbara was cheating on him and that he believed she was responsible for her first husband's death. Russ added that Barbara also gave him sleeping pills on multiple occasions.
5) Barbara Stager's younger son Jason's testimony contradicted her narrative of the incident
Barbara Stager initially received the death sentence, which was later switched to to life in prison.
Jason Stager, Barbara's youngest son, testified during her 1993 re-trial, claiming that he was in the middle of taking a shower when he heard a popping sound and initially believed it to be the sound of the toilet lid falling. He was just getting out of the shower when his mother entered, telling him that his father was wounded and requesting that he call 911.
Jason, who was 14 at the time, stated that his mother woke him up when his alarm went off, after which he started his shower. Barbara's testimony, however, stated that she grabbed the handgun from under her husband's pillow when Jason's alarm went off. The contradictory statements made her case worse than it already was.
Barbara is currently serving time at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women in Raleigh and has reportedly been denied parole twice, once in 2009 and again in 2018.
