In the autumn of 1962, the life of a young woman named Anita Christine Barmore was tragically cut short. The 21-year-old female, who worked as a bartender and waitress in Louisville, Kentucky, was last seen alive on the evening of November 7, 1962. Witnesses reported seeing her in a car with a man later that night. The following morning, on November 8, 1962, a farmer in rural Charlestown, Indiana, made a gruesome discovery in a cornfield. It was the body of Anita Barmore.
An autopsy would later reveal that she had died as a result of strangulation and her body had been severely mutilated.
The investigation into Anita's murder continued for several years. A break in the case came when suspicion fell upon Frank Leaver, a truck driver from Louisville. Witnesses placed him with Anita on the night she disappeared. One person who saw Leaver the next morning noted that his face had fresh scratches. Further investigation uncovered damning physical evidence. Tire tread impressions left at the scene where Anita's body was found were a match to the tires on Leaver's vehicle. A search of his car yielded even more incriminating finds: blood evidence that matched Anita's blood type and hairs that were consistent with hers.
On September 30, 1965, nearly three years after the murder, Frank Leaver was arrested and charged with the murder of Anita Barmore. During his trial, the prosecution presented the witness testimonies and the strong physical evidence linking him to the crime. On May 6, 1966, the jury found Frank Leaver guilty of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to life in prison for the brutal slaying of Anita Christine Barmore. Despite the conviction, Leaver maintained his innocence. He would spend the remainder of his life behind bars, dying in prison in October of 1981.
