In the days leading up to her death, 42-year-old Amy Fraaken, a Caucasian female from Des Moines, Iowa, confided in her mother that she was scared and planned to seek help. Amy had recently discovered her husband, Barney Fraaken, had been unfaithful and she had asked him to leave their home, intending to file for divorce. The tension in the household was palpable, with Barney even making a chilling comment to a friend that he should just kill his wife and himself to end it all.
On the
morning of November 22, 2015, a sense of foreboding hung in the air as Amy spoke to her mother, her fear evident. That night, the simmering conflict erupted into unimaginable violence. In the master bedroom of their Des Moines home, Barney shot Amy, the single bullet striking her in the heart and ending her life. His rampage did not end there. He proceeded to shoot their 16-year-old daughter, Amber, multiple times, leaving her at the bottom of the basement stairs.
After extinguishing the lives of his wife and daughter, Barney Fraaken turned the gun on himself in a failed suicide attempt. Despite a gunshot wound to the head, he survived and called the police, confessing to the murders. When authorities arrived, they found Amy and Amber deceased. Barney was taken to the hospital and spent weeks recovering from a severe brain injury.
Following his recovery, Barney Fraaken was charged with two counts of first-degree murder. In court, he waived his right to a jury trial and accepted a plea deal. He pleaded guilty to the first-degree murder of his wife, Amy. As part of the agreement, the murder charge for his daughter Amber's death was dismissed without prejudice. Barney Fraaken was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole, bringing a tragic end to a case of domestic violence that claimed two lives and left a family shattered.
