GUILTY OH - Barbara Weaver, 30, murdered in her Apple Creek home, 2 June 2009

[Blackwatch]

Ed Gingerich, the Amish man spoken about in the beginning of this tread for killing his wife - stomping her brains onto the floor and disembowling her in front of her children, was also involved with another woman, an "English" woman. How far that involvment went, no one knows, but he met her through a saw mill business that dealt with the outside world, the same as this man with their outfitters business. It seems to me that sometimes the temptations of the "outside" world get too much for some of the men, but that's only how I'm seeing things.

Just a point of interest, probably only to me, and my opinion only

 

[mae]

I just now noticed that I made a mistake in the post that I made on the 8th about the deer hunting, it was written in December of '08, not of '09. Very sorry about that, but anyway the article mentions that Eli speaks in broken english. I'd think that that would make flirting difficult... dunno, that could be and probably is nieve.

I'm wondering if there were any eye witnesses to the crime. I believe that the Amish wake up pretty early in the morning so its possible that she was seen by someone in the community. She would have stuck out like a sore thumb.

If Eli did go over to her place for the trysts (if there were in fact trysts) he would have stuck out too, even if he didn't park the horse and buggy in her driveway.

If Raber was not Amish then what were they going to do? Were they planning on being together? Was she going to convert? Was he going to leave the community and his children behind? If that was the case then why didn't he just do that to begin with?

Just some thoughts I had.

They say love is a common language people share. A few words may have been all he needed. Or perhaps she also spoke another language. Regardless, I assume they would have found a way to communicate.

Also, she could have met him places and picked him up. AFAIK members of the Amish community can ride in cars if other people are driving. I am not sure under what circumstances this is possible, but it might be that she was picking him up.

 

[oh_gal]

Maybe it's because I live near them (Amish in general, not these folks), but it's just so hard for me to imagine an Amish man in the throes of passion -- having an affair, etc. Amish in general are very stoic, even at times with their own families (take, for instance, all the mystery that surrounds who is courting who, not known until 2 weeks before the wedding, when they are published). I mean, I know the guy is only human, but I just can't see this as some type of love affair. But I guess we all have needs, and we can all suffer from self-esteem issues, and maybe Mae is right...maybe the other woman just had the right words to say to him, or vise versa, but, again, I can't wrap my head around a 29 year old Amish man flirting with an outsider....much less his wife.

 

[January.]

The time of worldly ways for the Amish teens is called "rumspringa." It's the time when they can experience the outside world without any consequences from their community. Drinking, drugs, the whole gambit, and believe me, they try it all. Yea, the clip-clop of hooves on blacktop along with the clink-smash of beer bottles being tossed from a buggy full of laughing and screaming over the sound of a boom box. Then they choose to remain in the community or leave. If they choose to leave, they are considered "dead" to their family and community.

Crime certainly does happen, but it is all covered up under the blanket of "religious beliefs," and handled within the community.

Actually, they are not shunned if they choose to leave after their Rumspringa. However, if they choose to be baptised into the Amish church, and then decide to leave later, that is when they get shunned.

On a documentary I saw about Rumspringa, the Amish preacher they interviewed said they have all of the problems that the "English" world has. Unwed mothers, drugs, alchoholism, etc. We just don't see it on the outside.

 

[nursebeeme]

I am glad to hear of the arrests.

January, I agree with you. The Amish are human. I grew up not 15 minutes from Millersburg and my best friends were apostolic and mennonite (about as close as you can get to being Amish.... where we grew up we call them amish with cars and electricity). The Amish DEPEND on tourists and the English for their income in that area... so contact with the English is a daily thing for most.

In the area I grew up Raber is a common Mennonite name... not so much Amish in my area (millersburg, applecreek, wooster, etc)...

Sorry for the ramble. I am really glad that they found the killer(s). It really sounds to me like a love interest gone wrong considering they were both married with many small children (if the info on barb raber is to be believed) and had a lot to lose in getting caught. I am also glad there was a confession. Wonder who caved???

 

[crocus]

Fox 8's Danielle Frizzi has learned that Raber confessed to the crime, and is facing an aggravated murder charge.
http://www.fox8.com/news/wjw-mother-murder,0,2417694.story

 

[Sheromom]

This makes me so mad!!!! I do hope the community doesn't try to brainwash those poor kids into "forgiving" the father for killing their mother. I know they will likely continue to love him on some level, but forgiveness is an entirely different thing. And that woman; how could she do that to her own kids?! They were both ugly as sin itself and likely deserved each other but how sad that so many children will have such tragic lives for so long to come because of them.:behindbar

 

[Girlygirl1]

If Raber turns out to be married as well, do you think there is a chance that there was a secondary plot to kill her husband? So the two lovers could be together? If someone is a widow in the Amish community, can they remarry? Could that have been the motive? Do you like how contribute nothing in this post but more questions!? LOL

 

[oh_gal]

This makes me so mad!!!! I do hope the community doesn't try to brainwash those poor kids into "forgiving" the father for killing their mother. I know they will likely continue to love him on some level, but forgiveness is an entirely different thing. And that woman; how could she do that to her own kids?! They were both ugly as sin itself and likely deserved each other but how sad that so many children will have such tragic lives for so long to come because of them.:behindbar

I wouldn't call it brainwashing. It's a spiritual attitude. Hate and judgement have no place in their lives (not to say that they don't hate or judge, they're human, but they sure try not to.) Forgiveness isn't necessarily for the wrongdoer's well being, as much as it is for the victim's well being.
I've heard it said that hate, bitterness, unforgiveness, harboring any of them, is like taking poison hoping the other person will die.

 

[oh_gal]

If Raber turns out to be married as well, do you think there is a chance that there was a secondary plot to kill her husband? So the two lovers could be together? If someone is a widow in the Amish community, can they remarry? Could that have been the motive? Do you like how contribute nothing in this post but more questions!? LOL

They can remarry, and in many cases (such as this, a father with small children) they do it rather quickly. Seems like it's more of a practical thing than finding love again quickly.

If these two were planning a future together (and I'm still not sure they were -- maybe it was one sided?), they probably weren't planning on remaining in the Amish community.

 

[Sheromom]

I wouldn't call it brainwashing. It's a spiritual attitude. Hate and judgement have no place in their lives (not to say that they don't hate or judge, they're human, but they sure try not to.) Forgiveness isn't necessarily for the wrongdoer's well being, as much as it is for the victim's well being.
I've heard it said that hate, bitterness, unforgiveness, harboring any of them, is like taking poison hoping the other person will die.

LOL; I'm sure you're right; but I'm glad I'm not one of them as right now I only feel some great resentment. And truly, I do hope the children are not "forced" to display emotions they are feeling. Such a sad situation!

 

[nursebeeme]

Raber does not look Amish to me. Perhaps mennonite or apostolic

 

[joyce D]

I am glad to hear of the arrests.

January, I agree with you. The Amish are human. I grew up not 15 minutes from Millersburg and my best friends were apostolic and mennonite (about as close as you can get to being Amish.... where we grew up we call them amish with cars and electricity). The Amish DEPEND on tourists and the English for their income in that area... so contact with the English is a daily thing for most.

In the area I grew up Raber is a common Mennonite name... not so much Amish in my area (millersburg, applecreek, wooster, etc)...

Sorry for the ramble. I am really glad that they found the killer(s). It really sounds to me like a love interest gone wrong considering they were both married with many small children (if the info on barb raber is to be believed) and had a lot to lose in getting caught. I am also glad there was a confession. Wonder who caved???

You mentioned the name Troyers in another post.Have you seen the movie or i guess you can call it a documentary called (THE OUTSIDERS) I was really intrigued by the Amish after visiting a community in Kentucky so i watched the OUTSIDERS.It was about a teenage boy name Danny Troyer.Just wondering if he was from that area and if you had watched that.

 

[lookieloo]

I heard from reliable sources, the same ones that told me the husband had a girlfriend, that Raber jumped the fence a long time ago.

 

[nursebeeme]

You mentioned the name Troyers in another post.Have you seen the movie or i guess you can call it a documentary called (THE OUTSIDERS) I was really intrigued by the Amish after visiting a community in Kentucky so i watched the OUTSIDERS.It was about a teenage boy name Danny Troyer.Just wondering if he was from that area and if you had watched that.

Hi Joyce! The Troyers are huge in my home area. The extended family has a huge bakery operation. I have not seen the outsiders. I will see if I can find it to watch and let you know. There WAS a rumspringe documentary last year on 20/20 that was filmed partially in Danville, Ohio (near Wooster) and I knew several of the families on that documentary.

Lurky, so Raber jumped the fence. I wonder if Eli was considering a similar jump? He had such a wonderful and stable business in the area.... The whole connection between Eli and Raber makes me go hunh...???? I really wonder what the undercurrents were as there was no really easy possible scenario unless it was that Eli would jump the fence and abscond with Raber. There is no way that if she left the Amish after her rumspringe (and she was older) that she would be allowed back in as a wife to the poor grieving Eli... not to mention the fact that she allegedly has three children/family of her own and THAT would never happen...ever. So perhaps it had something to do with money. We have yet to learn of how the two were friends and knew one another. Perhaps she worked for him??? (((sorry for the ramble.. just some thoughts as this one, from an area that I know WELL, because it just plain perplexes me!!! This just does not happen with the Wayne and Holmes county Amish)))

 

[lookieloo]

Well, not to be uncouth or anything, I have also heard they have been carrying on in his store for quite a while, and doing some unseemly things. If he was a pervert, I guess he found his soul mate in her.

 

[oh_gal]

Well, not to be uncouth or anything, I have also heard they have been carrying on in his store for quite a while, and doing some unseemly things. If he was a pervert, I guess he found his soul mate in her.

Excuse me while I go search for my eyeballs........they popped out and rolled across the floor after reading that.....

 

[joyce D]

Didnt i read in one of the links that LE found documents that lead to the arrest .Do the Amish believe in Life insurance? Maybe the Husband was going to split that with the killer?

 

[merci]

amish people regularly use non amish as taxi drivers. that is how raber (who is formerly amish as well) & eli met. she was his taxi driver.

 

[merci]

amish typically don't use life insurance, but there are exceptions to the rule. eli was one & it would not surprise me to learn that he had a policy on her.