On September 15, 1959, Quaker, Missouri, was a
sleepy farm town. Locks didn’t need keys, neighbors weren’t strangers, and keys
were left in car ignitions. Summer was still clinging to the community located
about an hour-and-a-half south of St. Louis.
Two teenage boys were seen walking along the dusty
road that ran in front of the house. They carried a rifle. Not surprising at
this time and in the place, and wouldn’t be terribly surprising today. They may
have been hunting or target practicing.
The boys were hot, thirsty, and stripped to the
waist. They wanted a car. As they approached the Barr homestead, they made a
plan. First they went into the store, distracted Lynn Barr by ordering a
sandwich. Then one of them shot Lynn in the back.
Upstairs, Lynn’s wife, Valle, thought she heard
something, but noises were common on farms in the daylight. That and sound
traveled without the benefit of trees to swallow it.
This horrific true tale about that brutal afternoon is
a true story. Google “Barr Murders in Washington County MO 1959” for more info
on the assailants and what happened that day.
This is not the best written book; it has a lot of
holes. I suspect that’s because it’s all Ella Jo could remember. She wrote this
book sixteen years after the events. Still it’s harrowing, unputdownable, and
will leave readers with nightmares---and a little paranoid about leaving anything
unlocked.
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