In Cold Blood on Fair Avenue: The Murder of Mabel Barnes

A life ended in a shocking act of violence when Mabel Seymour Barnes was murdered by her estranged husband, setting the stage for a case that questions justice and accountability.

Mabel Seymour Barnes (1911–1947) was born in Ross County, Ohio, to Hiram Seymour (1875-1917) and Sarah Rinehart Seymour (1886-1928). Her father passed away when she was six years old, and her mother later remarried John Wesley Sineff (1868-1951) in 1919. Mabel’s mother died in 1928, leaving her stepfather to care for Mabel and her siblings. That same year, 17-year old Mabel (claiming to be 21) married Russell William Barnes (1908-1985) and by 1930 the couple was living in Ross County, Ohio. There, with their young child, they lived on his parents’ farm, where Russell worked as a farm laborer.

Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, Mabel and Russell moved frequently, living at one point in Cleveland, where Russell worked in a meatpacking plant and the couple operated a beer parlor and restaurant on Dennison Avenue. They relocated to Tuscarawas County, Ohio by 1945 to be closer to her siblings and their families who all resided there. Their marriage, however, began to deteriorate and in August 1947 Mable filed for divorce, citing gross neglect, cruelty, and threats to her life. As the divorce proceedings progressed, Mabel moved to a rented room in a home on the 200 block of Fair Avenue NW in New Philadelphia and found work at the Kreig Dry Cleaning Shop in Dover.

Mabel arrived home from work on the evening of October 13, 1947 to find Russell already there and smelling of alcohol. She took a seat on the front porch with her neighbor as Russell argued with her to drop her divorce petition, the hearing was scheduled for ten days later, and come home with him. Mabel repeatedly refused until Russell walked back to his car and removed a .38 caliber revolver from the rumble seat. He then walked up onto the porch, placed the gun to Mabel’s forehead, and pulled the trigger. Mabel died instantly. Russell then pointed the gun at Mabel’s frightened neighbor, but he then quickly left the scene.

After he murdered his wife, Russell drove to a friend’s home in Dover. Russell, still armed and agitated, told this friend what he had done and coerced him into going to a local bar. After drinking there, the pair then traveled to another friend’s home outside Mineral City. Meanwhile, local, county, and state police authorities were canvasing the county looking for Russell. While at the second friend’s home, Russell became so inebriated that he passed out and his two friends disarmed him just as highway patrol officers arrived. Russell Barnes was arrested and taken to the Tuscarawas County Jail.

Russell Barnes, at first, claimed that he did not remember murdering Mabel but the statements of his friends obviously disproved that assertion. As a result, Russell no longer denied murdering Mabel on October 13, 1947 during his stay at the county jail or during the legal proceedings that followed. The Barnes’ son visited him in jail and vowed to support him through the trial. Barnes was indicted for first degree murder on October 21, 1947 and faced the electric chair if convicted. Prosecutors however were concerned about being able to convict Barnes because of victim-blaming by the defense and the willingness of his son to testify on his behalf. Instead, they allowed Barnes to plead guilty to second degree murder and sentenced him to life in prison in November 1947.

Mabel Seymour Barnes’ funeral services were held at Bethel Church in French Hills on October 17, 1947. Authorities offered to allow Russell Barnes to attend, but he refused. Nine years after the murder, Russell Barnes’ conviction was commuted by then Governor Frank Lausche to manslaughter. The commutation made Barnes eligible for parole and in February 1957 Russell Barnes walked out of the Ohio State Penitentiary a free man. Mabel Seymour Barnes, murdered in cold blood and in front of a witness, rests at Dover Burial Park in Dover, Ohio.

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© Noel B. Poirier, 2024.