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Missing woman: the murder trial of Harold Barker opens
DAYTON — It has been 1,058 days since Shelly Sue Turner disappeared after last being seen with her boyfriend Harold Barker, assistant Montgomery County prosecutor Janna Huber told a jury Monday, Aug. 24.
“She was last seen with the defendant,” Huber during her opening statement. “She hasn’t been seen or heard from since.”
Barker, 55, is on trial this week on charges of murder, felonious assault and tampering with evidence. All charges deal with Turner’s disappearance. The trial, before Common Pleas Court Judge Barbara P. Gorman, started Monday.
Turner, 38, was last seen outside Shags Tavern, 1926 Smithville Road, on September 30, 2006. Police say that Barker, her boyfriend at the time, was with her at Shags. Turner’s belongings, including her Ford Explorer, were found at her home. Her body was never found, but police have said they are certain she is dead.
Huber said Turner was a devoted mother of young children, as well as an adult daughter, who was not sad or depressed and was in good health. Her bank account has not been touched since just before her disappearance.
She left her apartment without her identification, with just the clothes she was wearing and “not even a single dollar,” Huber said. “None of Shelly’s belongings are missing.”
But assistant county public defender Mike Pentecost said, in a brief opening statement, that while there is ample evidence that Turner is missing, there is none that Barker had any role in her disappearance.
“Pay attention to what’s not there,” Pentecost told the jury. “The evidence is not going to be there.”
Barker initially cooperated with police after Turner’s family reported her missing. He told police that a silver car pulled up outside the bar and someone yelled Turner’s name, according to a police incident report. Barker said Turner walked to the car, handed Barker his ring and left with a guy named “Bill,” according to the report.
Huber told the jury that this was false story.
Barker, 55, was arrested by Dayton police on April 17, the same day he was indicted.
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