Case 112: Rachel Barber

DESCRIPTION
When the class finished for the day at around 5:35 pm, Rachel Barber left the Dance Factory with several other classmates and walked along Church Street towards her tram home on Bridge Road...
CREDITS
Narration - Anonymous Host
Research and writing - Gemma Harris, Elsha McGill, and Milly Raso
Production, scoring - Mike Migas and Andrew Joslyn
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RESOURCES
For all credits and sources please visit casefilepodcas...

[@MiMiiViVi]

Best true crime podcast channel. Addictive must listen, there's a whole playlist with over 300 episodes

[@angelabordack]

The police failed this family. I’m glad that they gave a formal apology but that is too little too late. RIP Rachel.

[@TcheQ]

It was horrible that they ignored the family. Even so, in this case it would have made no difference: she would have died regardless. It is good that a new protocol was established for this purpose.

[@theresag1969]

Apologies are pointless. Change and never letting it happen to anyone else is a fitting apology instead.

[@theresag1969]

@@TcheQ After listening to a number of CaseFile cases out of Australia I'm beginning to wonder what is the purpose of law enforcement in Australia. There are so many cases where law enforcement ignore it citizenry request for help forcing people to go to the media to drum up interest. The backpacker killer case comes to mind, CaseFile #109 Belango.

[@angelabordack]

1969Vanessa G Very true.

[@ddajani45]

Even if the police took full action it would have been too late ..she was dead already 💔 unfortunately ..

[@michete]

have of these stories have the line "police didn't treat this with urgency" and it stresses me out extremely.

[@cristaltucker513]

I am appalled at the way the police treated her family!

[@karen81986]

My favourite podcast is casefile

[@CasefileTrueCrimePodcast]

Thanks Karen

[@ayatollahofarocknrolla403]

I'm an aussie and our judicial system is one of the worst in the world. Cold blooded premeditated murder gets you 14 1/2 years. What an absolute joke!

[@jessicawilson4655]

Ayatollah of a rock n rolla the police were a joke too so I’m not surprised by the sentence at all!! I hope Australia has gotten better in recent years? ....

[@Noodlepunk]

I can't watch Australian murder shows cause I am always flabbergasted at the low sentences for horrendous murders. I am surprised there isnt any vigilante justice. Cause if I had a family member killed If just kill the person myself and take the sentence.

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

If it was a male, the sentence would have been doubled

[@andreascala2663]

in Italy it's even worse..

[@melmazing3993]

@@Noodlepunk I agree, I'm still trying to find the slag that killed my best friend. When I do, I'll be assured I'll be out of jail before retirement age. I can handle that.

[@allysonlewis1576]

What a rubbish way to treat people who would have been worried sick about their daughter who never stayed out all night. Absolutely outrageous that the family had to do the police force’s job and go around doors and ask people if they had seen their daughter.

[@spacewoman7814]

This police force was utterly useless. All the high-ranking officers should have been sacked.

[@coreencasey5109]

Parents KNOW their child and should be listened to. So tragic. 😢

[@IvorGrumble]

Wow, the police. Speechless!

[@lolly2107]

Another brilliantly presented casefile. I literally cannot praise you enough for the quality of your work. I know that you said you probably would never cover the West Memphis Three case but I feel that your podcast on this due to the incredible research you put into every case could shed some new light onto this awful crime and possibly give us some other suspects in those poor boys murders. Thank you for all your hard work Casefile!

[@Isabellecherry13]

So happy u guys are on youtube been an avid fan of your podcasts for years!!!! The way its written is always so detailes and couldnt pick an better narrator........who ever he is..... lol

[@CasefileTrueCrimePodcast]

Thank you!

[@terridicenza8076]

This is so sad , instead of always thinking the person ran away they should of listened to the parents.

[@lisaferrari5540]

Beautiful poems by mom ❤

[@alisonnonumber]

Shameful lack of interest by police. Anything to get out of doing their actual job. Negligence at it's worst!!

[@naomiledger1374]

So much of this case floored me and left be dumbfounded. It's hard to comprehend how the police could be so unbelievably apathetic, not once, but on multiple occasions. When the police said they can finally open a case bc they have a lead to follow up on, that lead only came to their attention bc of the huge ground work the family had already done. It's nothing short of sickening and disgraceful. I hope the officers involved find it hard to sleep for the rest of their days! Then, to add insult to injury, the parole board in all their wisdom and despite pleas to the contrary, release a killer who, according to inmate confessions, is still delusional! It beggars belief, it truly does. Having said all of that, if Caroline's diaries and writings are true, then she has been failed miserably also. It was clear as day that she was screaming out for help which seems to have fallen on deaf ears. I'm curious to know what other ppl made of Caroline, like her colleagues and associates, and whether they also found her unhinged or off. RIP Rachel. Very sad that her big life was cut so devastatingly short.

[@maccthelab5165]

My sincere condolences to Rachel's family and friends.

[@ering.3978]

Did anyone else want to smack a member of that police force every time he talks about them not caring about the whole thing!?!?!? 🤬

[@lindamorris9120]

I am listening in the wee hours due to insomnia and the more I hear the angrier I get! Heads should roll at the police department! Complete incompetence! Those poor parents.

[@tanjabuchholz5314]

Ironically, had she gotten the mental health care she needed and gotten healthy, she could have done all the same things she did to "reinvent" herself without ever harming anyone. She put a lot of effort into her crime...effort she could have put into starting over and healing. It's fascinating that she never thought to just change her name, move away and build a brand new life. Something in her must have wanted an excuse to kill

[@aikaterineillt9876]

Tanja Buchholz maybe she was just sick of people like rachel running the earth for no reason other than their looks, even after death, the girl is continuously praised for them while the murderer is insulted, that’s going to take a toll eventually

[@myselfme767]

@@aikaterineillt9876 ?????????????

[@leyla2210]

extremely narrow-minded "analysis"...

[@BeckBeckGo]

Right? She wasn’t ugly or stupid. A gym membership and a therapist would have totally transformed her.

[@cannedsquasher5923]

​@@BeckBeckGonot necessarily some people are just fucked and need way more than just a therapist. This lady is definitely one of them.

[@courtneyfrost915]

This in no way, excuses Caroline's actions, but I felt bad for her, before she became a murderer. The point where she was begging her father to help her, because her mother could, or would not.

[@robertkain7890]

I always seem to be amazed by the COMPLACENCY and utter INCOMPETENCE of the police!! I'd swear that an extremely low I.Q. is a prerequisite for police work, in some places! SMFH😤

[@richardgallimore5976]

Wtf police? This sounds like they do nothing for every single missing person's case. 97% of the time the person shows up in 2 days, if not a part of the other 3% they show up in 5, so they just do nothing and hope it's the 97-99% and every single time it's the 1~3% that person just dies. The job is to look into every case to save the 3% who are actually in danger, ofc not every case has a person in danger, but you have to treat every case like someone could be in danger to save the people who are.

[@myselfme767]

Poor Rachel. Really sad story.

[@judithvasiiiyeva9484]

As a matter of fact, she did run away without notifying anyone.

[@wiebkescantick947]

I have heard about this case before, but had never heard about how tortured Caroline had felt and the things she thought about herself. I'm not excusing what she did to Rachel, but I can empathize with her regarding her self hatred. Maybe if she had gotten the help she needed and begged for, none of this would have happened. It still doesn't explain why she chose to kill Rachel.

[@colinconnolly6285]

Absolute senseless murder. Poor girl just wanted those new shoes.

[@ncswic4344]

I was a friend of Rachel's family. Rachel came into my house one day and went straight to my wardrobe, SHE loved my things. She was young and didn't have that boundary thing we all have. I thought she was just lovely. She found my favorite shoes. She danced around in them and loved them so much I gave them to her. Pictures surfaced of her wearing them at the school concert. That was the last time I saw her. I Love you Heather. We don't forget. We don't forgive.

[@rileytherandom]

the police could've had footage of something happening to her and their response would be "this validates my theory! she ran away!"

[@markflint2629]

Absolutely heartbreaking ❤️‍🩹

[@skechers28227]

That poem at the end... oof. Devastating.

[@jessicawilson4655]

If she was pregnant there’s no way in hell she would have been so worried about a $100 pair of shoes! I promise you that! These police were beyond incompetent!!

[@jessicawilson4655]

Just saying this because I was 17yrs old, April of 2005 I was just over a month away from graduation and would be 18 not long after. I found out I was pregnant shortly before my prom, and I was TERRIFIED. I mean just terrified to tell my mother! I couldn’t eat or sleep half the time I was so scared and didn’t know what I was going to do. I think I stressed my baby to death because I ended up in the hospital at around 5wks along having a miscarriage. So I just know a 15yr old girl would not be all giddy and happy about a $100 pair of shoes if she was indeed pregnant. That would be the very last thing on her mind! So the police are just stupid for even thinking that for even a second.. there were witnesses proving she said bye to Manny and went her own way with 2 other girls and then later going on on her own to meet this unknown woman(Caroline). So idk why they even gave that idea a second thought! They just wanted any excuse to act like she ran away so they didn’t have to do their damn jobs and actually freaking work!! Seems a theme with Australian police big time, although it happens everywhere I’m sure! But literally every single case I hear about from Australia the police literally always fail the family/victim! Like ALL of them!! That’s really sad! What are they even getting paid to do?

[@melmazing3993]

@@jessicawilson4655 harass weed smokers and hand out traffic notices pretty much. I live in Australia, reported my 17 yo missing and they told me she was probably getting drunk with friends. Which did not end up being the case. She was in a vulnerable situation and several people lied to police about where she was. Their response? Zero. Zilch. I was the one driving the suburbs all night climbing fences and looking across school ovals, while they sat on their ass and did diddly squat. Except probably stroke each others..... Ego.

[@davidmayhew8083]

So tragic.

[@BeckBeckGo]

So more and more I’m suspecting that Caroline hadn’t planned to strangle her at all. She’d planned to overdose her on a combination of pills and alcohol. She resorted to strangling after Rachel turned down the drinks. That’s what I suspect. But I can’t recall if she outlined her MO before that night.

[@allicat8943]

Again! the damn police...I keep seeing this as a thread in too many of these cases. Honestly!

[@ddajani45]

Plz do ur ad in the beginning or the end its terrible in the middle

[@yukiefromoz2573]

Oh I read the book "Perfect Victim" many years ago.

[@karen81986]

Can you do the case of Andrew bagby and Zachary turner. It’s unreal. Know you would do it the best.

[@CasefileTrueCrimePodcast]

We will add it to our list of potentials!

[@karen81986]

Casefile True Crime Podcast great. It’s unbelievable

[@danrobinson572]

@@CasefileTrueCrimePodcast for podcast case number 200 do a video on the The Monster Of Worcester David McGreavy.

[@brendajstevens3719]

👏👏👏

[@andreascala2663]

someone tells you not to give any informations to boyfriend and parents and you don't get suspicious? bah!

[@jennklein1917]

😢😢😢

[@xxdeathrowxxx]

Is anyone else having issue playing the newer episodes on the podcast apps. It seems to be server issue

[@vivek7154]

Same.

[@thornbird6768]

The police !!! 97% show up !! but that means 3% do not !!!

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

Yeah and their isn't a endless pool of resources. Sorry that the world isn't a 100% safe space

[@anneloving8405]

Very few people would have suspected the baby sitter they lived next door to for years and hindsight is always 20/20.

[@theresag1969]

I just finished listening to this episode of CaseFile about the Rachael Barber case. I am disgusted by societal's standards of beauty and the bullying of women by other women and men. Looking at both young women and I can't see any physical difference in beauty between them except one has a dancers body and the other does not. She doesn't because she is not a dancer. Both are attractive in fact I would personally say the killer is more attractive if one counts symmetrical features as an indicator of attractiveness level. Yet, the killer saw herself as inferior, so she kill whom she thought was societal's ideal of beauty. Don't think this is an isolated case of a person who is mentally ill with a personality disorder unable to cope so she killed. That doesn't explain the entire story. We are also responsible, those of us who place physical attributes above character and bully those who don't fit some arbitrary standards. In 1999 it was Rachael Barber who paid the price for societal expectations, which on some level we can't change. We are born with what we have and it would take an extraordinary amount of money and effect to alter in order to please a fickle society. We are all extraordinarily unique and that should be appreciated. Tommow there will be another child who will pay the price for societal expectations. Maybe it will be your child. What a price to pay to satisfy societal's bullies.

[@federica9090]

Look up photos of Caroline's diary. SHE thought she was an ugly atrocious monster. When in fact she was just rather plain looking, not unattractive. Which makes it even more baffling. She was just consumed with self hatred.

[@beckyjane1806]

Personally, I think Rachel was far more beautiful. But Caroline had no reason to murder her and now her poor family have had to learn to live without her.

[@aikaterineillt9876]

Federica L being plain looking isn’t exactly something to be happy about

[@aikaterineillt9876]

Federica L unfortunately, if you’re not beautiful in this society, you might as well be ugly. Being “not unattractive” simply isn’t enough when there are people like Rachel having the world fall at their feet, while people like Caroline are either invisible or insulted. It’s probably one of the ultimate unfair and undeserved things about living on this god forsaken planet.

[@BeckBeckGo]

I think Rachel was far prettier, but Caroline wasn’t ugly. Not at all. She needed a gym membership and some therapy and better parents. Parents who, I think, are indirectly responsible for some of this. They treated her very poorly.

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

I love how everyone thinks that the police failed because they didn't drop everything and start a search. If you think they should have, imagine this scenario. They drop everything to search for a teenager (remember most are found safe and sound) but in the middle of the search your house gets broken into, you or a loved is being assaulted or raped. Now someone manages to call the police but their resources are out looking for said teen thus making them arrive late to your house. Maybe we should be drilling responsibility into kids instead of excepting police to be able to jump on everything. Not saying that this will fix everything etc but you have to put yourself into everyone's shoes

[@naomiledger1374]

Maybe you have a point. But when a family returns to the police on multiple occasions, after doing a lot of their own groundwork ie not just waiting at home for said child to reappear, when exactly is it the right time for the police to show some form of interest and take some kind of action? I mean, they didn't even make a move once the official missing person report was lodged. And when Rachel's mum returned again to the police, she was told 'no can do' as you've already used our resources too much this week. WTF? Apart from saying such a thing to a terrified mother of a missing child being insanely insensitive, how exactly had the family used the police's resources? They'd done nothing to date?! The fact that the regional police issued an apology says it all. They were wrong and they knew it.

[@PoetofHateSpeech]

@naomiledger1374 I never said the police didn't screw up. It's more of a response to people's posts thinking the police can just drop everything.

[@jessicawilson4655]

Wow, Bella Fiori does true crime stories on her page and has over 1mil followers, I just watched her video on this story which is what lead me here and omg she literally just said exactly what you said here, the same order I mean everything just exactly like you said! All she did was watch this one video and I guess she wrote it all down so she could just record her reciting all you said and she makes it a video!! And she has all those followers when there’s other true crime channels where they literally spend MONTHS researching a case and they tell it in their own way(using other sources of course! But they don’t recite word for word what another persons video says like wow!!!)and they don’t have half the followers she does!! It’s not fair at all!! Follow Stephanie Harlowe y’all, she is seriously amazing she does such incredibly deep research where I swear there’s stories I thought I knew everything about and she always surprises me with something new at least!! This Bella chick does not deserve her followers at all! It’s crazy that out of all the videos I scrolled through on this case after watching her video I decided to click on this one which happens to be exactly where she got all her info and every single word she said! I’m so serious listen to this and go listen to her video on this story!! There’s no mistaking she just said word for word what’s said here! Smh.... that makes me mad for people like Stephanie who literally spends days, weeks, months researching and actually putting in the work! Not just watching one video and copying what they said! I hope lots of people see this and go follow Steph, she really does deserve it!!

[@melmazing3993]

Sadly, this doesn't surprise me. I'm familiar with how the Australian police work, and well.. I use the term "work" loosely. Sounds to me like Caroline was raised by my mother. I hope she's locked up in a psych ward somewhere for a long long time

[@KittyPee61]

It

[@Guenwhyever]

if you murder a child, you forfeit your right to life. i wish more governments acknowledged that.

[@mateoitalia]

matthew de gruchy

[@ozymandiascakehole3586]

Damn.. I try to listen to this show while falling asleep but the ads every two minutes make it impossible.. I get that you want to make money but damn..

[@alisonbedford372]

Have you got any up to date stuff? Have you shut down?

[@quickchris10]

I remain surprised at the blame the police are taking. Yeah, they're not good. But could even the best have tracked her down fast enough? I blame Caroline's parents. She said they didn't help her tho she begged for help. But maybe that was a lie.

[@naomiledger1374]

Sounds like it would have been too late no matter what. But that's not the point here, at all!

[@quickchris10]

@@naomiledger1374 Maybe not exactly like fingerprints bit close enough to eliminate reasonable doubt. You say a gray Renault with a nick in the passenger-side rear tyre and uneven wear to the point of being bald on the outsides; out of a dozen Renaults and find the whereabouts of the others that day . . .

[@richardblades6246]

Coooool!

[@Eric_The_Eccentric]

At first, i thought you were gonna talk about a shipping employee turned into a victim or a murderer and then i looked at the screen. My bad. 😁😁

[@anonymousadult]

Hmmmm… just watched “part 1” of this story by KZbinr Stephanie Harlow… I could swear she took your narration for her own… many sentences are duplicates as is the direction of the story. You should see for yourself. 🧐

[@gdaymates431]

All the facts of the case are the same? They all mention the same things. Stephanie can't just make up random things so that her video sounds different. She would have read the book written by Rachel's mother and taken key parts of that book as well as news articles and also listened to other people's episodes on the case to create her video. That's what good storytellers do. You trying to say that she copied Casefiles work is a stretttttccccccch.

[@hannsolotx8568]

Quite a lot of this case is from evidence, quotes and diary entries. Stephanie writes her own script from evidence available. That's why some parts sound similar.

[@courtneyfrost915]

So, Caroline got about the same prison time, as the years Rachel lived. That's just not right. She is still young and free to pursue all of the things that she denied Rachel.

[@BrionyMinodora]

Tik tok took me here. I’m 9 years old if anyone cares

[@traceyaustin7141]

Hi does a parent know you are Listening to a True Crime pod cast sweetie

[@courtneyfrost915]

Love, please watch something else. Or, at least watch with a parent.

[@texastea5686]

9 is a bit young for this, AND TikTok

[@coreencasey5109]

Maybe young kids need to know what happens in the real world. Might save their life one day. Too many predaters and mentally ill people.

[@BrionyMinodora]

@@traceyaustin7141 it was a joke, I’m fucking 30

[@ddajani45]

This is a heartbreaking story she was so beautiful young and talented..robbed from her life rip..the sad part the girl who murdered isn't even ugly I dont know wat kind of upbringing made her feel that way...she was beautiful in her own way looks wise ...

[@aikaterineillt9876]

Dina Dajani robbed from her life? Robbed from being beautiful and “talented”? Do you know how many people are robbed from things like that since birth? And they don’t get to lay down and die either. They have to suffer a lifetime. Take the murderer, for instance. Your praise of Rachel is part of the problem that caused this whole fiasco.

[@aikaterineillt9876]

“Beautiful in her own way” is a euphemism for unremarkable, unfortunately for Caroline.

[@aikaterineillt9876]

It has nothing to do with upbringing, it had everything to do with unfairness or nature and society treating certain people better than others because of their looks and the doors that open for them.

[@belladonna5904]

Caroline was evil and because of her darkness, she stole the life and light of a genuinely kind person like Rachel. Rachel was robbed unfairly of so much.

[@juniorjohnson5961]

How can I listen without the commercials and Advertising it's getting very flustering the amount of Adds I'm about to unsubscribe

[@melmazing3993]

I'm gonna teach you a trick. Drag the little red cursor at the bottom of the screen all the way across to the end of the video. Wait till the replay icon appears. Press it. You're welcome.

[@juniorjohnson5961]

@@melmazing3993 I'll check it out 👊 since this comment I've got Apple podcast .

[@texastea5686]

I have YT premium

[@juniorjohnson5961]

@@texastea5686 Since posting this comment I've gotten KZbin premium myself.

[@adamlepp3512]

You would think this is about CAROLINE. Absolutely obnoxious host.

[@jessicawilson4655]

Adam Lepp what do you mean?

[@naomiledger1374]

??????????