Missouri woman with 'creepy' chainsaw collection arrested after police found year-old frozen body in her freezer
JOPLIN, MISSOURI: A 67-year-old woman was arrested after law enforcement found the body of an adult man in a freezer at her residence, presumed to be her disabled husband.
Officers in Joplin confirmed that Barbara J. Watters was arrested without incident on Thursday, November 14. While one of her neighbors claimed she kept "creepy" chainsaws in her garage, police reportedly do not suspect any foul play in the death.
Prior to Watters' arrest, police had issued a warrant for her with bond set at $100,000. At the time, they even released images of her last known vehicle for reference—a white Lincoln with license plate number TC4 S9Z.
According to KSN, police believe Watters kept her husband Paul in the freezer for almost a year after his demise.
"Paul N Barton died on December 30, 2018, and was being kept by his wife, Barbara Watters, in a freezer in her bedroom at 2602 S. Vermont Ave," a probable cause affidavit states.
Speaking to The Joplin Globe, police chief Matt Stewart did not reveal exactly how long the body may have been in the freezer. However, he said there were no obvious signs of foul play.
Neighbors said it had been "months" since they saw Paul and alleged that Watters kept chainsaws in the garage. "It's been at least four months since I've seen him," a neighbor told KSN on condition of anonymity. "She showed me her collection of chainsaws in her garage and that was pretty creepy."
"Police executed the search warrant at 2602 S Vermont Ave. A deceased human body was discovered stored in a freezer in Barbara Watters bedroom," the affidavit read. "Jasper and Newton County Coroner’s were contacted and had no records of Paul N Barton being reported as deceased."
The neighbor said she was "not surprised at all" by the eerie discovery. "I hate to say that but when we saw the crime scene tape when we got home, I kind of assumed that's exactly what happened," she remarked.
According to her, Watters and Barton would often stay inside. "The man was very sickly and frail and whenever we spoke to her she told us the CIA, and the police were out to harvest his organs," she continued. "We were kind of on her good side, but a lot of the neighbors were not."
"The man was sweet but the lady acted very erratically and she was always sweating a lot and out of breath and in a pure panic any time we would see her," the neighbor added.
Officers said they learned of the body while investigating an arson case at a neighboring property on Monday. Police said there were no links between the arson investigation and the discovery of the frozen body.
An autopsy is still pending as authorities investigate the cause of death.
"Investigators were conducting a neighborhood canvass in reference to an arson investigation" that took place at a nearby address, police said.
"During the neighborhood canvass, information was developed on an unrelated case," they added. "Information was brought forward that a deceased person was inside [a neighboring] residence. The search located a deceased adult male in a freezer inside the residence."