Clemintine Barnabet

Clemintine Barnabet (1894? to at least 1923) was an African-American female serial killer. She committed murders in Louisiana and Texas, and was believed to have accomplices as part of a violent religious sect.[1] Initially suspicion fell on her father, but police investigation led to her being a suspect. She confessed to involvement in 35 murders. After a police investigation, she was convicted and imprisoned for her crimes. Barnabet escaped from prison and was not definitively known afterwards.

Early life

Clementine Barnabet is believed to have been born around 1894 in St. Martinville, Louisiana and moved to Lafayette, Louisiana in 1909.[1] She was born into a two-parent household and lived with her mother and father, Nina Porter and Raymond Barnabet.[1] She had one brother, Zepherin Barnabet. When she was 17, she joined a cult called the Church of Sacrifice which prompted the start of the murders that she committed. Raymond Barnabet was reported to be abusive to his family and very aggressive.

Killing patterns

The Barnabet killings followed a consistent pattern. Barnabet would often murder entire families rather than one singular person. The murders were all done with an axe. It was found that Barnabet would cut the heads off of the victims and once she had butchered the entire family, she would then lay their bodies in bed together and leave them to be found as such. Barnabet's killings occurred between Lafayette, Louisiana and Texas.

Investigation

In February of 1911, the first of many murders were committed.[1] Walter Byers and his family were murdered. This launched the investigation to determine the killer. The authorities' first suspect was Raymond Barnabet. Barnabet was the father of Clementine. The Barnabet family testified against Raymond, and they all recounted him leaving town that night for unknown reasons and returning home late with blood and brain matter on his shoes and shirt. Zepherin, Clementine's brother, stated that when he returned home, Raymond was bragging about the murders that he had committed and said that the family deserved it.

During the time Raymond was being investigated, more killings occurred. In March of 1911, the Cassaway family was murdered.[1] This caused a twist in the investigation because the family had a white mother, unlike the previous two families who were all black. Raymond was thought to have committed all three of these massacres and was soon arrested and sent to Lafayette Parish Jail.

While Barnabet was awaiting trial, another familicide took place. In November of 1911, the Randall family was murdered in a manner similar to the previous slayings.[1] This confused authorities because it raised another suspect. The police then decided to investigate Clementine Barnabet.

Arrest

In the Barnabet residence, a man's suit with blood and brain matter all over it was found in Clementine's closet. This prompted police to arrest Clementine Barnabet as a prime suspect, along with her father, of the numerous murders committed in the area. When initially arrested, Clementine denied all connections to the murders.

However, eventually Clementine admitted to 35 murders.[2] She explained her connection to the Church of Sacrifice, an offshoot of a Christ's Sanctified Holy Church congregation in Lake Charles, Louisiana.[1] Clementine claimed that a priestess of the Church of Sacrifice had given her and her friends "conjure bags" (see Hoodoo) that would grant them supernatural powers and make them undetectable to the authorities.[3] This spurred Clementine into committing her first murder to test whether or not this was true.[1]

Sentencing and disappearance

At only 18 years old,[4] in October of 1912, Clementine Barnabet was sentenced to life in prison at Angola State Penitentiary. In July of 1913, she tried to escape jail but was caught before she even made it to the gate. However in August of 1923, Clementine Barnabet walked out of prison and was never seen or heard from again.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Gauthreaux, Alan G.; Hippensteel, D. G. (2015-11-16). Dark Bayou: Infamous Louisiana Homicides. McFarland. ISBN 9781476662954.
  2. ↑ Index to Dates of Current Events Occurring Or Reported Jan. 1912-Dec. 1914. R.R. Bowker Comapny. 1913.
  3. ↑ The American library annual 1911/12-1917/18: including list of American libraries of over 5000 volumes : libraries of Latin America : library schools and short courses : library and book-trade periodicals and organizations : book publication statistics, etc. Office of the Publishers' weekly. 1913.
  4. ↑ Wimberly, J. Lee (2017-11-14). Louisiana Ghost Stories: Tales of the Supernatural from the Bayou State. Archway Publishing. ISBN 9781480853171.

See also

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