Benzie County MI Archives Photo Tombstone.....Barth, Debra (Leask) ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/mifiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Harold & Linda Saffron lindaj50@charter.net October 29, 2006, 11:38 am Cemetery: Crystal Lake - East Name: Debra (Leask) Barth Date Of Photograph: October 26, 2006 Photo can be seen at: http://www.usgwarchives.net/mi/benzie/photos/tombstones/crystallakeeast/barth73045gph.jpg Image file size: 115.9 Kb Debra (Leask) Barth b. 22 Feb. 1955 d. 24 Sept. 2000 ------------------------------------- TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE - Sept. 2000 Debra S. Barth Died September 20, 2000 FRANKFORT - Debra S. Barth, 45, of Frankfort, died Wednesday at her home. Debra was born Feb. 22, 1955, in Frankfort, the daughter of Paul and Frances (Straubel) Leask. Debra enjoyed native American arts and crafts. She worked for the Grand Traverse Band Newsletter. She is survived by two daughters, Christy Leask-McCary of Traverse City and Cassandra Barth of Traverse City; grandchildren, Jordan, Rachel and Morgan; a brother, Paul (Liz) Leask of Kalkaska; and four sisters, Lillian Marchand of Frankfort, Arlene Lett of Ada, Nancy (John) Volpe of Ada and Emily Bower of Allegan. Memorial services will be held at 11:30 a.m. Saturday from the Benzonia Chapel of McElduff Funeral Homes, where friends may call from 10:30 a.m. Saturday until the time of service. Robert Bodell will officiate. Memorials may be made to the Debra Barth Memorial Fund for her grandchildren. ------------------------------------- TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE - 24 Sept. 2000 Debra S. Barth, 45, of Frankfort; died Sept. 20; Benzonia Chapel, McElduff Funeral Homes. -------------- Suspect in woman's killing arrested in Kingsley store BEULAH - Michigan state police arrested a Frankfort man wanted for the murder of his live-in girlfriend in a Kingsley grocery store Thursday evening. Brian Lee Slade, 37, was expected to be arraigned Friday on a charge of open murder in Benzie County, Benzie undersheriff John Mead said. The body of his live-in girlfriend, Debra Barth, 45, was found Wednesday in the basement of their Frankfort home. Slade was apprehended just before 7 p.m. Thursday at the Northland Foods store on M-113, on the east side of Kingsley, store manager Bev Pirozek said. Meanwhile, in Benzie County, the investigation into Barth's death continued Thursday. She "had been dead for a number of days" before police found her body Wednesday afternoon in the basement of the home she shared with Slade, Benzie County Prosecutor Anthony Cicchelli said. --------------------------------------- TRAVERSE CITY RECORD EAGLE - 22 Sept. 2000 Wanted man arrested in Kingsley store - Brian Lee Slade will be arraigned on a charge of open murder in Benzie County By STACEY SMITH Record-Eagle staff writer By CARI NOGA Record-Eagle staff writer Record-Eagle staff writers BEULAH - Michigan state police arrested a Frankfort man wanted for the murder of his live-in girlfriend in a Kingsley grocery store Thursday evening. Brian Lee Slade, 37, was expected to be arraigned today on a charge of open murder in Benzie County, Benzie undersheriff John Mead said. The body of his live-in girlfriend, Debra Barth, 45, was found Wednesday in the basement of their Frankfort home. Slade was apprehended just before 7 p.m. Thursday at the Northland Foods store on M-113, on the east side of Kingsley, store manager Bev Pirozek said. Slade, who wore sunglasses and a baseball hat pulled low over his face, had filled up with gas and was waiting in line when a uniformed state trooper and an undercover officer entered the store, she said. "They kind of pointed their finger at him and said, 'You, we want you,'" Pirozek said. Police moved a customer in front of Slade out of the way, got him on the floor, and handcuffed him, she said. When Slade was on the floor, Pirozek said she noticed he had a personal check in his hand. He had no groceries, and she believes he was going to try and cash the check. Pirozek said she had "no idea" how police knew Slade was there. However, after seeing his picture in the paper Thursday, a Northland employee recognized him as having been in the store about the same time Wednesday evening, Pirozek said. The employee reported that to police, who had visited the store earlier Thursday, Pirozek said. The store was busy at the time of the arrest, Pirozek said, with three cashier lanes running and four or five customers at each. Afterwards, "they come in and said, 'Sorry we did it that way,'" she said. "I think they should have waited until they were outside." Police towed Slade's car away. He never paid for the gas, Pirozek said. Meanwhile, in Benzie County, the investigation into Barth's death continued Thursday. She "had been dead for a number of days" before police found her body Wednesday afternoon in the basement of the home she shared with Slade, Benzie County Prosecutor Anthony Cicchelli said. An autopsy conducted Thursday morning confirmed that Barth's death was a homicide, Mead said. A final autopsy report on the cause of death is still pending. However, "she wasn't shot or stabbed," Mead said. Cicchelli said Slade, who had "a history of assaultive behavior," is a suspect in the slaying. The couple had a history of domestic problems, Mead said, and police had been called to the home "several times." Cicchelli said Slade and Barth reportedly had "an altercation" at the home of friends late last week. Mead and Cicchelli said they were not sure how long Barth had been dead, but both said she was reported missing Tuesday evening by friends and relatives who had not seen her for several days. Barth did not show up for work at a new job Monday, Cicchelli said. The previous domestic problems and Barth's disappearance led police to obtain a search warrant for the home Barth and Slade shared on Frankfort Highway just outside of Frankfort, Cicchelli said. Inside the home, he said, police found blood. The Michigan State Police crime lab was called and Barth's body was eventually found. File at: http://files.usgwarchives.net/mi/benzie/photos/tombstones/crystallakeeast/barth73045gph.txt This file has been created by a form at http://www.genrecords.org/mifiles/ File size: 6.7 Kb