September 23, 2024 • 21 mins
What if you witnessed a terrible crime and couldn't stop it? Join us as we recount the excruciatingly tragic case of 10-year-old Hailey Owens, whose life was brutally cut short on February 18, 2014. Hailey's abduction by Craig Wood, despite heroic efforts by eyewitnesses Carlos and Michelle Edwards, led to a frantic investigation and a heartbreaking conclusion. This episode takes you through the chilling timeline of that fateful day, the relentless hunt for her abductor, and the gut-wrenching discovery that left a community shattered.
We'll also explore Craig Michael Wood's troubling background and the shocking discrepancies that led to him working around children despite his dark inclinations. As we dissect the trial that ended in his death sentence, we also touch upon the arrest of Haley's stepfather for unrelated charges, casting an even darker shadow over this story. Hear about the community's emotional recovery, including the creation of Haley's Law and the dedication of Haley's Playground, as we honor Haley's memory and reflect on the enduring impact of her tragic story. Share your thoughts and personal stories with us, and join our discussion on this haunting case that continues to resonate deeply.
Credits:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_of_Hailey_Owens
https://sgfcitizen.org/government/crime/murderer-of-hailey-owens-fights-death-sentence/
https://www.news-leader.com/story/news/crime/2019/02/10/hailey-owens-abduction-murder-springfield-missouri-5-years/2518034002/
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6512813/Stepfather-slain-girl-sentenced-prison-child-porn.html
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/slain-missouri-girl-in-heaven-with-angel-wings/
Music:
Crime Trap by Muza Production
Left for Dead by Shadows and Echoes
Super Deep Grief by Samuel F. Johanns
Aurora by Beat Waves
Gone in a Blink is created by Heather Hicks and Danielle E.
Written and produced by Heather Hicks and hosted by Danielle E. and Heather Hicks.
Gone in a Blink theme: Crime Trap created and produced by Muzaproduction
We would love to hear from you!
Follow us on social media:
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Email us with comments and/or ideas for an episode at goneinablinkpod@gmail.com
Thanks for joining us on the airwaves. And remember......Be Safe, Be Smart, and Try Not to Blink.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
There's nothing more horrific than the murder of a
child, that type of innocencethat's stolen from a form of
personified evil that knows noboundaries and instead uses a
child's innocence for their ownsick and twisted pleasure, only
(00:39):
to quite literally throw themaway when they are done.
How can one's life be thatmeaningless to another human
being, especially the life of aninnocent child?
At just 10 years old, 4thgrader, haley Owens was playing
with Barbies and filling herroom with stuffed animals and
(01:02):
making friendship bracelets withher friends.
She made plans to go over toher friend's house that
afternoon, but evil, the onewith no boundaries, the one with
the sick and twisted fantasy,would be stalking her, waiting
for just the right moment tograb what was never his to take.
(01:26):
This is the case of 10-year-oldHaley Owens, and this is Gone
in a Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and welcome to
(01:53):
episode 24 of Gone in a Blink.
Today we are covering a caseout of Springfield, missouri.
Today we are talking about thetragic murder of 10-year-old
Haley Owens.
I do want to warn you that thiscase may be hard for some
listeners to hear, as the eventsthat unfolded in this case are
(02:16):
nothing short of horrific.
Listener, discretion is advisedis advised.
Haley Owens was born on August18, 2003 in Springfield,
missouri, to parents StaceyBarfield and Ryan Owens.
At the time of herdisappearance, haley was a
fourth grader at WestportElementary and was described by
(02:38):
her mother as always smiling andalways eager to help anyone she
could.
She loved helping her motherbabysit and was really great
with little kids.
On the afternoon of February 18, 2014, haley asked her mother
if she could walk to her bestfriend's house, and that was
located less than two blocksfrom her home.
(03:00):
Haley's mother, stacy, decidedthat since it was only a short
distance from their home, whatcould it hurt?
So she let her go.
Haley played with her friendand then, around 5 pm, she made
her way home.
Nearby residents, carlos andMichelle Edwards, were outside
in their garage after finishingup some yard work when they saw
(03:22):
Haley walk by Soon.
After they spotted a gold FordRanger that had seemed to circle
the block several times beforefinally pulling over near the
couple's driveway, the mandriving the truck called out to
Haley, asking her for directions.
As Haley began to walk closerto the truck, the man grabbed
(03:42):
her, threw her into the truckand then sped away, and Carlos
and Michelle had witnessed thisentire thing, and while Michelle
wrote down the license platenumber, carlos took off after
the truck on foot and anotherneighbor who also witnessed the
incident, jumped in his vehicleand tried to follow the gold
truck.
(04:02):
Unfortunately, neither Carlosnor the other neighbor were able
to catch up to the man.
Everything happened soincredibly fast that by the time
the neighbor jumped in hisvehicle and began chasing the
truck, the truck was alreadyfive to six cars ahead of him,
making it impossible at thatpoint for him to catch up.
Making it impossible at thatpoint for him to catch up.
(04:23):
Carlos ran after the truckuntil he was blocked by a
drainage ditch.
Michelle called 911 with aperfect description of the truck
, the man driving it and thelicense plate info which
Michelle can still, to this day,recite, and I'm sure that this
is something that will stay withher for the rest of her life.
(04:45):
Carlos started knocking ondoors around the neighborhood in
an attempt to find Haley'sparents.
Both men still deal with theguilt of not being able to stop
this unspeakable act fromhappening.
However, both are consideredheroes for their quick actions
and being willing to step in andtry to save Haley.
(05:05):
Michelle's quick actions ledofficers to track the license
plate info to the home of Jimand Regina Wood in Ashgrove,
which is approximately 21.5miles northwest of Springfield.
The Woods told police thattheir son, craig Wood, was the
(05:26):
main driver of the Gold FordRanger.
Officers raced to Craig Wood'stiny home on Stanford Street.
It had only been just a fewhours since the abduction.
In a February 2019 articlepublished by the News Leader
published by the News Leader,officer Eric Reese remembers
that fateful night of February18, 2014 like it was yesterday.
(05:56):
It was Reese's first night as apatrol lieutenant for the
Springfield PD.
Michelle Edwards' 911 call camein and Reese was sent to
Haley's home on Lombard Street.
So in an article by theNewsleader, lieutenant Reese
recalls quote I spent five yearsworking crimes against children
, so I know that when you have astranger abduction, you usually
have no more than 90 minutes torecover the child before
(06:19):
they're usually murdered.
So we knew the clock wasticking, unquote.
Officers began searching theentire area around Haley's house
and interviewing neighbors.
Meanwhile, detectives,including Lieutenant Reese,
raced over to the home of CraigWood Around 8.30 pm.
Officers were waiting outside.
(06:40):
When Wood pulled into thedriveway, he was immediately
arrested and thrown into theback of a patrol car while
detectives went inside the house.
Detectives entered the homethrough an open back door to
perform what they refer to as asafety sweep, and this is
basically an attempt to see ifthey could find Haley alive
(07:01):
inside the home.
When they realized that Haleywas not responding as they
called out for her, officerslocated a set of stairs just
inside the back door leadingdown into an unfinished basement
.
There was a big fan blowingdown there and the smell of
bleach was unbelievablyoverwhelming.
As they slowly began theirdescent down the stairs, they
(07:24):
continue to call out for Haley.
Once they neared the bottom ofthe stairs, they could see three
Rubbermaid storage totes in themiddle of the basement floor.
Lieutenant Reese recalls quotethere were these three perfectly
stacked Rubbermaid tubs rightin the middle of the floor, only
one probably being big enoughfor Haley to fit in.
(07:45):
Obviously, it stood out becauseeverything else was wet and
they really weren't.
Unquote.
In the same article byNewsleader Reese recalls that
officers were then faced with avery difficult decision Do they
look inside their tubs to checkif Haley's body was inside, or
do they back out of the houseand obtain a search warrant?
(08:08):
Okay, reese is quoted as sayingquote we had a debate in the
room, the CIS homicide sergeantdecided that we back out because
if she was in there she wasobviously not going to be alive.
So we better wait and get asearch warrant and make it clean
and do it the right way, versushaving an issue later on.
(08:29):
Unquote.
Early the following morning,haley's parents and the entire
Springfield community's worstfears came true.
Haley's body was found insidetwo garbage bags stuffed inside
a plastic tub in the basement ofCraig Woods' home.
She had been tortured, rapedand shot in the back of the head
(08:50):
.
Marks were also found on herwrists, which was a clear
indication that she had beentied up.
Police later obtained videosurveillance footage of Craig
Wood dumping clothing thatbelonged to Haley in a dumpster.
Surveillance footage was alsoobtained from an area Walmart
store where he was seen buyingtwo bottles of bleach.
(09:12):
The entire Springfield communitywas in absolute shock at this
point.
In the hours since Haley'sabduction, she had become
everyone's daughter.
Everyone, both inside andoutside the parameters of
Springfield, missouri, weregrieving for this little girl.
In the days following Haley'sabduction, her yard became a
makeshift memorial.
(09:32):
In the days following Haley'sabduction, her yard became a
makeshift memorial, having beencreated for Haley by the many
grieving citizens who came tooffer their condolences and
leave stuffed animals or candles.
A longtime Springfield residentand music promoter, joe Bridges,
had participated in the searchefforts before Haley's body had
(09:54):
been discovered.
After Haley's body was found,bridges decided that he needed
to do something for the peoplethat were in so much pain over
the news of her death, so hecreated a Facebook event for
friends and family to honorHaley by orchestrating a small
candlelight march that followingSaturday.
The turnout was absolutelyastonishing.
(10:16):
There were more than 3,000people signed up to attend the
event, and that was way morethan Bridges had anticipated.
There was only one group ofuninvited guests who threatened
to protest the march, and it wasthat of an antagonistic group
that some may have heard ofcalled the Westboro Baptist
(10:37):
Church, and, for those of ourlisteners who may not be
familiar with them, they arebasically a group of haters that
call themselves a quote unquotechurch, who go to funerals and
candlelight vigils and concertsand anything any kind of
gathering and concerts andanything, any kind of gathering,
basically and they protestagainst the event, no matter
(11:01):
what the event is.
They spread hate in the name oftheir so-called church, and
they pretty much threatened todo that with the vigil to honor
young Haley Owens.
So it just so happened thatwhen it came time to leave their
hotel to head out to theprotest, they were unable to
make it out of the parking lotof the hotel due to a tow truck
who had stalled right inside theentrance.
Nobody could get in, nobodycould get out.
(11:23):
So it seems this type of thinghappens a lot in response to the
Westboro Baptist Church'sthreats when they threat to
protest events such as these,and basically the community
definitely steps up and protectsits own against these type of
evil.
So on the other side of thishorrific tragedy was Jim Wood,
(11:44):
the father of murderer CraigWood.
Jim was in total disbelief thathis son could commit such a
heinous act and of course hedidn't want to believe that his
son was capable of somethinglike this.
So in the beginning Craig liedto his father, telling him that
the police had it all wrong andthat he was innocent, and blah,
(12:04):
blah, blah.
But Jim knew better and hecould see it in his eyes that
his son had done the unthinkable.
So who is Craig Wood?
As much as I would rather talkabout the victim in this case
and who she was, it is importantto go into the murderer's
background and discuss whatdrove him to commit such a crime
(12:26):
and what kind of access he mayhave had to Haley and or other
children.
So Craig Michael Wood was 49years old when he abducted Haley
.
He worked as a paraprofessionalat an elementary school in the
Springfield area and had workedfor 16 years as a youth football
(12:46):
coach at Pleasant View MiddleSchool.
He was also in charge ofsupervising student suspensions
and also worked as a teacher'saide as well as a substitute
teacher.
So basically he spent a lot oftime around children, too much
time around children.
So Wood did have a criminalrecord dating back to 1990 when
(13:08):
he pled guilty of being foundwith a controlled substance and
then he was just fined $100 forthat.
And then in 2001, he wasconvicted of stealing wildlife,
which was a misdemeanor, and Ididn't find anything mentioning
what exactly that entailed.
But other than those twooffenses, there is nothing that
(13:30):
shows that Craig Wood had everbeen convicted of anything
having to do with beinginappropriate with children, and
he wasn't on any kind of sexoffender registry.
So I find this very strangeHaley was an absolute stranger
to him, and the fact that he wasa school district employee and
(13:51):
had worked with so many kids,completely shocked the town of
Springfield to its core.
I'm having a lot of trouble,though, believing that a crime
such as this was his first, hisfirst murder and his first
sexual encounter with a child,and that's putting it mildly,
because what he did to that poorlittle girl was absolutely
(14:12):
horrific, to say the least.
Police did discover more than adozen firearms at his residence
, along with child pornography.
Among the items found werestories he had written involving
sexual fantasies with13-year-old girls and, even more
disturbing if you can even getmore disturbing officers
(14:33):
discovered four pictures ofyoung female students who
attended the same school whereWood had been employed.
There were no reports that Ihave found that any of those
photos were of Haley.
Wood's trial began October 30th2017, and prosecutors decided
undoubtedly to seek the deathpenalty.
(14:55):
The defense tried to argue thatwhile Woods did commit the
crimes he was accused of, theyhad not been premeditated, but I
wholeheartedly disagree withthat.
So they also claimed that Woodswas using meth and that he had
an addiction to porn, alsoclaiming that Haley resembled
(15:17):
Wood's ex girlfriend and that hehad been incredibly distraught
since the breakup.
So, seriously, I feel like thedefense was really reaching for
straws with this.
In my personal opinion, thereis no excuse in the world that
could defend what this monsterdid to Haley Owens.
The defense even tried to arguethat there was a conflict of
(15:41):
interest in the case involvingthe judge because Judge Mountjoy
was a member of the community,and that the judge considered
the entire Springfield communityto be a victim of Haley's
murder.
Again, the defense was justreaching for straws in this case
, in my opinion.
So apparently, though, thedefense failed because on
(16:03):
November 2nd 2017, a jury foundCraig Wood guilty of first
degree murder.
However, the jury could notreach a unanimous decision for
the death penalty, so the judgewas left to decide on his
sentence.
Ultimately, on January 11th2018, judge Thomas Mountjoy
(16:23):
sentenced Craig Wood to death bylethal injection.
According to an article in theSpringfield Daily Citizen,
missouri and Indiana are theonly two states in which the
judge has the authorization tosentence a person to death.
Currently, craig Wood issitting in the Greene County
Jail trying to appeal his deathsentence.
(16:45):
Then, in a shocking twist,according to an article
published December 19th 2017 bythe Daily Mail, so this was
before Craig Wood was handed hisdeath sentence by the judge,
jeff Barfield, who is Haley'sstepfather, was arrested and
charged with child pornographyand sentenced to seven years in
(17:09):
prison.
His defense was that he wantedto see if there were any images
of his stepdaughter that hadbeen posted online after her
murder.
Claimed to be trying to helplaw enforcement by socializing
with adults online who areattracted to underage kids in
order to learn their trueidentities, and then hand that
(17:30):
information over to lawenforcement.
Really, how in the hell cananyone do that?
First of all, but especiallyafter what had happened to his
own stepdaughter, it reallymakes you question whether Haley
may have been subjected tosomething by him before she was
abducted.
I want to make it clear, thoughhe hasn't been convicted or
(17:53):
accused of anything regardingHaley, and an investigator did
tell the Daily Mail that Haleywas not a victim of Barfield's
crimes.
However, it does really makeyou wonder, and his indictment
does state that the crimestarted back in January of 2012.
That was two years beforeHaley's abduction.
(18:14):
There was also a claim byBarfield that he had
accidentally uploaded child pornto a website while he was on
meth.
Uploaded child porn to awebsite while he was on meth
Okay, first of all, how doesthat even happen?
By accident, you would actuallyhave had to have child
pornography on your computer tobe able to upload it quote
(18:38):
unquote accidentally to awebsite.
So that, in my opinion, is abold-faced lie.
Secondly, why is everyone onmeth?
Everyone is on meth.
Everyone's using that as adefense.
That seems to be a commondenominator between Craig Wood's
defense and now Jeff Barfield'sdefense.
(18:59):
After the murder, haley's motherand Wood's father formed an
unlikely bond, working togetherto form Haley's Law in 2019, a
law that would speed up theAmber Alert system for missing
children.
People united from all over thecountry and beyond to honor
Haley by leaving on their porchlight and changing it to purple,
(19:21):
which was one of Haley'sfavorite colors.
A neighborhood park was laterdedicated in memory of Haley.
It is called Haley's Playground.
Michelle and Carlos Edwards,however, still beat themselves
up about it every day, wonderingif they could have done more to
save Haley.
Michelle has since had to go onanti-anxiety medications and
(19:47):
some days even had to call intowork when the grief just became
too much for her to bear.
While Carlos and Michelle haveconsidered moving to get away
from the terrible images thathaunts them every single day,
they are consoled by the factthat Haley's family and much of
the Springfield communityconsider them as heroes.
(20:07):
If it wasn't for their quickresponse and taking action to
identify the truck and licenseplate info, haley's killer may
never have been caught.
License plate info Haley'skiller may never have been
caught, leaving this evilmonster to prey on another
unsuspecting child.
(20:31):
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
This story was probably one ofthe most difficult cases to
cover.
The tragedy that unfolded thatday and the pure evilness of
this crime is just unfathomableto me.
If you'd like to share yourthoughts about this case or any
(20:52):
of the cases we cover, pleaseconsider following us on any of
our social media sites and Iwill post those links on our
show notes.
And if you have an idea for acase you'd like us to cover or
you have a loved one who wasmurdered or missing, please drop
us an email at goneinablinkpodat gmailcom.
(21:12):
And last but not least, alwaysremember be safe, be smart and
try not to blink.
There's nothing more horrific than the murder of a
child, that type of innocencethat's stolen from a form of
personified evil that knows noboundaries and instead uses a
child's innocence for their ownsick and twisted pleasure, only
(00:39):
to quite literally throw themaway when they are done.
How can one's life be thatmeaningless to another human
being, especially the life of aninnocent child?
At just 10 years old, 4thgrader, haley Owens was playing
with Barbies and filling herroom with stuffed animals and
(01:02):
making friendship bracelets withher friends.
She made plans to go over toher friend's house that
afternoon, but evil, the onewith no boundaries, the one with
the sick and twisted fantasy,would be stalking her, waiting
for just the right moment tograb what was never his to take.
(01:26):
This is the case of 10-year-oldHaley Owens, and this is Gone
in a Blink.
Hey, true crime fans, I'm yourhost, heather, and welcome to
(01:53):
episode 24 of Gone in a Blink.
Today we are covering a caseout of Springfield, missouri.
Today we are talking about thetragic murder of 10-year-old
Haley Owens.
I do want to warn you that thiscase may be hard for some
listeners to hear, as the eventsthat unfolded in this case are
(02:16):
nothing short of horrific.
Listener, discretion is advisedis advised.
Haley Owens was born on August18, 2003 in Springfield,
missouri, to parents StaceyBarfield and Ryan Owens.
At the time of herdisappearance, haley was a
fourth grader at WestportElementary and was described by
(02:38):
her mother as always smiling andalways eager to help anyone she
could.
She loved helping her motherbabysit and was really great
with little kids.
On the afternoon of February 18, 2014, haley asked her mother
if she could walk to her bestfriend's house, and that was
located less than two blocksfrom her home.
(03:00):
Haley's mother, stacy, decidedthat since it was only a short
distance from their home, whatcould it hurt?
So she let her go.
Haley played with her friendand then, around 5 pm, she made
her way home.
Nearby residents, carlos andMichelle Edwards, were outside
in their garage after finishingup some yard work when they saw
(03:22):
Haley walk by Soon.
After they spotted a gold FordRanger that had seemed to circle
the block several times beforefinally pulling over near the
couple's driveway, the mandriving the truck called out to
Haley, asking her for directions.
As Haley began to walk closerto the truck, the man grabbed
(03:42):
her, threw her into the truckand then sped away, and Carlos
and Michelle had witnessed thisentire thing, and while Michelle
wrote down the license platenumber, carlos took off after
the truck on foot and anotherneighbor who also witnessed the
incident, jumped in his vehicleand tried to follow the gold
truck.
(04:02):
Unfortunately, neither Carlosnor the other neighbor were able
to catch up to the man.
Everything happened soincredibly fast that by the time
the neighbor jumped in hisvehicle and began chasing the
truck, the truck was alreadyfive to six cars ahead of him,
making it impossible at thatpoint for him to catch up.
Making it impossible at thatpoint for him to catch up.
(04:23):
Carlos ran after the truckuntil he was blocked by a
drainage ditch.
Michelle called 911 with aperfect description of the truck
, the man driving it and thelicense plate info which
Michelle can still, to this day,recite, and I'm sure that this
is something that will stay withher for the rest of her life.
(04:45):
Carlos started knocking ondoors around the neighborhood in
an attempt to find Haley'sparents.
Both men still deal with theguilt of not being able to stop
this unspeakable act fromhappening.
However, both are consideredheroes for their quick actions
and being willing to step in andtry to save Haley.
(05:05):
Michelle's quick actions ledofficers to track the license
plate info to the home of Jimand Regina Wood in Ashgrove,
which is approximately 21.5miles northwest of Springfield.
The Woods told police thattheir son, craig Wood, was the
(05:26):
main driver of the Gold FordRanger.
Officers raced to Craig Wood'stiny home on Stanford Street.
It had only been just a fewhours since the abduction.
In a February 2019 articlepublished by the News Leader
published by the News Leader,officer Eric Reese remembers
that fateful night of February18, 2014 like it was yesterday.
(05:56):
It was Reese's first night as apatrol lieutenant for the
Springfield PD.
Michelle Edwards' 911 call camein and Reese was sent to
Haley's home on Lombard Street.
So in an article by theNewsleader, lieutenant Reese
recalls quote I spent five yearsworking crimes against children
, so I know that when you have astranger abduction, you usually
have no more than 90 minutes torecover the child before
(06:19):
they're usually murdered.
So we knew the clock wasticking, unquote.
Officers began searching theentire area around Haley's house
and interviewing neighbors.
Meanwhile, detectives,including Lieutenant Reese,
raced over to the home of CraigWood Around 8.30 pm.
Officers were waiting outside.
(06:40):
When Wood pulled into thedriveway, he was immediately
arrested and thrown into theback of a patrol car while
detectives went inside the house.
Detectives entered the homethrough an open back door to
perform what they refer to as asafety sweep, and this is
basically an attempt to see ifthey could find Haley alive
(07:01):
inside the home.
When they realized that Haleywas not responding as they
called out for her, officerslocated a set of stairs just
inside the back door leadingdown into an unfinished basement
.
There was a big fan blowingdown there and the smell of
bleach was unbelievablyoverwhelming.
As they slowly began theirdescent down the stairs, they
(07:24):
continue to call out for Haley.
Once they neared the bottom ofthe stairs, they could see three
Rubbermaid storage totes in themiddle of the basement floor.
Lieutenant Reese recalls quotethere were these three perfectly
stacked Rubbermaid tubs rightin the middle of the floor, only
one probably being big enoughfor Haley to fit in.
(07:45):
Obviously, it stood out becauseeverything else was wet and
they really weren't.
Unquote.
In the same article byNewsleader Reese recalls that
officers were then faced with avery difficult decision Do they
look inside their tubs to checkif Haley's body was inside, or
do they back out of the houseand obtain a search warrant?
(08:08):
Okay, reese is quoted as sayingquote we had a debate in the
room, the CIS homicide sergeantdecided that we back out because
if she was in there she wasobviously not going to be alive.
So we better wait and get asearch warrant and make it clean
and do it the right way, versushaving an issue later on.
(08:29):
Unquote.
Early the following morning,haley's parents and the entire
Springfield community's worstfears came true.
Haley's body was found insidetwo garbage bags stuffed inside
a plastic tub in the basement ofCraig Woods' home.
She had been tortured, rapedand shot in the back of the head
(08:50):
.
Marks were also found on herwrists, which was a clear
indication that she had beentied up.
Police later obtained videosurveillance footage of Craig
Wood dumping clothing thatbelonged to Haley in a dumpster.
Surveillance footage was alsoobtained from an area Walmart
store where he was seen buyingtwo bottles of bleach.
(09:12):
The entire Springfield communitywas in absolute shock at this
point.
In the hours since Haley'sabduction, she had become
everyone's daughter.
Everyone, both inside andoutside the parameters of
Springfield, missouri, weregrieving for this little girl.
In the days following Haley'sabduction, her yard became a
makeshift memorial.
(09:32):
In the days following Haley'sabduction, her yard became a
makeshift memorial, having beencreated for Haley by the many
grieving citizens who came tooffer their condolences and
leave stuffed animals or candles.
A longtime Springfield residentand music promoter, joe Bridges,
had participated in the searchefforts before Haley's body had
(09:54):
been discovered.
After Haley's body was found,bridges decided that he needed
to do something for the peoplethat were in so much pain over
the news of her death, so hecreated a Facebook event for
friends and family to honorHaley by orchestrating a small
candlelight march that followingSaturday.
The turnout was absolutelyastonishing.
(10:16):
There were more than 3,000people signed up to attend the
event, and that was way morethan Bridges had anticipated.
There was only one group ofuninvited guests who threatened
to protest the march, and it wasthat of an antagonistic group
that some may have heard ofcalled the Westboro Baptist
(10:37):
Church, and, for those of ourlisteners who may not be
familiar with them, they arebasically a group of haters that
call themselves a quote unquotechurch, who go to funerals and
candlelight vigils and concertsand anything any kind of
gathering and concerts andanything, any kind of gathering,
basically and they protestagainst the event, no matter
(11:01):
what the event is.
They spread hate in the name oftheir so-called church, and
they pretty much threatened todo that with the vigil to honor
young Haley Owens.
So it just so happened thatwhen it came time to leave their
hotel to head out to theprotest, they were unable to
make it out of the parking lotof the hotel due to a tow truck
who had stalled right inside theentrance.
Nobody could get in, nobodycould get out.
(11:23):
So it seems this type of thinghappens a lot in response to the
Westboro Baptist Church'sthreats when they threat to
protest events such as these,and basically the community
definitely steps up and protectsits own against these type of
evil.
So on the other side of thishorrific tragedy was Jim Wood,
(11:44):
the father of murderer CraigWood.
Jim was in total disbelief thathis son could commit such a
heinous act and of course hedidn't want to believe that his
son was capable of somethinglike this.
So in the beginning Craig liedto his father, telling him that
the police had it all wrong andthat he was innocent, and blah,
(12:04):
blah, blah.
But Jim knew better and hecould see it in his eyes that
his son had done the unthinkable.
So who is Craig Wood?
As much as I would rather talkabout the victim in this case
and who she was, it is importantto go into the murderer's
background and discuss whatdrove him to commit such a crime
(12:26):
and what kind of access he mayhave had to Haley and or other
children.
So Craig Michael Wood was 49years old when he abducted Haley
.
He worked as a paraprofessionalat an elementary school in the
Springfield area and had workedfor 16 years as a youth football
(12:46):
coach at Pleasant View MiddleSchool.
He was also in charge ofsupervising student suspensions
and also worked as a teacher'saide as well as a substitute
teacher.
So basically he spent a lot oftime around children, too much
time around children.
So Wood did have a criminalrecord dating back to 1990 when
(13:08):
he pled guilty of being foundwith a controlled substance and
then he was just fined $100 forthat.
And then in 2001, he wasconvicted of stealing wildlife,
which was a misdemeanor, and Ididn't find anything mentioning
what exactly that entailed.
But other than those twooffenses, there is nothing that
(13:30):
shows that Craig Wood had everbeen convicted of anything
having to do with beinginappropriate with children, and
he wasn't on any kind of sexoffender registry.
So I find this very strangeHaley was an absolute stranger
to him, and the fact that he wasa school district employee and
(13:51):
had worked with so many kids,completely shocked the town of
Springfield to its core.
I'm having a lot of trouble,though, believing that a crime
such as this was his first, hisfirst murder and his first
sexual encounter with a child,and that's putting it mildly,
because what he did to that poorlittle girl was absolutely
(14:12):
horrific, to say the least.
Police did discover more than adozen firearms at his residence
, along with child pornography.
Among the items found werestories he had written involving
sexual fantasies with13-year-old girls and, even more
disturbing if you can even getmore disturbing officers
(14:33):
discovered four pictures ofyoung female students who
attended the same school whereWood had been employed.
There were no reports that Ihave found that any of those
photos were of Haley.
Wood's trial began October 30th2017, and prosecutors decided
undoubtedly to seek the deathpenalty.
(14:55):
The defense tried to argue thatwhile Woods did commit the
crimes he was accused of, theyhad not been premeditated, but I
wholeheartedly disagree withthat.
So they also claimed that Woodswas using meth and that he had
an addiction to porn, alsoclaiming that Haley resembled
(15:17):
Wood's ex girlfriend and that hehad been incredibly distraught
since the breakup.
So, seriously, I feel like thedefense was really reaching for
straws with this.
In my personal opinion, thereis no excuse in the world that
could defend what this monsterdid to Haley Owens.
The defense even tried to arguethat there was a conflict of
(15:41):
interest in the case involvingthe judge because Judge Mountjoy
was a member of the community,and that the judge considered
the entire Springfield communityto be a victim of Haley's
murder.
Again, the defense was justreaching for straws in this case
, in my opinion.
So apparently, though, thedefense failed because on
(16:03):
November 2nd 2017, a jury foundCraig Wood guilty of first
degree murder.
However, the jury could notreach a unanimous decision for
the death penalty, so the judgewas left to decide on his
sentence.
Ultimately, on January 11th2018, judge Thomas Mountjoy
(16:23):
sentenced Craig Wood to death bylethal injection.
According to an article in theSpringfield Daily Citizen,
missouri and Indiana are theonly two states in which the
judge has the authorization tosentence a person to death.
Currently, craig Wood issitting in the Greene County
Jail trying to appeal his deathsentence.
(16:45):
Then, in a shocking twist,according to an article
published December 19th 2017 bythe Daily Mail, so this was
before Craig Wood was handed hisdeath sentence by the judge,
jeff Barfield, who is Haley'sstepfather, was arrested and
charged with child pornographyand sentenced to seven years in
(17:09):
prison.
His defense was that he wantedto see if there were any images
of his stepdaughter that hadbeen posted online after her
murder.
Claimed to be trying to helplaw enforcement by socializing
with adults online who areattracted to underage kids in
order to learn their trueidentities, and then hand that
(17:30):
information over to lawenforcement.
Really, how in the hell cananyone do that?
First of all, but especiallyafter what had happened to his
own stepdaughter, it reallymakes you question whether Haley
may have been subjected tosomething by him before she was
abducted.
I want to make it clear, thoughhe hasn't been convicted or
(17:53):
accused of anything regardingHaley, and an investigator did
tell the Daily Mail that Haleywas not a victim of Barfield's
crimes.
However, it does really makeyou wonder, and his indictment
does state that the crimestarted back in January of 2012.
That was two years beforeHaley's abduction.
(18:14):
There was also a claim byBarfield that he had
accidentally uploaded child pornto a website while he was on
meth.
Uploaded child porn to awebsite while he was on meth
Okay, first of all, how doesthat even happen?
By accident, you would actuallyhave had to have child
pornography on your computer tobe able to upload it quote
(18:38):
unquote accidentally to awebsite.
So that, in my opinion, is abold-faced lie.
Secondly, why is everyone onmeth?
Everyone is on meth.
Everyone's using that as adefense.
That seems to be a commondenominator between Craig Wood's
defense and now Jeff Barfield'sdefense.
(18:59):
After the murder, haley's motherand Wood's father formed an
unlikely bond, working togetherto form Haley's Law in 2019, a
law that would speed up theAmber Alert system for missing
children.
People united from all over thecountry and beyond to honor
Haley by leaving on their porchlight and changing it to purple,
(19:21):
which was one of Haley'sfavorite colors.
A neighborhood park was laterdedicated in memory of Haley.
It is called Haley's Playground.
Michelle and Carlos Edwards,however, still beat themselves
up about it every day, wonderingif they could have done more to
save Haley.
Michelle has since had to go onanti-anxiety medications and
(19:47):
some days even had to call intowork when the grief just became
too much for her to bear.
While Carlos and Michelle haveconsidered moving to get away
from the terrible images thathaunts them every single day,
they are consoled by the factthat Haley's family and much of
the Springfield communityconsider them as heroes.
(20:07):
If it wasn't for their quickresponse and taking action to
identify the truck and licenseplate info, haley's killer may
never have been caught.
License plate info Haley'skiller may never have been
caught, leaving this evilmonster to prey on another
unsuspecting child.
(20:31):
Thank you for listening toanother episode of Gone in a
Blink.
This story was probably one ofthe most difficult cases to
cover.
The tragedy that unfolded thatday and the pure evilness of
this crime is just unfathomableto me.
If you'd like to share yourthoughts about this case or any
(20:52):
of the cases we cover, pleaseconsider following us on any of
our social media sites and Iwill post those links on our
show notes.
And if you have an idea for acase you'd like us to cover or
you have a loved one who wasmurdered or missing, please drop
us an email at goneinablinkpodat gmailcom.
(21:12):
And last but not least, alwaysremember be safe, be smart and
try not to blink.
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