Married Man Accused of Killing Girlfriend After Fisherman Discovers Bag with Toes Sticking Out

• Christina Elizabeth Barber was found dead near the Flint River in Michigan on March 4, according to investigators
• Police say they found several bloody items in a motel room rented by Barber, who was in a relationship with Christopher Astin Motry
• Motry, who is married, has been charged with first-degree first degree murder in connection with Barber’s death

A Michigan man has been charged with murder after a fisherman found his girlfriend’s body with fingers sticking out of a bag near a river, authorities say.

Flint police officers found the body of Christina Elizabeth Barber, 48, near the Flint River in Michigan on March 4, Genesee County Prosecutor David Leyton said at a news conference.

Authorities, who were already investigating Barbera’s disappearance, later arrested her boyfriend, Christopher Astin Motry, 34, in connection with her death, Leyton said at a conference broadcast by FOX 66 and NBC 25.

Motry, who is married to another woman, is charged with first-degree first degree murder, domestic violence, tampering with evidence and concealing a death, online court records show.

Christopher Austin Motry.

Genesee County Prosecutor’s Office

On March 2, Barber’s co-worker requested a welfare check because she had not answered her phone or been to work for a week, Leyton said. The next day, local police responded to a Flint motel where they found several bloody items in a room Barber had rented, Leyton said.

At the scene, police found “a blanket lying on the ground soaked in what appeared to be blood” outside the motel room, Leyton said. In the motel room, police found a bloody mattress with cat litter on it and cat litter on the floor. There were bloody sheets next to the bed and blood stains on the floor and wall, according to the police.

On March 4, police found Barber’s body after a 911 call was made by a person who was supposed to go fishing, Leyton said. A witness found black trash with “what looked like a person’s toes sticking out of the bag,” Leyton said.

During their investigation, Leyton said Genesee police reviewed security footage from the motel and saw Barber and Motry enter the motel room on Feb. 28. On the evening of February 29, Motry was allegedly seen leaving the room with “what appeared to be a body in a plastic bag in a fireman’s bag and putting it in the bed of his truck,” Leyton said.

“You will never see Mrs. Barber again,” said Leyton.

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A GoFundMe was set up by Barber’s daughter to help the family with funeral expenses. Barber was unmarried and had seven grown children.

Co-workers told investigators that Barber and Motry were in a “difficult, tumultuous” relationship that she was trying to leave, Leyton said. He added that they also claimed that Motry had threatened to kill her several times.

Motri’s wife has been cooperating with the investigation and is not a suspect, Leyton said.

Motry was arraigned Friday and is being held without bond, court records show. He was assigned a public defender, who was not named in court records.

If you are experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or go to thehotline.org. All calls are free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

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Source: HIS Education