Woman Whose Husband’s Body in Freezer Arrested

A southwest Missouri woman has been arrested two days after her husband’s body was found in a freezer at their home.

Police say 67-year-old Barbara Watters was arrested without incident Thursday at a house in Joplin.

Spokesman Capt. Nick Jimenez told The Joplin Globe that Watters was standing in the yard of the home when police arrested her with help from the U.S. Marshals Service.

The arrest ended a search that began Tuesday when officers found the body of Paul Barton in a freezer in the bedroom of the couple’s home.

Watters is was wanted on a warrant charging her with abandonment of a corpse.

A probable cause affidavit says a witness told police that Barton died in December 2018.