Barbara Knudsen
Remembering Barbara Knudsen
A Horrific Discovery
Barbara Knudsen, age 13, was a typical teenager. She liked rock music, read Seventeen Magazine and enjoyed hanging out with her friends. Barbara, who attended Spellacy Junior High School, babysat children in the neighborhood and used the money she earned to buy clothes and make-up. She was popular, outgoing and trusted people.
Barbara’s parents raised her to be a responsible young woman and warned her about the potential dangers in the world. Barbara was always careful and had only missed her 9PM curfew once, when she arrived home at 9:15PM. On June 26, 1973, when Barbara was not home by 11PM, her parents knew something was wrong and reported her missing to the police.
For two days, over 200 Cleveland, Ohio Police Officers searched for Barbara. On Thursday June 28, 1973, patrolman Alan Crane saw a body in a clump of blackberry bushes. The body was near a footpath that went through a wooded area. The body, which was that of a female child, was naked from the waist down. The girl’s underpants were underneath her head. There were scrapes on her legs and thighs. She had been badly beaten. The body was identified as that of Barbara Knudsen. Evidence would later indicate Barbara had been raped by her assailant.
A Killer is Found And Convicted
An extensive manhunt began for Barbara’s killer. Police interviewed many people with no results. On September 22, 1973, three months after Barbara’s rape and murder, police caught a break. While under arrest, an unemployed maintenance worker named Frederick Springer asked to speak with Willoughby Hills police Lt. Robert Goodwin about the Knudsen murder. Springer, age 30, was being held for the rape of an 18-year-old woman on June 24 and also the rape of a 28-year-old woman on July 21. When Springer met with Lt. Goodwin, he confessed to Barbara’s murder, and police later obtained a video of Springer retracing his steps to the scene. According to Springer, Barbara’s death was an “accident” that occurred after she rejected his sexual advances. Springer claimed Barbara “fell” when he tripped while trying to dump her body and she hit her head.
Springer went to trial before a three judge panel for Barbara’s rape and murder. Based on overwhelming evidence, Springer was found guilty of raping and killing Barbara Knudsen. He also pled guilty to raping the 28-year-old woman. The court learned that, in 1964, Springer spent 31 months in the Lima State Mental Hospital for assaulting a 12-year-old girl. Prior to sentencing, the judges ordered Springer to have a psychiatric evaluation. Dr. Wilfred Gil recommended against sending Springer to the mental hospital and said that treatment would produce little benefit. Springer received consecutive (back to back) life sentences for Barbara’s murder. Springer received an additional 4-20 year sentence for her rape, which was to run concurrently (at the same time) to the two life sentences. Later, he was also convicted in the rape of the 18-year-old woman.
A Poor Prison Record
Although Springer has spent 40 years in prison, he has done almost nothing to rehabilitate himself. According to The Ohio Parole Board Records, Springer was last heard by the board in 2008. According to their records, “At that time, he had maintained good institutional conduct. However, he had participated in very limited institutional programming, and had not participated in sex offender programming. He displayed little remorse for his offenses and very little insight. He admitted to similar offenses in Tennessee.” Although Springer did not feel the need to take classes or show remorse, he did manage to find time in 2009 to waste taxpayers’ money and file an appeal for DNA testing. In 1998, Springer was adjudicated a sexual predator, indicating that if released, he would likely commit other sex related crimes.
UPDATE: Child murderer/serial rapist Frederick Springer died in prison on April 17. 2015. Thank you to everyone who submitted a petition to help ensure he fulfilled his life sentence. Justice has been served.