| Barbara Opel | |
| Birth Date: | 16 May 1963 |
| Birth Place: | USA |
| Conviction: | Aggravated first degree murder |
| Conviction Penalty: | Life imprisonment without the possibility of parole |
| Conviction Status: | In prison |
| Occupation: | Live-in caretaker |
| Children: | Heather Opel |
| Victims: | Jerry Duane Heiman |
Barbara Marie Opel is an American woman convicted of paying a group of teenagers to murder a 64-year-old man with terminal cancer in 2001. She is serving a life sentence, with no prospect of parole.
Opel was living with Jerry Duane Heiman, aged 64, and his 89-year-old mother, for whom she cared. In order to steal $40,000, she paid five teenagers, including her own 13-year-old daughter, to murder Heiman. Her other children, aged 7 and 11, were instructed by her to help mop up his blood.[1] Kyle Boston, aged 14, received $220, whilst his 13-year-old cousin was paid roughly $100, for the killing. 17-year-old Jeffrey Grote was given a car.[2]
On April 13, 2001, the five teenagers ambushed Heiman and attacked him with knives and baseball bats. He was found eight days later, in a shallow grave, roughly ten miles from his house.
Opel denied that she wanted him dead, despite regularly telling friends "I wish he was dead".[3] She was found guilty and was narrowly spared the death penalty, as the jury could not reach a unanimous decision.[4] Following her conviction she was banned from any contact with her children, or being in the same prison as them.[5]
Opel's daughter Heather, pleaded guilty to first degree murder at the age of 14. She received life in prison, with a non-parole period of 22 years, making her eligible for parole in 2023 at the age of 36.[6] In April 2022 her sentence was reduced by the Snohomish County Superior Court to 20 years.[7] Kyle Boston was sentenced to 18 years, after pleading guilty to second degree murder. His unnamed cousin was tried as a juvenile and was released at the age of 21.[8] Jeffrey Grote (Heather Opel's boyfriend at the time of the attack), pleaded guilty to first degree murder and received a 50-year prison sentence.[9] Marriam Oliver, aged 14, was Heather Opel's best friend and also participated in the murder. Oliver pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and received a 22-year prison sentence.[10]
Opel is currently incarcerated in the Washington Corrections Center for Women.
Opel's case has been featured on the Investigation Discovery program Deadly Women in the third-season finale episode called "Blood Lines," appearing as the first of the three cases featured in the episode.
Her case is also featured on Season 2, Episode 8 titled “Mommy’s Little Killers” from the show Deadly Sins’’.