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OrlandoSentinel.com
Arrest warrant issued for boyfriend of dead DeBary woman
Rene Stutzman

Sentinel Staff Writer

8:59 PM EST, December 26, 2008

A judge today issued an arrest warrant for the boyfriend of a woman found dead in her DeBary home on Wednesday.

Newly gathered evidence points to Robert Deo, 50, as the man who killed Christina Barber, 36, the Volusia County Sheriff's Office said. Volusia Circuit Judge Raul Zambrano this evening issued the murder warrant ordering Deo to be taken into custody and held without bail. The problem is, deputies don't know where he is.

Deo, who investigators should be considered armed and dangerous, was driving a blue, 2008 4-door Nissan with Florida tag No. U709DM. Anyone who sees him is asked to call Crime Stoppers of Northeast Florida at 888-277-TIPS to be eligible for a reward of up to $1,000.

Barber's best friend told the Orlando Sentinel on Thursday that Barber had been trying to throw out Deo, who lived with her. A co-worker found Barber's body after she didn't show up for work. She was a fingerprint analyst with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

Investigators would not say how she was killed.

As a former Chairman of the Fingerprint Subcommittee for the Florida Division of the IAI, I had the pleasure of working with Christina Barber. She was on the committee and was of invaluable help to me in my position. She demonstrated her conscientiousness in helping me to put together lectures for our conferences and went on to become Chairman herself. She will be sorely missed.
Mary Ellen Holmberg

Family, Friends Say Barber Will Be Remembered as a Good Person

DEBARY, Fla. - Friends and family have scheduled memorial services for a woman found shot to death on Christmas Day.

Police discovered Christina Barber inside her Debary home.

She was a crime lab analyst for the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and often testified in court.

Barber's family said she was trying to kick out her live-in boyfriend, Robert Deo.

Investigators said he committed suicide Friday just after a judge issued a warrant for his arrest.

Friends said Barber will be remembered as good person.

"Friends are hard to come by, especially true friends, and she was a true, true friend," the victim's best friend, Vikki Reed, said.

"She'd do anything for her friends, anything for her family," Cliff Barber, the victim's ex-husband said.

Barber leaves behind a 19-year-old daughter.

A visitation for her will be held Monday from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Baldwin-Fairchild Funeral home in Sanford.

Her funeral will be Tuesday at 11 a.m.