Berwyn Woman's Brutal Death Still Unsolved 2 Years Later

BERWYN, PA – Two years ago on June 17, Denise Barger was found beaten to death in her Berwyn home.

The brutal killing stunned the Main Line community and remains a mystery on the two-year anniversary of the tragic death.

Denise Barger, 62, was found beaten to death in her Heatherstone Drive home on June 17. She died of blunt-force trauma.

Police in Tredyffrin Township said shortly after the killing that Barger was likely "targeted."

Her body was found by her brother, Michael McDonald, when he went to drop his dog off for her to watch.

"I still see what I saw that day every time I blink my eyes," McDonald told Philly.com."

Later, a blood trail form Barger's home to her neighbor's home put David Bookstaber into the mix.

Police eyed the neighbor as a person of interest in the case, but he was never made a suspect and never charged.

Investigators eventually spoke with Bookstaber and noticed his hand was injured. They also found a shoe with the same print as a bloody footprint found in Barger's home when executing a search warrant at his home.

During the search, what was believed to be blood was found in Bookstaber's home, as it field tested positive for blood. However, Chester County First Assistant District Attorney Michael Noone told Patch that the purported blood was not actually blood as determined by a laboratory analysis.

Bookstaber's attorney Joseph P. Green Jr. told Philly.com that his client "has no involvement" in the death and that "he hasn’t committed any crime.”

Noon said the investigation remains "active and ongoing."

According to Fox News, Barger had called police on Bookstaber for allegedly shooting a gun on his property in 2015 and that in 2014 Bookstaber was arrested and charged with recklessly endangering another person and disorderly conduct for firing a gun on his property. However, the 2014 charges were withdrawn and expunged.

Bookstaber was recently denied a permit to carry a concealed weapon and he subsequently appealed it. But Daily Local News reports his appeal was dropped in early May this year.

The Citizens Crime Commission is offering a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in Barger's death.

Anyone with information on the death is urged to contact the Chester County District Attorney's office or the Tredyffrin Township Police Department.

Image via Citizens Crime Commission