Olean High School Shooting - Aftermath

Aftermath

On December 31, 1974, Anthony Barbaro was arraigned on three counts of second-degree murder, six counts of first-degree assault, and five counts of first-degree reckless endangerment. Barbaro was then being held without bail at the Olean City Jail. Following the shooting, police had found homemade propane bombs in Barbaro's bedroom, as well as bomb recipes and a journal that detailed his plans of the shooting. In April 1975, he had entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity, however he was found competent to stand trial by two court-appointed psychiatrists. Barbaro was soon transferred from the Olean City Jail to the Cattaraugus County Jail in Little Valley. On October 21, 1975, a grand jury was seated for Barbaro's trial at the Olean Municipal Building. On October 27, defense attorney Vincent E. Doyle, Jr. presented his testimony at a preliminary hearing, stating that Barbaro had a "serious, deep-rooted mental illness that precluded his conviction." On November 1, 1975, Barbaro hanged himself with a bedsheet in his cell at the Cattaraugus County Jail. Cattaraugus County coroner Dr. Harry C. Law ruled the death a suicide. Barbaro had written three suicide notes that were found on his bed in his cell. One note was addressed to his family, another note was addressed to a woman he corresponded with in prison, and the third note was addressed "to whom it may concern".

The third note read:

People are not afraid to die, it's just how they die. I don't fear death, but rather the pain. But no more. I regret the foods I'll never taste, the music I'll never hear, the sites I'll never see, the accomplishments I'll never accomplish, in other words, I regret my life. Some will always ask, 'Why?' I don't know — no one will. What has been, can't be changed. I'm sorry. It ends like it began; in the middle of the night, someone might think it selfish or cowardly to take one's own life. Maybe so, but it's the only free choice I have. The way I figure, I lose either way. If I'm found not guilty, I won't survive the pain I've caused — my guilt. If I'm convicted, I won't survive the mental and physical punishment of my life in prison.